November 20 (Wednesday): People taking hypertension medication, do not drink 'this beverage'... it amplifies the medication's effects and is dangerous

If you are taking medication due to health issues, it is advisable to avoid consuming grapefruit or grapefruit juice. Unintentionally drinking grapefruit can affect the efficacy of the medication. It is known that even eating grapefruit once can impact the absorption of about 60 different medications.

Among commonly taken medications, antihypertensive drugs are incompatible with grapefruit. The component called furanocoumarin in grapefruit inhibits the human enzyme CYP3A4. As a result, when a person taking drugs metabolized by CYP3A4 consumes grapefruit, the drug metabolism does not proceed smoothly, leading to excessively high blood concentrations of the medication.

▲Nifedipine

▲Pellodipine

▲Nisoldipine, etc.

Calcium channel blocker antihypertensive medications are representative.

The juice made from squeezing grapefruit is the same.

When a person taking calcium channel blockers drinks grapefruit juice, the peak blood concentration of the drug increases by 200% to 400%. It is equivalent to taking 2 to 4 times the normal dose of the medication. The side effects are most pronounced when these drugs are consumed simultaneously with grapefruit juice.

Even if you take medication 24 hours after drinking grapefruit juice, the drug's blood concentration may become higher than normal, so caution is advised.

Source: Health Chosun

I didn't know that I should avoid grapefruit juice or grapefruit when taking hypertension medication. My parents are on hypertension medication, and they really like grapefruit. I should let them know.