List of foods that can trigger negative drug interactions

Do you always read the instructions for using your medicine before taking medication? You should always do this. Why? Because so that the drugs that enter your body can work properly and do not cause any side effects. Medicines can interact with other substances that enter your body, such as substances in food. These drug and food interactions can cause changes in how the drug works.

What are the consequences of drug and food interactions?

Some of the things that can result from drug and food interactions are:

• Prevent the drug from working properly
• Change how your body uses food
• Causes drug side effects to be worse or even better
• Causes new side effects

What are the most common food and drug interactions?

Medicine and food cannot be separated. When taking medication, you are usually required to eat first or after. However, you must be aware of drug and food interactions. The following are some common food and drug interactions.

1. Milk or milk products with antibiotics

Milk or dairy products (such as cheese and yogurt) can prevent the absorption of some antibiotics, such as tetracyclines and ciprofloxacin. Calcium in milk and milk products can bind antibiotics to the stomach and upper small intestine to form soluble compounds. Thus, the absorption of antibiotics by the body can be disrupted.

To prevent this from happening, it is recommended that you take antibiotics one hour before or two hours after eating. You may not need to completely avoid milk.

2. Grapefruit (grapefruit red) with some medicine

Grapefruit red can interact with several medications. One of them is with statins (cholesterol-lowering drugs). Grapefruit grapefruit can increase the amount of statin drugs in the blood, which can cause bigger side effects.

Red grapefruit can also interact with calcium channel blockers (drugs for high blood pressure), such as felodipine, nicardipine, nisoldipine, amlodipine, diltiazem, and nifedipine. This orange can interfere with the breakdown of these drugs, so that it can actually cause blood pressure to be higher.

Several other types of drugs can also interact with this red grapefruit. These include antihistamines, thyroid replacement drugs, contraceptives, stomach acid inhibitors, and cough suppressants dextromethorphan. You are advised to avoid grapefruit grapefruit while taking any of these medicines.

The compound called furanocoumarin in red grapefruit can change the characteristics of the drug. As a result, drug levels in the blood can be higher or lower and cause side effects.

3. Green vegetables (vitamin K) with warfarin

Warfarin is a blood thinning medication that can help prevent blood clots. This drug works by interfering with vitamin K-factor dependent blood clotting. So, consuming green vegetables that contain high vitamin K can reduce the performance of this warfarin drug.

Some leafy greens that are high in vitamin K include spinach, kale, collards, broccoli, asparagus, turnip greens, and Brussels sprouts. However, that doesn't mean you have to completely avoid this vegetable. In fact, you must consistently consume these vegetables according to your daily eating habits. Reducing or increasing your intake of green vegetables suddenly outside of your eating habits can actually cause problems.

4. Chocolate with monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI)

MAOIs are drugs to treat depression and Parkinson's disease. This drug works by inhibiting the breakdown of the amino acid tyramine in the blood. Because the amino acid tyramine is high in the blood, it can cause an increase in blood pressure. Thus, eating foods that contain high levels of tyramine, such as chocolate, can interfere with the action of this drug. Apart from chocolate, other foods high in tyramine are fermented meats, such as pepperoni, sausage and ham.

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