A small grapefruit study, published in 2006 in the "Journal of Agriculture," suggests that people with high blood pressure can improve their heart health if they add grapefruit to their diet. Do not eat grapefruit or drink grapefruit juice if you take blood pressure medications because the combination may prove dangerous and potentially fatal.
Study
Shela Gorinstein, a researcher at the University of Jeruselem, led the month-long study involving 57 men and women with high blood pressure. All participants in the study who ate grapefruit daily realized a drop in their triglycerides, an artery-clogging fat. Both blood pressure and fat in your arteries affect blood flow so improving one condition will likely improve the other. Gorinstein's study showed that red grapefruit proved to be more effective than white grapefruit at lowering triglyceride levels.
Blood Pressure Drugs
If you take blood pressure medications to lower you blood pressure, consuming grapefruit could prove extremely dangerous. Grapefruit prevents your body's CYP34A enzyme from properly metabolizing drugs. If you take a drug once or several times daily while you have grapefruit in your system, you may end up with more of the drug in your body than intended. If blood pressure medication builds up in your system, your blood pressure could drop to dangerous levels and your heart could stop.
Calcium Channel Blockers
Blood pressure lowering medications known to pose serious interactions when combined with grapefruit include felodipine and nifedipine, both classified as calcium channel blockers. Calcium channel blockers prevent calcium from entering your blood pressure and heart. This lowers your blood pressure. Combined with grapefruit, your blood pressure could become gravely low. Grapefruit affects some medications and certain people more than others. If you take a different type of blood pressure drug, or any kind of medication, ask your doctor or pharmacist about possible interactions with grapefruit.
Statins
Doctors commonly prescribe statins to treat high cholesterol. Since cholesterol and blood pressure are related, it's important to know that statins, like blood pressure medications, should not be combined with grapefruit. High blood pressure damages the walls of your arteries and makes it easier for cholesterol to get trapped there. Accumulation of cholesterol in your arteries makes it harder for blood to flow properly to and from your vital organs, increasing your blood pressure. A doctor may recommend that you take medications to treat both high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Ask your doctor if you can safely combine grapefruit with prescribed medications.
References
- "The Evening Standard"; Have a Heart, Have a Red Grapefruit; Mark Prigg; Feb. 9 2006
- ACS Publications: Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry: Red Grapefruit Positively Influences Serum Triglyceride Level in Patients Suffering from Coronary Atherosclerosis: Studies in Vitro and in Human; Shela Gorinstein et al; Feb 3 2006
- The Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide: Grapefruit and Medication: A Cautionary Note; Feb. 2006
- "The New York Times"; Experts Reveal the Secret Powers of Grapefruit Juice; Nicholas Bakalar; March 21 2006
- MayoClinic.com: Calcium Channel Blockers; Dec 16 2010
- American Heart Association: About High Blood Pressure
