Do not take the tablets with milk or fruit juice

Do not take pills with milk or fruit juice

12/01/2012

Medicines in the form of tablets should always be taken with water. Under no circumstances are alcohol, milk or fruit juices for taking pills, as the Hessian Pharmacist Association in Offenbach announced. There is a risk of loss of the active substance or side effects.

Tablets should always be taken with clear water. The effects can be negatively changed not only by alcohol but also by juices or milk. For example, some antibiotic medicines (antibiotics) lose or change their potency when patients swallow the pill with milk.

Not only a hoped-for effect can be missed, but also unwanted side effects can be increased. This applies in particular to medicines for heart disease, lipid metabolism disorders or hypertension, as reported by the Hessian Pharmacist Association.

Women who use birth control pills should abstain from the natural remedy St. John's Wort, „as these can also cancel the effect.“ Patients receiving blood thinners should generally be wary of foods containing high levels of vitamin K. „These include e.g. Broccoli, flower or Brussels sprouts, lettuce, liver, asparagus and spinach.“ so the association. In principle, it is also not recommended to take medicines with grapefruit or grapefruit juice, „as these influence the mode of action in various ways.“

Pharmacists in Hesse have a reconnaissance action entitled „Interactions are not funny“ started and ask for better advice. „Especially patients who are using a certain medicine for the first time should inform themselves in the pharmacy, if special precautions should be taken“, explained the deputy. Chair of the Hessian Pharmacist Association, Hans Rudolf Diefenbach. (Sb)

Image: Jetti Kuhlemann