Caution: Eating grapefruit this way can cause acute kidney failure!

Many older people often have to take heart or blood pressure medication. However, some foods, although good for normal people, can cause dangerous interactions with drugs, affecting treatment effectiveness and safety.

In particular, the famous fruit that is "taboo" with heart and blood pressure medication is grapefruit.

Grapefruit with statin cholesterol-lowering drugs may lead to acute kidney failure

Grapefruit and grapefruit juice are the most common foods to avoid if you are taking certain heart medications. They can interact with statins, cholesterol-lowering drugs, calcium channel blockers, and high blood pressure medications.

Eating grapefruit can slow down the body's ability to break down these medications and increase the levels of the drugs in your blood. This can cause muscle pain, dizziness, and dangerously low blood pressure.

In particular, with statins, it can increase the concentration of the drug in the blood and lead to muscle breakdown or rhabdomyolysis, which can lead to acute kidney failure, warned Kristine Dilley, a nutritionist at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (USA), according to the health news site Verywell Health.

If you are taking certain medications, be careful when eating grapefruit.

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Kristine Dilley advises that if you are taking any of the above medications, you should talk to your doctor before eating grapefruit because even small amounts can cause side effects.

In addition, some other foods can also have adverse effects on people taking heart and blood pressure medications, including:

Potassium-rich foods. Bananas, avocados, oranges, and dried fruit are high in potassium. When taken with medications such as spironolactone, ACE inhibitors, or ARBs, the amount of potassium excreted by the kidneys decreases, which can lead to hyperkalemia. This condition can cause heart palpitations, muscle weakness, and even arrhythmias, heart failure, or cardiac arrest. While a small amount is usually not a problem, regular consumption of large amounts should be avoided.

Spinach. Green vegetables such as spinach are high in vitamin K, which can reduce the effectiveness of the anticoagulant warfarin, increasing the risk of blood clots. People taking this medication need to maintain a stable amount of vitamin K to avoid dangerous complications.

Salty seasonings. Soy sauce or fish sauce contains high sodium, which can easily cause water retention, increase blood pressure and worsen heart failure. Patients should monitor their weight: if they gain more than 1-1.3 kg in 24 hours, or experience swelling or difficulty breathing, they should notify their doctor immediately.

Alcohol. Alcohol can interact strongly with blood pressure medications, anticoagulants, or statins, causing blood pressure to drop too low, bleeding, or stress on the liver. Warning signs include dizziness, fainting, easy bruising, and yellowing of the skin or eyes.

Garlic. In supplement or concentrated extract form, garlic can increase the risk of bleeding when taken with warfarin, aspirin, or clopidogrel. In addition, garlic can cause blood pressure to drop too low, leading to dizziness or easy bruising.

Licorice. Licorice contains glycyrrhizin, which can cause low blood potassium levels, irregular heartbeats, or high blood pressure. Elderly people, especially those with heart or kidney problems, should be cautious. Taking more than 58 grams of licorice daily for two weeks has been reported to cause irregular heartbeats in people over 40.

Therefore: If you are taking cardiovascular medication, consider avoiding or limiting the above food groups and talk to your doctor or nutritionist to ensure safety and optimize treatment effectiveness, according to Verywell Health.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/can-than-an-buoi-theo-cach-nay-co-the-gay-suy-than-cap-185250825230258835.htm