10 Super-Important Questions to Ask Before You Take Prescription Medications

Should I avoid certain foods while taking meds?

There are some food-drug interactions that can occur when you eat food while taking certain meds. For example, milk can interfere with some antibiotics and you may want to avoid bananas and other high potassium foods if you’re taking meds for high blood pressure or diuretics for excess fluid retention. “Eating foods high in potassium can increase the risk of irregular heartbeat or palpitations because they increase the amount of potassium in your body,” says Jeremy Allen, MD, the medical director for American Family Care‘s Birmingham, Alabama region. Other well-known interactions include grapefruit juice with statins and overloading on vitamin K or cranberries with blood thinners, such as, Warfarin. For more information on food interactions, check out this booklet published by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).