Choosing fruit juice as a beverage while taking medicine seem have to be avoided. A new study suggests that fruit juice can affect the body’s ability to absorb medicine which cause the therapy becomes less effective.
Researchers from Canada indicated that grapefruit juice, orange and apple juice shown to interrupt the body’s ability in absorbing certain medications and reducing the effectiveness of therapy. According to the study, fruit juice can reduce the effectiveness of drugs that used for treating cancer, heart disease, and organ transplantation.
“When it comes to medicine, you should consume it with appropriate doses. Low doses may not give the effect you want, while high doses may lead to the side effect”, said. David Bailey, professor of clinical pharmacology from the University of Western Ontario who led the research.
“Recently, they found that certain substances contain in grapefruit and other fruit juice may decrease the oral absorption of certain drugs during the absorption and transportation process in the digestive tissue,” Bailey continued.
In the study, Bailey involved participants to take fexofenadine, a type of anti-histamine for treating allergies. The participants were divided into two groups. One group consumed medicine with a glass of grapefruit juice and the other group was consumed medicine with plain water. The results showed that participants who drank grapefruit juice absorbed only half of fexofenadine levels than those who drank plain water.
According to the researchers, grapefruit juice contains naringin, an ingredient that gives the grapefruit juice its bitter taste. This ingredient is suspected of blocking the “transporter” of drugs called OATP1A2 which carry the active ingredients of drugs from the small intestine to the blood vessels.
“This blockage reduces the drug absorption and neutralizes the potential benefits. On other hand, an increases level of drugs due to the presence of grapefruit juice seem to block an important enzyme of a drug called CYP3A4 that usually works to break down the drug”, said researcher.
In addition to grapefruit, the researchers found that apple juice and orange juice also showed a similar effect. “Both types of these juices indeed contain naringin”, said the researchers.
So far, among the drugs that are affected by the consumption of grapefruit, orange and apple juice are etoposide, a type of anti-cancer drug, types of beta blockers (atenolol, celiprolol, talinolol) used to treat high blood pressure and prevent heart attacks, and some types of antibiotics (ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, itracoazole).
