Foods, drinks, and supplements can interfere with some drugs.
Did you know that alcohol can make some medicines useless?Some prescription and over-the-counter medicines can trigger a dangerous reaction if they're combined with certain other drugs, dietary supplements, and even everyday foods and beverages. To minimize the risk for drug interactions, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urges health care consumers to:
Learn as much as possible about the medicines they take,
Follow the directions on drug labels carefully, and
Ask their doctors about ways to reduce the risk for adverse reactions to medication.
Even dairy milk products can make it difficult for your body to process certain antibiotics. Minerals in milk like calcium and magnesium are part of the reason, along with the protein casein.
Some Common Foods We Take Can Cause Adverse Reactions To Medication:
Dark chocolate can weaken the effects of drugs meant to calm you down or make you sleep, like zolpidem tartrate (Ambien). It also can boost the power of some stimulant drugs, like methylphenidate (Ritalin). If you take an MAO inhibitor, used to treat depression, it can make your blood pressure dangerously high.Alcohol makes certain drugs less effective, including some blood pressure and heart medicines. Alcohol can cause dangerous side effects.
Coffee can weaken antipsychotic drugs like lithium and clozapine, but boost the effects and side effects of others, including aspirin, epinephrine, and albuterol which is taken by inhaler for breathing problems.
