By Susan Enfield | Illustrations by Chris Pyle
Syour Rxupplement A
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HOW DRUGS AND NUTRIENTS INTERACT
mericans are taking more prescription drugs than ever—along with more supplements. So it’s natural that questions about drug-nutrient interactions are also on the rise. Nearly half of Americans of all ages, and nine out of ten older Americans, now take at least one prescription drug, according to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). And more than half of American adults now take at least one dietary supplement, with multivitamins being the most common, according to a new CDC-sponsored study. “Drugs are powerful substances that tend to work by blocking one pathway in the body,” says Robert
Rountree, MD, Delicious Living’s medical editor and coauthor of the Clinical Natural Medicine Handbook (Mary Ann Liebert, 2008). “Tere’s a significant chance of an unexpected side effect. Often, you need to take a dietary supplement to replace depleted nutrients or protect against organ damage.” Some nutrients can even enhance drugs’ effectiveness, says Leo Galland, MD, director of the Foundation
for Integrated Medicine and founder of
pilladvised.com. “But doctors are apprehensive about combinations of supplements and drugs because of mostly anecdotal reports of negative interactions. Te supplement becomes the presumed culprit.”
Deciphering the data Certainly, some drugs and supplements don’t mix well. Te blood-thinning heart drug warfarin, or Coumadin, for instance, has the greatest number of actual and potential interactions with statin drugs, other blood thinners from aspirin to ginkgo, and even vitamin E, says Galland. And herbal St. John’s wort alters the action of several drugs, including birth control pills, and can cause toxicity when taken with SSRI antidepressants such as Prozac. With most negative supplement-drug interactions, the supplement affects blood levels of a drug, says
Galland: It either interferes with absorption, alters metabolism, or changes the way the drug is excreted. “Let your doctors know what supplements you’re taking,” Galland advises—something he says most people don’t do, partly because they’re worried they’ll be told to stop taking them—and tell them before you stop or start any supplement. And go over the literature for any new prescription with your pharmacist, he adds. At the same time, do your own homework. “Doctors aren’t taught much about nutrition or drug-nutrient
depletion,” says Hyla Cass, MD, author of Supplement Your Prescription (Basic Health, 2007). What’s more, most official drug-nutrient interaction resources tend to leave out synergistic combinations, says Galland. He spent years creating
pilladvised.com, an online database where you can enter prescriptions along with dietary nutrients you take and see clinical study digests documenting potential interactions, good and bad. For each individual, especially the elderly or anyone taking several medications, specific reactions will be unique, says Galland. Here are some of the most common interactions, along with tips on how to navigate them. ➻
30 deliciousliving | june 2012
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