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Research: NEUMANN describes the
Listed in Issue 85
Abstract
NEUMANN describes the metabolic effects and drug interactions of grapefruit, St John's wort, and garlic .
Background
Methodology
Results
Grapefruit, largely drunk as juice, contains vitamin C and other antioxidants (lycopene, lemonoids and naringine). It is a metabolic inhibitor of medicinal substances that constitute a target for the enzyme CYP 3A4 and glycoprotein P in enterocytes . It affects drugs with a strong intestinal metabolic first pass effect and reduces their oral bioavailability.
St John's wort is used in neuropsychiatry, dermatology and rheumatology . It is often prescribed as an antidepressant for mild to moderate depression. It contains photosensitising substances, which at high dose or during prolonged exposure may cause intense dermatitis . Therefore the European Agency for drug assessment and the French Medicines Agency have decreed that all preparations of this herb must be labelled with a warning against drug interactions.
Garlic is used by herbalists for its diuretic, antiseptic, stimulating and sudorific properties .
Conclusion
References
Neumann M. Metabolic effects and drug interactions provoked by certain vegetables: grapefruit, St John's wort and garlic. La Presse Medicale 31 (30): 1416 – 1422, Sep 2002.
Comment
Treating grapefruit juice and garlic as dangerous substances is as barmy as banning parents from photographing or filming their children in their nativity plays, a ruling recently enacted by an Edinburgh school council to supposedly prevent paedophiles getting hold of the photos of videos. Is this where we are really heading – to have health warnings on all our common foods?
