Grapefruit seed extract with paracetamol
January 2, 2012 | 10,00 EUR | answered by Dr. med. Kathrin Hamann
Hello,
I have an important question for me and that is, I once heard that you should not take grapefruit seed extract together with medication. The following: on Saturday morning I took 12 drops of grapefruit seed extract drops from Aurica, and again in the evening at half past twelve. 12 hours later, on Sunday at half past twelve, I took a 1000mg paracetamol suppository. Now it's already Monday afternoon, and I am unfortunately an anxious patient and I am very worried that the interval between taking the medication was too short. I read that GSE would block an enzyme which is important for the breakdown of medications, so I am afraid that I could now get liver damage or something similar, or are my fears unfounded? By the way, I do not have any other illnesses and I also do not take any other medications.
Best regards and thank you
Dear questioner,
I would like to reassure you. Taking grapefruit seed extracts, especially drinking grapefruit juice, is not advisable with certain medications. The active substances in grapefruit and grapefruit extract strongly interfere with liver metabolism. The enzyme cytochrome P450 is inhibited in its activity. Since this enzyme is responsible for the breakdown and metabolism of various medications, life-threatening overdoses or underdoses can occur as a result of this inhibition. Medications affected by this include blood lipid-lowering agents, heart and blood pressure medications, antifungal substances, cytostatics, immunosuppressants, and hormones. Paracetamol is not included in this list. A breakdown metabolite of paracetamol is metabolized via cytochrome P450. If this system is disturbed, the further pathway is intercepted by glutathione and directed towards further disposal.
Glutathione is only available in limited amounts in the liver, but since the intake of paracetamol was a one-time occurrence, it can be assumed that your glutathione level is sufficient to break down all relevant metabolites.
Please do not worry, you can ensure with a liver function test in 14 days.
By the way, here is an interesting link for you about the effects of grapefruit:
http://www.candida-info.de/medikamente/grapefruitkernextrakt-gke/#Grapefruits_und_Medikamente
All the best and a healthy new year.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. K. Hamann
