Can medication be taken with coffee or milk? The truth is…

Coffee and medicine

For China, a country with a long history of tea culture, the history of drinking coffee is not long, only 200 years. The history of Chinese coffee is actually a history of modern China. In the late Qing Dynasty, European and American powers blasted open the door to China with artillery fire, and a large number of missionaries entered China. They not only brought their own beliefs, but also brought their favorite coffee. Although coffee has not been introduced for a long time, it is quite popular among people. So, what kind of impact does coffee have on medicine?

One of the main ingredients in coffee, caffeine, easily combines with calcium to form a substance that is difficult to absorb, affecting calcium absorption. Therefore, it is not recommended to drink coffee when taking calcium supplements. It should be noted that long-term and large-scale drinking of coffee can easily lead to calcium deficiency and induce osteoporosis.

In addition, coffee can stimulate the secretion of gastric juice and gastric acid. People with gastric ulcers or excessive gastric acid should not drink it, especially when taking medication to treat stomach problems. It is not recommended to drink coffee.

Caffeine can excite the central nervous system and antagonize the effects of central nervous system sedatives and hypnotics. People with insomnia, irritability, and hypertension should not drink it for a long time. Excessive drinking of coffee can also reduce the plasma concentration of antibacterial drugs, affecting the therapeutic effect of drugs.

Milk and medicine

Milk is an indispensable nutritious food in modern people's lives. Some people take medicine with milk. In clinical practice, only a small number of drugs can be taken with milk to improve the efficacy, such as erythromycin. In addition, the bifidobacteria triple live bacteria preparation for the treatment of diarrhea can be mixed with milk when it is inconvenient for the baby to take it. But more often, taking milk with medicine will affect the absorption of the medicine and reduce its efficacy. Why does milk affect the effects of certain drugs? Because milk contains more inorganic salts, such as calcium, phosphorus, iron, etc., as well as various vitamins, proteins, amino acids, fats and other chemical substances, which are easy to react chemically with drugs to form stable complexes or insoluble salts, making it difficult to absorb the drug and affecting the efficacy.

It should be noted that the following 5 types of drugs should be avoided from being taken with milk:

Antimicrobial drugs

Milk contains metal ions such as calcium and iron, which can interact with almost all quinolones (xx floxacin), tetracycline, cefixime and other antibacterial drugs, forming insoluble chelates that cannot be absorbed by the human body, greatly reducing the efficacy of the drugs. Some people must drink milk with every meal, but what should they do when they need floxacin antibiotics? Generally speaking, it can be taken about 2 hours apart from milk, which can reduce the impact of milk on antibacterial drugs.

Iron and zinc supplements

Milk is rich in calcium, which may reduce the absorption of iron in iron-containing preparations (ferrous succinate, ferrous fumarate, ferrous succinate, ferrous succinate, etc.). The rich protein in milk may combine with zinc ions (zinc gluconate) to form an insoluble complex, reducing the absorption of zinc and protein.

Gastric mucosal protective drugs

Potassium bismuth citrate, compound bismuth aluminate, colloidal bismuth pectin, etc. are gastric mucosal protective drugs that cover the surface of the gastric mucosa to form a protective film. Milk will interfere with the effect of gastric mucosal protective drugs, so they cannot be taken at the same time.

Anti-osteoporosis drugs

Etidronate sodium and alendronate sodium are used to treat osteoporosis and prevent fractures. It is not advisable to consume milk within 2 hours of taking the medicine to avoid affecting the absorption of the medicine.

Antidepressants

There is a class of antidepressants called monoamine oxidase inhibitors, including moclobemide, rasagiline, etc. Milk is rich in tyramine, and these drugs will inhibit the decomposition of tyramine, causing tyramine to accumulate in the body and causing a sharp increase in blood pressure.

In general, the effects of milk and coffee on drug efficacy are related to the type of drug and the pathophysiological state of the human body. It may be difficult for the public to grasp the rules involved, so in the end it is recommended that you choose to take the medicine with boiled water to avoid potential drug interactions.

Author: Chen Ye Liu Yanping

Source: Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Hospital