I remember reading some research posted on UCR's web pages at one time, but can't locate it now. My recollection of it is clear, that even a moderate consumption of grapefruit increased the absorption of some drugs by up to ten fold for a period of 24 hours or more. I thought this was discussed here on the forum but was only able to find this thread from 2009 which dismisses the risk: link I am one who takes a statin medication and have blood tests performed to help make sure my liver is not being damaged by the use of the use of statin drugs. I do not want to increase this risk further by consuming citrus with such a risk of drug interaction. I have an Oroblanco and give away the fruits which is difficult to do. Because of another medication I was required to take had a potential interaction with my statin medication, I did discontinue taking my statin medication for a couple of weeks two years ago and ate a couple of Oroblanco every day!

Okay, the point of my post is to see if anybody can help me identify which citrus varieties I should avoid (besides the obvious grapefruit and grapefruit hybrids) if I want to avoid this risk. There are so many varieties that have some grapefruit in them that I can't keep track and wish there was an easy resource. My wife told me that we got something from our medical insurance company reminding us of the risk but she can't find that now but remembers it mentioning grapefruit, seville oranges, and tangelos. However, I did find at livestrong.com an article which said that samples of 12 varieties of tangelos from Florida revealed none which had furanocoumarin, one of the compounds influencing how the drugs are broken down but the same site mentioned that bergamottin and dihydroxybergamottin are also compounds that play a role.

Some citrus such as Page have grapefruit in them and I would rather just enjoy ones that I know don't pose a risk. I'd appreciate help in develop an "avoid" list so that I can enjoy the others without a nagging fear of uncertainty. Thanks!

Minneola
Page
Ugli (to be safe)
Orlando

Come to my mind.

Most Tangelo's should probably be avoided. What I wonder, does anyone know if Pomelo causes the same drug reactions as Grapefruit?

Thanks, Mark.

From http://books.google.com/books?id=6MSRviXlDtAC&pg=PA280&lpg=PA280&dq=pomelo+furanocoumarin+drug+interaction&source=bl&ots=UIHOI_61q9&sig=nihw8Ond0xAJaHHbWs_WW2gqrcU&hl=en&ei=wphsTfydNYbksQPVjoitBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=pomelo%20furanocoumarin%20drug%20interaction&f=false

Quote:

Fruit juice of the pummelo was found to have substantial furanocoumarin content

Here's a medical article indicating tangelos are thought to be okay, though I don't think they're high enough on my "want list" to bother taking the chance: http://www.cardiologytoday.com/view.aspx?rid=38492

Here is the link to the thread from this forum you were probably thinking of: link

Here is another study claiming that Tangelos are ok.

Here is another url about the same study that John posted above. It is a little more in depth - Millet (680-)

http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=17035999

Thanks, guys. I wish all the hybrids would be tested like that.