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Comment by lioeters | Hacker News Reader

Not sure it's relevant but.. The last couple of months I've been eating kilos of grapefruits - I like it peeled, parted, and frozen. I feel that it's improving my bodily health, inside (digestive system) and out (skin), and also my mind somehow. I'm learning several new languages (programming and human) in parallel, and it seems like my thoughts have become more clear and precise, as well as nimble. What I'm realizing is that my whole life I've been lacking fruits, just because I never liked eating them - but I found that I love frozen grapefruits, it's delicious. Weird.

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For many people taking a range of medications, especially mental-related medications, eating grapefruit can cause a large range of negative side effects. Several medications will become inert in the presence of citric acid and vitamin C. Oranges, if eaten at the appropriate times during their medication regimen (usually an hour after or before medication), is usually safe. Fiber is also important, but it can also absorb medications and render them inert if taken at the wrong times. Fiber is usually safe two hours before or after medication, which can be difficult to orchestrate, depending on medication regimens.

Wouldn't that be the Furanocoumarin not the vitamin c?

This topic has its own Wikipedia entry:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapefruit%E2%80%93drug_intera...

This is the first I have ever read about fiber causing issues with medications.

What effects does fiber have on certain medications and why? Does it slow the absorption rate due to the medication being dispersed in the fiber?

It’s not the fiber. Grapefruit contains furanocoumarins which inhibit the action of the liver enzyme CYP3A4. That particular enzyme breaks down most medications.

Thank you for the warning. Fortunately I'm not taking any medications these days, but in case I do in the future, I'll keep in mind the interaction with grapefruits.

> Here’s a brief and incomplete list of some of the medications that research indicates get screwed up by grapefruit:

    Benzodiazepines (Xanax, Klonopin, and Valium)
    Amphetamines (Adderall and Ritalin)
    Anti-anxiety SSRIs (Zoloft and Paxil)
    Cholesterol-lowering statins (Lipitor and Crestor)
    Erectile-dysfunction drugs (Cialis and Viagra)
    Various over-the-counter meds (Tylenol, Allegra, and Prilosec)
    And about a hundred others.

> In some of these cases, the grapefruit interaction is not a big deal, because they’re safe drugs and even having several times the normal dosage is not particularly dangerous. In other cases, it’s exceedingly dangerous.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/grapefruit-history-and...

Fresh grapefruit is fantastic, the problem is that the s** that they sell in the grocery stores is not fresh. It's picked far too early and then artificially ripened in transit.

Never tried frozen though.

I never really liked a lot of fruits except some berries until I had them local and in season while traveling. It's like different food. Idk why that crap even gets sold sometimes.

Glad you found a missing link on your diet. Be aware that grapefruit can interact with some medications. Just make sure to check if you're eating that much.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/grapefruit-history-and...

The bland URL doesn't do that article justice, this is a great read.

Thanks for the entertaining and informative article.

How fun to learn about Kimball Chase Atwood, who started Atwood the Grapefruit Company, planting 16000 grapefruit trees "with an annual production of 80,000 boxes of fruit."

Wow, I thought I was weird for eating so much grapefruit, but this guy went all in..

Have you tried the giant pomelos? Good pomelos are very easy to peel and the skin comes right off the pink flesh, and have perfectly tart and sweet flavor. Much better than ordinary grapefruit. I ate these daily when I lived in Asia.

Thanks for the recommendation! I had never heard of pomelos - from what I read, they're likely "ancestors" of grapefruits. It sounds good, I will definitely try it.

do you find them sour? Perhaps frozen it would be less so but I can't eat grapefruit without making some crazy faces. And I generally like sour flavors.

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