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FACT BRIEF

Can eating grapefruit while on antidepressants cause a fatal overdose?

By Christiana Dillard
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NO

A recent social media post did warn about combining grapefruit with antidepressants.

Grapefruit can increase, or in some cases decrease, the effect of dozens of prescription and over-the-counter drugs. However, only a few antidepressants are recognized as interacting with grapefruit, and those interactions are not known to cause fatalities.

One Canadian researcher says more than 100 medications can be affected by grapefruit consumption, but not seriously.

However, combining grapefruit with some antipsychotics could cause life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia and sudden death.

Explaining the risk, the FDA stated:

"Many drugs are broken down (metabolized) with the help of a vital enzyme called CYP3A4 in the small intestine. Grapefruit juice can block the action of intestinal CYP3A4, so instead of being metabolized, more of the drug enters the blood and stays in the body longer."

See a full discussion of this at Lead Stories
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Food and Drug Administration Grapefruit Juice and Some Drugs Don't Mix
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Lead Stories
Lead Stories is a fact checking and debunking website at the intersection of big data and journalism that launched in 2015. It scouts for trending stories, images, videos and posts that contain false information in order to fact check them as quickly as possible. It actively monitors the fake-news ecosystem and doesn’t wait for reader tips or reports before getting started on a story.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.