Did you know.. Liptor and Grapefruit Juice..Don't Mix!

Grapefruit Juice + Lipitor = Death
Dr. Mercola's website has devoted an incredible amount of space to cataloging the toxic effects drugs can have on your health. Since this blog is all about keeping toxins away, I felt the need to post this. This is so sad.. think of the fatal effect, for example, a statin drug can have when it interacts with fresh grapefruit juice?

Drinking grapefruit juice can be deadly for people who take certain medications, according to a recent paper. In one case, a "snowbird" retiree who was living in Florida for the winter died two months after he arrived. Physicians believe the two to three glasses of fresh grapefruit juice he drank every day caused a fatal interaction with the dose of Lipitor he took.

The patient profiled in the article had high cholesterol and other risk factors for cardiac disease. Subsequently, the doctor put the patient on Lipitor, and the patient began dieting and exercising. Two months after the patient went to Florida for the winter, he suddenly had muscle pain, fatigue and fever, and went to the emergency room. The patient ended up going into kidney failure and ultimately died.

Although experts recognize the problem, they're concerned many layman and health care professionals still don't understand the risk. Nevertheless, the FDA requires all prospective new drugs to be tested for interactions with grapefruit juice. And a warning about grapefruit juice is included in the "food-drug interactions" that come with dozens of medications.

Grapefruit juice is one of the foods most likely to cause problems with drugs, because it is metabolized by the same enzyme in the liver that breaks down many drugs. When the system is overloaded, scientists said, the grapefruit juice can "swamp" the system, keeping the liver busy and blocking it from breaking down drugs and other substances.

The most severe effects, scientists say, are likely with some statins. While the liver devotes its resources to grapefruit juice, the medication can build up to dangerous levels, causing a breakdown of the body's muscles and even kidney failure.

Just another great reason to consider eating a better diet & supplementing instead of taking a statin drug to treat your high cholesterol.
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