Food-drug interactions

Drugs may interfere with or enhance the utilization of nutrients, sometimes leading to imbalances. A common example is the increased loss of potassium that results from the use of certain diuretics to treat high blood pressure. Nutrient absorption can also be affected by drugs that change the acidity of the gastrointestinal tract, alter digestive function, or actually bind to nutrients. For example, regular use of laxatives, antacids, or mineral oil can reduce nutrient absorption and over time may lead to deficiency. Elderly individuals who take multiple medicines are particularly at risk of impaired nutritional status.

On the other hand, foods can alter drug absorption or interact with drugs in undesirable ways, resulting in drug ineffectiveness or toxicity. For example, protein and vitamin B₆ interfere with the effectiveness of levodopa, used to treat Parkinson disease. Tyramine, an amino-acid derivative found in certain aged cheeses and red wines, may cause hypertension in individuals being treated for depression with monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors. Grapefruit juice contains unique substances that can block the breakdown of some drugs, thereby affecting their absorption and effectiveness. These drugs include certain cholesterol-lowering statins, calcium channel blockers, anticonvulsant agents, estrogen, antihistamines, protease inhibitors, immunosuppressants, antifungal drugs, and psychiatric medications. Eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice within a few hours or even a few days of taking these medications could result in unintended consequences.

Vitamin and mineral supplements and herbal products can also interact with medicines. For example, one or more of the supplemental antioxidants studied—vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, and selenium—may blunt the effectiveness of certain drugs (e.g., high-dose niacin, when used in combination with statins) in raising HDL cholesterol levels and improving cardiovascular health. Also, the herbal supplement St. John’s wort can alter the metabolism of drugs such as protease inhibitors, anticlotting drugs, and antidepressants, and it can reduce the effectiveness of oral contraceptives.

Food allergies and intolerances

A true food allergy involves an abnormal immunologic response to an otherwise harmless food component, usually a protein. In the case of antibody-mediated (immediate hypersensitivity) food allergies, within minutes or hours of exposure to the allergen, the body produces specific immunoglobulin E antibodies and releases chemical mediators such as histamine, resulting in gastrointestinal, skin, or respiratory symptoms ranging from mild to life-threatening. Much less common are cell-mediated (delayed hypersensitivity) food allergies, in which a localized inflammatory process and other symptoms may not start for up to a day. Adverse food reactions that do not involve the immune system, aside from foodborne infection or poisoning, are called food intolerances or sensitivities. Most common of these is lactose intolerance, which is a genetically determined deficiency of the enzyme lactase that is needed to digest the milk sugar, lactose.

Milk allergy and lactose intolerance are distinct conditions that are often confused. Only about 1 percent of the population has a true allergy to the protein in cow’s milk. Milk allergy is found most often in infants, whose immune and digestive systems are immature. On the other hand, much of the world’s population, except those of northern European descent, is to some degree lactose intolerant after early childhood. Undigested lactose reaching the large intestine can cause abdominal discomfort, flatulence, and diarrhea. Lactose-intolerant individuals can often handle with little or no discomfort small quantities of dairy products, especially yogurt or other milk products containing the bacterium Lactobacillus acidophilus; alternatives are the use of lactose-hydrolyzed milk products or lactase tablets or drops, which convert lactose to simple, digestible sugars.

Celiac disease (also known as celiac sprue, nontropical sprue, or gluten-sensitive enteropathy) is a hereditary disorder in which consumption of wheat gluten and related proteins from rye and barley is not tolerated. Recent studies indicate that oats may be safe if not contaminated with wheat. Celiac disease, which may be a type of cell-mediated food allergy, affects primarily individuals of European descent and rarely those of African or Asian descent. It is characterized by inflammatory damage to the mucosal cells lining the small intestine, leading to malabsorption of nutrients and such symptoms as diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss, bone pain, and neurological disturbances. Multiple nutritional deficiencies may ensue and, in children, growth is impaired. The disorder is often associated with autoimmune conditions, particularly autoimmune thyroid disease and type 1 diabetes. Although celiac disease can be life-threatening if untreated, patients can recover if gluten is eliminated from the diet.

Other adverse reactions to foods or beverages may be drug effects, such as those caused by caffeine or alcohol. Certain foods, such as ripened cheese, chocolate, red wine, and even ice cream, trigger headaches in some individuals. Food additives that can cause reactions in susceptible people include sulfite preservatives, used in some wines, dried fruits, and dried potato products; nitrate and nitrite preservatives, used in processed meats; certain food colorants, particularly tartrazine (also known as FD&C Yellow #5); and the flavour enhancer monosodium glutamate (MSG). Some adverse reactions to food are purely psychological and do not occur when the food is served in a disguised form.

Nearly any food has allergenic potential, but foods that most commonly cause antibody-mediated allergic reactions are cow’s milk, eggs, wheat, fish, shellfish, soybeans, peanuts, and tree nuts (such as almonds, walnuts, and cashews). Depending on processing methods, edible oils and other products derived from these foods may still contain allergenic protein residues. Severely allergic people may react to extremely small amounts of an offending food, even inhaled vapours.

Studies differ significantly as to the percentage of adults and children who have true food allergies. However, most seem to agree that few adults (about 2 to 5 percent) and slightly more children (roughly 3 to 8 percent) are affected. Most children outgrow food allergies, particularly if the offending food is avoided for a year or two. However, food allergies can develop at any time, and some allergies, such as those to peanuts, tree nuts, and shellfish, may be lifelong. Common symptoms of antibody-mediated food allergy include tightening of the throat, swelling of the lips or tongue, itchy lips, wheezing, difficulty breathing, headache, nasal congestion, skin rash (eczema), hives, nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, diarrhea and, in severe cases, life-threatening anaphylactic shock. People susceptible to anaphylaxis are advised to carry a syringe loaded with epinephrine at all times and to seek emergency medical care if an allergic reaction begins.

Food allergies are often hard to document, even by physicians trained in allergy and immunology. Blood tests for antibodies to specific allergens, skin tests, and even an elimination diet, in which suspect foods are eliminated from the diet and then added back one at a time, may not be definitive. The most conclusive diagnostic test is a so-called double-blind food challenge, in which neither doctor nor patient knows whether a suspect food or a harmless placebo is being given; however, these controlled clinical tests are expensive and time-consuming.

Labels are important for identifying hidden ingredients in packaged foods, although they are often imprecise and cannot be relied on naively. For example, even if a product is labeled as nondairy, a listing of casein, caseinate, or whey indicates the presence of milk protein. Peanuts may be found in unlikely foods, such as chili, stew, processed meats, oils, flours, cream substitutes, and desserts.

Research has indicated that, at least in some instances, the severity of an allergy may be reduced through desensitization, in which a person is exposed over time to increasing amounts of the antigen to which he or she is allergic. Methods of desensitization differ; for example, allergy shots involve the injection of antigens, whereas sublingual immunotherapy involves small doses of antigen given as drops under the tongue. Sublingual immunotherapy in particular is considered a safe and effective means of building tolerance to food allergens.

Toxins in foods

Edible skins of fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals, and fibre; however, pesticide residues and other environmental contaminants are typically more plentiful in the outer layers of these foods. Pesticides also tend to accumulate in the fat and skin of animals. Intake of toxic substances is reduced by consuming a wide variety of foods; washing fruits and vegetables carefully; and trimming fat from meat and poultry and removing skin from poultry and fish. Even organic produce requires thorough washing: it may not have synthetic chemicals, but mold, rot, fecal matter or other natural substances can contaminate it at any point from field to market. Peeling helps reduce these unwanted chemicals and microbes, although valuable nutrients will be lost as well.

A greenish tinge on potatoes, although merely the harmless substance chlorophyll, indicates that the natural toxicant solanine may be present. Solanine builds up when a potato is handled roughly, exposed to light or extremes of temperature, or is old. Symptoms of solanine poisoning include diarrhea, cramps, and headache, although many damaged potatoes would have to be eaten to cause serious illness. Peeling away green areas or removing sprouts or the entire skin (despite its high nutrient content) reduces solanine intake.

Swordfish and shark, as well as tuna steaks, may contain high levels of methylmercury (which remains after cooking) and should be avoided by pregnant women. Nonbacterial toxins in seafood include scombrotoxin (histamine) in spoiled fish, which can result in a severe allergic reaction when eaten; dinoflagellates (microscopic algae), associated with the so-called red tide, which can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning when consumed; and ciguatera, found in certain warm-water reef fish.(See also fish poisoning; shellfish poisoning.)

Natural toxins in some species of mushrooms cause symptoms ranging from gastrointestinal upset to neurological effects, even hallucinations. Most mushroom fatalities are due to consumption of amatoxins in Amanita phalloides, the mushroom species known as the death cap, which, if not lethal, can cause lasting liver and kidney damage. As there are no antidotes for mushroom poisoning, and identification of mushroom species by inexperienced mushroom pickers is often imprecise, consumption of wild mushrooms is not advised.