High blood pressure increases your risk of cardiovascular disease. If diet and lifestyle changes do not effectively lower your blood pressure, your doctor may prescribe medication. Nifedipine is a blood pressure medication in the class of drugs known as calcium channel blockers. Do not consume grapefruit products -- including grapefruit juice -- if you take nifedine or other calcium channel blockers. Potentially life-threatening side effects might occur.
Grapefruit and Blood Pressure Drugs
Grapefruit slows your body's CYP34A enzyme, a protein that metabolizes drugs. You end up with more medication in your system than intended. This increases your risk for side effects. If nifediine -- or other channel blockers -- become elevated in your bloodstream, your blood pressure may drop to dangerous levels. Your heart may stop. Drinking as little as one glass of grapefruit with nifedipine increases your risk of serious side effects.
Calcium Channel Blockers
Calcium channel blockers such as nifedipine and felodipine prevent the calcium in your blood from entering your blood vessels and heart. Without calcium, your blood pressure drops. Do not take nifedipine or any kind of calcium channel blocker with grapefruit or grapefruit products such as grapefruit weight loss supplements and grapefruit seed extract, sometimes used to treat infections. Some grapefruit seed extracts contain chemicals that can, like grapefruit, prevent your body from properly metabolizing nifedipine.
Statins
If you have high blood pressure that requires a drug such as nifedipine, you might also have high cholesterol -- one problem often leads to the other. If your doctor prescribes statins for cholesterol, do not combine the medication with grapefruit or grapefruit products. If you take grapefruit with statins, you face an increased risk of serious such effects, including muscle damage. Not all blood pressure medications and not all cholesterol medications interact adversely with grapefruit.
Other Drug Interactions
Talk to your doctor and your pharmacist -- and read labels on prescription bottles -- before combining grapefruit or grapefruit products with any medication. The long list of medications known to react with grapefruit include some oral contraceptives, antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications, immunosuppressants, antihistamines and sleeping pills. The list may grow as medications are studied and side effects reported.
References
- The Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide: Grapefruit and Medication: A Cautionary Note
- MayoClinic.com; Calcium Channel Blockers; Dec. 16 2010
- "The New York Times"; Experts Reveal the Secret Powers of Grapefruit Juice; Nicholas Bakalar; March 21, 2006
- American Heart Association: About High Blood Pressure
- "The Sun"; Killer Grapefruit Alert To Slimmers; Emma Morton; April 3, 2009
- "The Irish Times"; Peel Back the Hype; Donal O'Mathuna; March 24, 2009
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