Red grapefruit consumption may help improve your cholesterol levels. Since cholesterol and blood pressure are linked -- both affect the condition of your arteries and blood flow to your heart and other vital organs -- consuming ruby red grapefruit may benefit your cardiovascular health. Do not consume grapefruit or grapefruit juice -- the ruby red variety or any other type -- if you are taking calcium channel blocker blood pressure medication. The combination may cause serious side effects.
Study
Drinking ruby red grapefruit may lower your triglycerides, a type of fat that can clog your arteries and contribute to high blood pressure, according to a Hebrew University of Jerusalem study led by Shela Gorinstein. The study, published in the "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry" in March 2006, looked at the effects of grapefruit consumption on 57 men and women. After consuming grapefruit for a month, the participants of Gorinstein's study all experienced a reduction in triglycerides. Red grapefruit proved most effective in lowering triglycerides. So drinking Ruby Red grapefruit may help unclog your arteries, reducing high blood pressure.
Grapefruit Juice and Drugs
Ruby red grapefruit juice -- as well as all forms of grapefruit juice and grapefruit -- can cause deleterious side effects when combined with many medications, including some blood pressure medications. Grapefruit reduces the ability of your body's CYP34A enzyme to metabolize drugs. Not all drugs react to grapefruit in the same way. But a type of blood pressure medication called calcium channel blockers can reach dangerous levels in your bloodstream if you take it with ruby red grapefruit juice or grapefruit in any form. Side effects could prove fatal.
Calcium Channel Blockers
Calcium channel blockers are a type of medication designed to be metabolized by the CYP34A enzyme. Calcium channel blockers prevent calcium from entering your blood vessels. This lowers your blood pressure. If you combine calcium channel blockers with Ruby Red grapefruit juice, the medication may not metabolize properly. You may end up with an overdose of calcium channel blockers in your system. Your blood pressure could drop to dangerous levels and your heart could stop beating. If you drink just one glass of ruby red grapefruit juice with calcium channel blockers, it could slow the metabolism of the drug by 47 percent, according to the Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide.
Considerations
Statins, medications that help lower cholesterol, interact adversely with grapefruit. If you take statins to treat high cholesterol, do not take them with ruby red grapefruit juice or grapefruit in any form. Grapefruit and grapefruit juice increase the risk of side effects, including muscle pain, liver damage and muscle damage. In extreme cases, muscle damage from statins leads to kidney failure. You should also not drink ruby red grapefruit juice if you take birth control pills and some types of antidepressants, among a long list of drugs. If you take any type of medication or dietary supplement, ask your doctor about possible interactions with grapefruit.
References
- "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry"; Red Grapefruit Positively Influences Serium Triglyceride Level in Patients Suffering From Coronary Atherosclerosis: Studies in Vitro and in Humans; Shela Gorinstein et al; March 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
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Drug Treatments -- Statins; Oct. 31 2006
