Your dietary choices play a crucial role in your treatment journey. Certain foods can interact negatively with medications, potentially causing adverse effects. It’s essential to recognize and avoid these foods to ensure the effectiveness of your medications and to prevent complications.
Foods to Avoid While Taking Brilinta
When taking Brilinta, it’s important to be mindful of your diet since this medication aims to reduce heart attack and stroke risks linked to blood clots. Certain foods can negatively impact Brilinta’s efficacy or increase its side effects.
In this article, we’ll explore several foods to avoid while taking Brilinta. Continue reading to learn more.
Avoid Grapefruit Juice with Brilinta
One of the critical interactions to be aware of is between Brilinta and grapefruit juice. Grapefruit juice can inhibit an enzyme in your body needed to metabolize Brilinta. As a result, consuming grapefruit juice while on Brilinta can increase your risk of bleeding. Always seek personalized advice from your healthcare provider.
In a clinical study involving ten healthy participants, participants took a 90 mg dose of ticagrelor with 200 ml of grapefruit juice or water thrice daily for four days.
The study found that grapefruit juice significantly raised ticagrelor’s plasma levels and its antiplatelet activity. This is likely because grapefruit juice inhibits ticagrelor’s first-pass metabolism by CYP3A4, mainly in the intestines. Thus, researchers recommend completely avoiding grapefruit juice during Brilinta treatment.
Even taking Brilinta at a different time won’t prevent the interaction, as the effects can last for over 24 hours. Therefore, it’s advisable to avoid grapefruit and its juice entirely while on this medication.
Are Green Vegetables Safe with Brilinta?
On the other hand, green leafy vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, and kale, which are high in vitamin K, are safe to consume while taking Brilinta. These nutrient-rich foods don’t interfere with Brilinta and may be beneficial during your treatment.
Vitamin K plays a crucial role in blood clotting. Eating foods rich in vitamin K is safe and can support your treatment regimen while you’re on Brilinta.
Other Dietary Considerations with Brilinta
According to your doctor’s instructions, you can take Brilinta with or without food, but it’s important to maintain a consistent schedule. Besides grapefruit and grapefruit juice, no other foods are currently known to affect Brilinta’s effectiveness.