Drug Problems
Fruits and veggies interact with drugs. Who would have thought?
The topic of the above linked article is grapefruit juice (a very nice digestive aid because it is so acidic so you absorb what you eat) and how it reduces the recommended dose of a drug because you absorb more.
For a long time, the medical profession has had it both ways--medicine changes your body-mind chemistry but food just feeds you and, even more wrong, it doesn't matter what you eat.
Alternative doctors, like Mr. Dr. and me, have long used food as medicine. Guess what? Organic food and food based supplements don't cause side effects and reactions because your body recognizes them and knows how best to use them. That doesn't mean they don't change your body chemistry, because they do. Just because there is no pain (side-effects) doesn't mean there is no gain.
Medicines are unnatural and the body views them as invaders and tries to excrete them any way possible. That is why liver and kidney problems follow prolonged drug use--it doesn't matter what drug, either. From the Pill to Penicillin, the body gets forced and manipulated and doesn't like it.
So, yes food and medicine interact. Some foods are acidic, some alkaline. That one factor alone will significantly change your chemistry. Some foods contain salicylates (the compound that makes up aspirin) and so are natural pain killers and blood thinners--apples, for example.
It is not shocking to me that drugs and food interact. What is shocking is that researchers are finally looking into the topic because it is so obvious to health doctors who receive nutrition education. (Medical doctors don't. They learn about pharmacology to the almost complete exclusion of nutrition.)
Here's the funny part: the recommendations coming out of this research won't include avoiding the drug. Oh no! The recommendation won't be eat more apples and lay off the aspirin. Oh no! The recommendations will be: don't eat apples (or drink grapefruit juice or whatever) while taking aspirin. This advice implies that the synthetic foreign substance (medication) belongs in the body while the natural, health-building food with no side-effects does not.
Could there be a more screwy perspective?
The topic of the above linked article is grapefruit juice (a very nice digestive aid because it is so acidic so you absorb what you eat) and how it reduces the recommended dose of a drug because you absorb more.
For a long time, the medical profession has had it both ways--medicine changes your body-mind chemistry but food just feeds you and, even more wrong, it doesn't matter what you eat.
Alternative doctors, like Mr. Dr. and me, have long used food as medicine. Guess what? Organic food and food based supplements don't cause side effects and reactions because your body recognizes them and knows how best to use them. That doesn't mean they don't change your body chemistry, because they do. Just because there is no pain (side-effects) doesn't mean there is no gain.
Medicines are unnatural and the body views them as invaders and tries to excrete them any way possible. That is why liver and kidney problems follow prolonged drug use--it doesn't matter what drug, either. From the Pill to Penicillin, the body gets forced and manipulated and doesn't like it.
So, yes food and medicine interact. Some foods are acidic, some alkaline. That one factor alone will significantly change your chemistry. Some foods contain salicylates (the compound that makes up aspirin) and so are natural pain killers and blood thinners--apples, for example.
It is not shocking to me that drugs and food interact. What is shocking is that researchers are finally looking into the topic because it is so obvious to health doctors who receive nutrition education. (Medical doctors don't. They learn about pharmacology to the almost complete exclusion of nutrition.)
Here's the funny part: the recommendations coming out of this research won't include avoiding the drug. Oh no! The recommendation won't be eat more apples and lay off the aspirin. Oh no! The recommendations will be: don't eat apples (or drink grapefruit juice or whatever) while taking aspirin. This advice implies that the synthetic foreign substance (medication) belongs in the body while the natural, health-building food with no side-effects does not.
Could there be a more screwy perspective?
posted by Melissa Clouthier at 7:38 AM
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