If I take a medicine with orange or lemon juice, or coke, does it change the effect or power of the medicine?

Question

If I take a medicine with orange or lemon juice, or coke, does it change the effect or power of the medicine?

Answer 1

  NO !

Answer 2

  Grape fruit juice can seriously increase the effect of some medicines.

Answer 3

It depends on the medication.  It is true that your stomach is already very acidic, but you can easily affect the pH (acidity) by eating or drinking certain foods.  Many drugs are themselves acids or bases; amphetamine, for instance, is a weak base and it will be partially neutralized by the acid in your stomach.  The more acid in your stomach, the more amphetamine will be neutralized.  Taking your morning Adderall with a big glass of orange juice, a cup of coffee and an omelette with spicy salsa will increase the acidity of your stomach and decrease the drug's power.  If you take a drug that is a weak acid with an antacid like calcium carbonate or magnesium hydroxide (milk of magnesia) you will neutralize it.

Many fruits have other compounds that interfere with certain drugs.  Grapefruit is well known to interact with a large number of drugs.  Grapefruit does this by interfering with an enzyme that metabolizes many drugs, so the effect is not because of the acidity of the fruit but because of other molecules that are present.  Talk to your pharmacist to find out about interactions with specific drugs.  Many drugs work best or cause fewer side effects when taken with a meal or with a full glass of water, but you may want to avoid certain foods.  Anything that has a big effect on the pH of your stomach is something you might want to avoid unless you are sure that pH is not an issue.  Spicy foods, coffee, citrus fruits and juices and alcohol can decrease the pH of your stomach (make it more acidic) and certain mineral supplements like calcium and magnesium may be in the form of a basic salt—an ionic compound that makes the pH of a solution more basic.

EDIT:

I just came across this link describing a new study which shows that several different fruit juices block the absorption of certain drugs:  

http://www.sciam.com/podcast/episode.cfm...

Answer 4

It probably would.

Answer 5

no those are very acidic drinks though and will help disslove the medicine quicker thus making it effective quicker!

Answer 6

No.  You're concerned about the pH changes these cause, right?  The stomach is highly acid with or without them.   The intestines are basic.  So what you're taking with it doesn't have much effect, if any.  Eating sometimes helps to reduce a nausea side effect, and eating a big meal, especially fatty ones, can slow medicine absorption, but that's about the strongest effect unless there are specific warnings.