On the Yahoo home page today was an article about juices such as grapefruit, apple and orange.

It does state in this article that for the last 20 years it has been known that grapefruit juice can increase the potency of some drugs, leading to risk of overdose. The reason for this being that grapefruit juice can override the intestinal enzyme that inhibits absorption.

This enzyme belongs to a family of enzymes called the cytochrome P-450 system. A particular enzyme in this familly CYP 3A4 can increase the potency of a drug by letting more of the drug become absorbed into the bloodstream. Whereas naringin, ( which gives grapefruit it’s bitter taste ) appears to block the way the body moves the drug from the small intestine into the blood stream.

I Know plenty of people who generally only buy fruit juice if they are already feeling unwell, rushing out to get a carton of orange juice, pineapple, apple e.t.c

These can make your stomach feel a bit acidic if drunk in large quantities especially if your body is not used to it. I can accross a fab juice drink recently that I buy from Lidl. It is an organic fruit juice manufactured by a company called Fresh Meadow.  A 500ml carton cost 59p and the ingredients list is great:

Tomato juice 56%, carrot juice 28%, beetroot juice 8%, celery juice 3%, saurkraut juice 3%, sea salt, leek, cress, parsley juice, lemon juice

At 94kcal per carton this is a great little carton of good for you juice!

How many times ( ladies ) have you gone to the doctors for anti-biotics and been told that ” if you are on the pill you will need to use an altenative form of contraception as anti-biotics can stop the effectiveness of taking the pill”. I have been told this on far fewer occasions than I have recieved a prescription for anti-biotics.  Also do the doctors tell that if you take medication to cure thrush it may well lead to cystisis.

I am lucky never to have suffered the discomfort of cystisis as I am am sure it is bloody uncomfortable but I know that thrush ( again lucky here, have rarely been bothered by it ) can be cured quickly & very effectively by natural yoghurt.

With the world wide web at our fingertips we can generally find natural alternatives to many common ailments.

I am, and have been for several years been against taking antibiotics, yes they were an increadible finding but massive overuse has rendered them at times useless and at the least lowered their effectiveness as humans in the western world have been building up a natural resistance to them after using anti-biotics for so many years. Now at the onset of a cold, sore throat or flu like symptoms I eat as much raw garlic as I can and generally by the time I wake the next day any nasty symptoms have subsided.  As garlic is such a strong natural anti-biotic I do have garlic prepared in my fridge for such occasions. Once a year I will buy several garlic bulbs and spend a while skinning all the cloves and then putting them into olive oil, this can be flavoured with what ever you like, just add any favorite herbs or use a flavoured oil.  After about 2 -3 weeks in the frige the garlic is less hard and it sweetens  making it a lot more palateable. If onset of a nasty cold seems imminant I will usually consume 6 - 10 garlic cloves sipping a warm drink containing honey & fresh ginger inbetween. I have not had ” a bad lingering cold for years “.

So now back to the point of fruit juices & presciption drugs:

On the Yahoo article today it mentioned a case where volunteers took anti- histamine with a glass of grapefruit juice. Now the majority of meds that I am aware of, if not all recomend that the medication is taken with a glass of water, thefore allowing the meds to get into the bloodstream.

I think the important things to remember if taking medication is to read the label, take as directed, and avoid taking prescription medication unnessesarily.  Look for herbal or alternative options & use them if possible and if you have a good balanced diet containing enough fresh fruit and vegetables daily, you are likely to be able to steer clear of problems with your heart, ( if you don’t smoke of course ) high cholesterol, diabetes, cancer e.t.c