Re: grapefruit and hep c

JAMA has mentioned it for helping people with HCV. But be careful if you are taking other drugs. I've listed the ones at the bottom that have reactions one of which is erythromycin. The link to them as well. Most people on curezone aren't taking drugs, but it's good to know.
Being as there aren't any official studies, I don't think anyone can recommend how much to drink. Trial and error. I never heard of anyone OD'ing on citrus juice!

Hope this helps.


http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/extract/299/13/1532

Tracy Hampton, PhD

JAMA. 2008;299(13):1532.


Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.


A compound that naturally occurs in grapefruit and certain other citrus fruits may be capable of fighting chronic hepatitis C infection by blocking an important pathway in the virus' life cycle. New studies conducted in human liver cells show that the common flavonoid naringenin inhibits the secretion of hepatitis C virus from infected cells, a process required to maintain chronic infection (Nahmias Y et al. Hepatology.doi:10.1002/hep.22197 [published online ahead of print January 7, 2008]).

Before they began their investigation of naringenin's effects on hepatitis C, researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Engineering in Medicine in Boston first noted that hepatitis C virus is bound to very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) when it is released from cells. "By finding that hepatitis C virus is secreted from infected cells by latching onto VLDL, we have identified a key pathway in the viral lifecycle," said lead author . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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http://www.hepatitis-central.com/mt/archives/2008/02/what_you_need_t.html


Consisting of more than 50 medications, interactions with grapefruit juice are well-known among researchers and clearly documented on warning labels. However, people commonly fail to comprehensively read the warning labels about drug-food interactions. In addition, it doesn’t take much grapefruit juice to boost the levels of drugs that are susceptible. A single glass can produce a 47 percent reduction of the intestinal enzyme that regulates absorption. Since the effect of grapefruit juice wears off slowly, a third of its impact is still evident after 24 hours.

While this list is not complete, some of the drugs interacting with grapefruit include:

· Anxiety: Xanax, Buspar, Versed, Halcion
· Depression: Luvox, Zoloft
· Allergies: Allegra
· Abnormal heart rhythm: Cordarone, quinidine
· Heart disease/stroke/blood clots: Coumadin
· Epilepsy: Tegretol
· Cancer: Cyclophosphamide, etoposide, ifosfamide,
tamoxifen, vinblastine, vincristine
· Cough: Dextromethorphan (found in many over-the-counter cold
medicines)
· HIV: Agenerase, Crixivan, Viracept, Norvir, Fortovase
· Prostate enlargement: Proscar
· Heart disease/High blood pressure: Coreg, Cardizem, Plendil, Cardene, Adalat, Procardia, Nimotop, Sular, Covera, Calan, Verelan
· Erectile dysfunction: v1agra, Cialis
· Asthma/Emphysema: Theophylline
· High cholesterol: Lipitor, Lescol, Mevacor, Zocor
· Pain: Alfenta, Duragesic, Actiq, Sufenta
· Infection: Biaxin, Sporanox, erythromycin, troleandomycin