Is Grapefruit Seed Extract Effective In Treating Strep Throat?

If a grapefruit seed extract supplement product contains chemicals, as many do, it may prove effective in treating strep throat. If a grapefruit seed extract supplement does not contain chemicals, it will not treat strep throat. Nothing in pure grapefruit seed extract -- the seeds and pulp that remain after juicing a grapefruit -- possesses antimicrobial properties to kill bacterial infections. Ask your doctor about the benefits and risks of grapefruit seed extract.

Bacterial Infections

Strep throat is a bacterial infection, and marketers of grapefruit seed extract say their products can fight bacteria, yeast and other microbes. But none of the microbe-killing power comes from properties in grapefruit, according to Donal O'Mathuna, an herbal researcher and bio-ethicist who writes for "The Irish Times." Many commercially sold grapefruit seed extract products contain chemicals such as disinfectants and synthetic preservatives. These additives may successfully combat your strep throat infection but may also produce unwanted side effects.

Studies

Markus Ganzera, a researcher at the University of Innsbruck in Austria, led a study to determine whether grapefruit seed extract could treat infections such as strep throat and, if so, why. He found that most of the grapefruit seed extract supplements he tested contained chemicals, including the disinfectant benzethonium chloride. Only the chemical-added grapefruit seed supplements possessed anti-microbial powers, according to Ganzera's findings, published in March 2006 in the "Journal of Agriculture of Food Chemistry." Similar studies conducted in the United States, Sweden, Japan and Germany reached similar conclusions, according to O'Mathuna.

Lack of Regulation

A product label may not tell you whether your grapefruit seed extract supplement contains chemicals. So you can't tell without experimenting on yourself whether your home remedy for a strep infection will work. Unless properly treated, strep throat can lead to rheumatic fever, which can cause damage to your heart valves as well as inflamed joints. You should seek medical treatment for a strep throat infection rather than self-medicating with grapefruit seed extract product.

Precautions

Both properties in grapefruit and in benzethonium chloride, a chemical found in some supplements, inhibit your body's ability to metabolize drugs. You could end up with too much of a drug in your system, increasing your risk for serious, even fatal side effects. Grapefruit poses dangerous interactions with a long list of medications, including birth control pills, statins used to treat cholesterol, some antidepressants and some anti-anxiety drugs.