Monday, May 29, 2006
Science News has a short blurb mentioning that they've found out exactly what it is that makes it a bad idea to eat grapefruit or drink grapefruit juice when taking certain medications. Lipitor, for example, and the other statins, which most of us with almost any heart problem seem to be taking. So anyway, it turns out to be certain compounds called furanocoumarins, which are in grapefruit juice but not in other citrus juices, that are the metabolism-interfering compounds. Since the furanocoumarins can be filtered out of grapefruit juice, this may mean that in the not too distant future, those of us on medication can start drinking grapefruit juice for breakfast again! Whee! Don't know as there's any way to do that with fresh grapefruit, though; I guess we'll have to keep on eating those high-in-potassium canteloupe halves instead of grapefruit halves. Oh well.
