What Is Pomegranate Juice?
Pomegranate juice is filled with nutrients. In fact, it's one of the healthiest juices you can enjoy. Since pomegranates are filled with antioxidants, pomegranate juice is often said to help prevent cancer, boost the immune system and improve heart function. However, pomegranate juice interacts negatively with several different types of medications, making it more of a hindrance than a help for those on some prescribed drugs.
Interactions with ACE Inhibitors
ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) inhibitors are a class of drugs that help to relax the blood vessels and keep high blood pressure under control. However, should you drink pomegranate juice, you'll modify how the drug works in the body. Pomegranate juice also relaxes the blood vessels, so it's very dangerous to take with ACE inhibitors. It may cause an overdose effect and an unsafe drop in blood pressure, especially if you drink the juice with or immediately following taking the medication. Low blood pressure can make you feel lightheaded, dizzy, faint or develop chest pains or even induce a heart attack.
Interactions with Fluvoxamine
Another drug pomegranate juice interacts with is Fluvoxamine. This drug also goes by the names Luvox and Faurin, and it is an SSRI, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (which boosts serotonin levels in the body to improve mood). It is used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, panic disorders, social phobias and even irritable bowel syndrome. However, when taken with pomegranate juice, the effects of the drug will be enhanced, resulting in an increase of adverse effects. Like grapefruit juice, pomegranate juice inhibits the functioning of enzymes in the body, so that SSRIs aren't processed properly and build up in the bloodstream.
Interactions with Statins
Statin drugs are used to keep high cholesterol under control. Common brand names include Zocor, Lipitor and Crestor. However, when taken with pomegranate juice, the effects of the drugs might be impaired, leaving your cholesterol uncontrolled. Pomegranate juice and grapefruit juice make it difficult for the body to process statins, so rather than digesting them properly, they build up in the bloodstream, leading to an overdose. This is potentially dangerous in someone with heart disease, especially if carried out over a long period of time.
Pomegranate Mirrors Grapefruit
On many medications' warning labels, especially those used to treat heart conditions, a note that you shouldn't take the drug with grapefruit juice has been printed for many years. However, pomegranate juice produces the same sort of effects in the body as grapefruit juice, making the drug's effects amplified and potentially dangerous.
These juices impair the functioning of metabolic enzymes, so rather than digesting certain medications, your body stores them, leading to an accumulation of drugs in your bloodstream and overdose effects. Consult your doctor before you begin drinking pomegranate juice if are taking these medications.
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