The weather is getting cold, grapefruit, oranges, oranges and become the seasonal “fruit class leader”. But did you know that eating fruit also has a careful Oh, especially cardiovascular disease patients, before feasting, may wish to first look at, how to eat fruit. It is very tempting to look at, but eating up may bring “sweet burden” Oh. Can people who take statins eat grapefruit? Can people who take statins eat grapefruit? The recommendation is: don’t eat it as much as possible, but if you really like to eat it, you can stagger it with your medication. For example, if you take a statin in the morning and a grapefruit in the evening, it is best not to take too much. Not only statins, but also many other drugs such as felodipine and nifedipine, are not suitable for patients taking these drugs. Why is this? After taking statins, they are absorbed into the blood through the digestive tract and then broken down in the liver or kidneys, detoxified and excreted from the body. However, grapefruit contains naringin and furanocoumarins, which can inhibit the metabolic clearance of these drugs, thus increasing the concentration of the drugs in the blood and increasing the risk of serious side effects (e.g. liver damage, muscle damage, etc.). Some statins (e.g. simvastatin and atorvastatin) are catabolized in the liver, a process that requires the involvement of an enzyme, cytochrome P450 3A4. If the activity of this enzyme is inhibited, the statin will not be broken down efficiently in a timely manner and will accumulate in the body, which increases the risk of adverse reactions. Grapefruit (mainly grapefruit) contains chemicals such as grapefruit glycosides and furanocoumarins, which significantly inhibit the activity of cytochrome P450 3A4 and thus affect the catabolism of the above-mentioned statin. If you eat a lot of grapefruit while taking atorvastatin or simvastatin, you may significantly increase the concentration of statin in your body, which makes you more prone to various side effects. That is why it is best not to eat grapefruit or even other grapefruit when taking statin. Can I eat oranges, tangerines and other fruits after taking statin? Oranges, oranges, lemons, etc. are different species of the genus Citrus from grapefruit and therefore have many commonalities, including certain chemicals. Some studies have found that oranges, mandarins, southern oranges and other fruits also contain a certain amount of naringin and furanocoumarins, but their content is significantly lower than that of grapefruit (grapefruit), so in general, oranges and oranges do not have a significant effect on the metabolism of the aforementioned drugs. However, for some high-risk groups (e.g., advanced age, reduced liver and kidney function, simultaneous use of multiple drugs, thin body type, etc.), excessive consumption of fruits such as oranges and tangerines still have the potential to affect drug metabolism. Therefore, patients who are applying drugs that are metabolized via the P450 3A4 pathway should try to avoid taking drugs in orange juice or orange juice, or eating too many oranges or tangerines after taking statins to reduce the risk of adverse drug reactions. For most people, consuming small amounts of fruit such as oranges and tangerines after taking statins is generally not a problem. Nevertheless, you should try to avoid eating them at the same time for a period of time in your daily life. By the way, I would like to remind you of a problem: some Chinese herbal medicines (such as bone marrow, angelica dahurica, foxglove, rock foreskin, white cloud flower, periwinkle, etc.) also contain higher amounts of furanocoumarins, and even their content is higher than that of grapefruit, so patients taking statins or antihypertensive drugs such as nifedipine should be careful to consult their doctors when applying herbal treatments to avoid increasing the risk of adverse reactions.