We have often spoken about the many benefits of coffee and the ways it can aid blood sugar health. However, the drink can interact with some common medications dangerously and cause blood sugar spikes.
“While your morning brew might feel harmless, it can interact with certain medicines in ways that reduce their effectiveness, or increase the risk of side-effects,” said Dipa Kamda, a pharmacy expert from Kingston Univ. “Coffee may be part of your daily routine, but it’s also a potent chemical compound that can influence how your body processes medicine.”
The concentration of caffeine is the problem. Other drinks, like tea, contain caffeine, but not in the same high levels. However, everything Prof. Kamda said about coffee is true of energy drinks as well.
As caffeine is a stimulant, it interacts with other stimulants, potentially leading to headaches, jitters, a fast pulse or sleeplessness. Stimulants can impact ADHD medications and asthma drugs, raising the risk of rapid pulse or insomnia. Cold and flu remedies often contain pseudoephedrine, which is a stimulant. Studies have suggested the combination can also raise blood sugar and body temperature.
People who take medication for an underactive thyroid may want to avoid drinking coffee close to when they take their drug. Research found that coffee can lower the absorption rate by up to 50 percent. It can speed how quickly drugs move through the digestive tract and can bind to them in the stomach, making them harder to absorb.
Caffeine can also bind to medications for mental health concerns. And, it can change how the liver breaks them down.
On the other hand, caffeine can sometimes be helpful to some medications under certain circumstances. It can speed up how quickly the body absorbs aspirin. While that could potentially raise the risk of stomach irritation or bleeding, no serious cases have been reported. Headache medications often combine painkillers and caffeine specifically to help the drug be absorbed quickly.
Finally, people who are on heart medication should be careful with caffeine. It can impact blood pressure and pulse.
If you are on medication, it is always important to discuss it with your doctor or pharmacist. They can always tell you if there are common foods or drinks you should avoid while taking the medication. Grapefruit juice doesn’t mix well with many meds, and it’s often written on the label, but not always! When you pick up your prescription, never hesitate to talk to your pharmacist about things you might want to avoid while taking meds.
