The administration of oral medications is usually the quick way to remedy the discomfort felt due to a virus or an occasional ailment. Although all drugs are accompanied by a leaflet, which indicates the appropriate doses and their possible adverse effects, among other guidelines, it is not always given the attention it deserves.
In the leaflet, you can also read when it is best to consume the medication to achieve maximum effectiveness. In some cases, such as paracetamol, it is indicated that it must be taken on an empty stomach in the morning or a few hours after eating. In others, such as ibuprofen, it is better to accompany it with food. To avoid these confusions, the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) has prepared a report that helps understand the effects of food on the intake of different medications.
The OCU indicates that some drugs should be taken on an empty stomach, one or two hours after eating or on an empty stomach in the morning. This is because, as with paracetamol, food can delay the absorption of the active ingredient of the medicine and take longer to reach the small intestine.
Another way in which food affects the intake of some drugs is that it can reduce their absorption to the point of producing therapeutic failure and canceling their effect, as occurs with the thyroid hormone levothyroxine.
Paracetamol - an analgesic and antipyretic medication to relieve pain and fever - is an example of a drug that is best consumed on an empty stomach or one or two hours after eating. The OCU reports that "in order for it to begin to take effect as soon as possible, it is important that it is also absorbed as soon as possible and, therefore, it is better to take it on an empty stomach." Specifically, the paracetamol label specifies that this is especially important if it is a meal rich in carbohydrates.
Likewise, the leaflet of some medications warns that they cannot be combined with certain foods and drinks "due to their components that could alter their correct functioning," confirms the organization.
A common drink in the warnings on the package inserts of many medications is grapefruit juice. This juice causes the result of the drug to be the same as if we had taken a much higher dose than expected, because it prevents the medications from undergoing the necessary transformation for their subsequent elimination from the body.
Furthermore, the OCU warns that "many of the medications with which grapefruit juice interacts are already high-risk medications, so in these cases the interaction with grapefruit can become very toxic." This is what happens with some statins (simvastatin, atorvastatin, lovastatin) that are used for the treatment of cholesterol where it is observed that grapefruit juice increases the muscle damage they can cause.
Alcohol is another classic example of beverages that can cause toxic effects and malfunction if mixed with drugs. It is scientifically proven that alcoholic beverages should not be drunk when being treated with sedative and anxiolytic medications, or opioid analgesics. Neither with paracetamol, nor with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, nor with the antibiotic metronidazole, among others.
On other occasions, the package inserts indicate that the medications must be taken during or after food, as some increase their absorption thanks to food (as happens with the antibiotic nitrofurantoin). Likewise, sometimes they not only absorb more, but they do so more quickly (for example, with the antiarrhythmic amiodarone).
Another reason, according to the organization, is that taking the drug with food can "minimize gastrointestinal discomfort that can cause side effects" as is the case with the antidiabetic drug metformin and the famous non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, diclofenac, naproxen, aspirin, etc.".
