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Like thousands of French people, do you have difficulty respecting the dietary constraints associated with taking your medications? Good news: the Eat’s Ok application offers you personalized menus, specially adapted to your health.
Did you know? Foods can increase, delay, or reduce the absorption of medications. This is why a new application, called Eat’s Ok, was created to help the French avoid the risks of interactions by adjusting the contents of their plate. We tell you more about this.
Medicines and diet: a not always winning combo
If you cannot stop a treatment or prevent yourself from eating properly, certain drug-food combinations should be avoided.
“For example, high-protein diets may speed up the metabolism of certain drugs by stimulating cytochrome P-450 (enzymes involved in drug metabolism). Grapefruit may inhibit cytochrome P-450 34A (enzymes contributing to the metabolism of xenobiotics)slowing down the metabolism of certain drugs (amiodarone, carbamazepine, cyclosporine, certain calcium channel blockers, statins, etc.). Diets that disrupt the microbial flora can significantly affect the metabolism of certain drugs. confirms the MSD Manual.
Other concrete examples:
- Some antibiotics (for example cyclins, a family of antibiotics used to treat acne and certain infections) do not mix well with dairy products. Indeed, the calcium present in milk, cheese or even yogurt can bind to antibiotics and reduce their absorption, making the treatment less effective;
- Caffeine can increase the side effects of certain medications (antidepressants, cold medications, anti-asthma treatment, etc.) causing nervousness, palpitations or tremors;
- Cranberry juice may also interfere with warfarin—an oral anticoagulant that belongs to the vitamin K family—and increase the risk of bleeding.
Risks, confirmed by the company Pharmacodietetics, behind the Eat’s Ok application:
“There are phenomena of pharmacokinetic interactions: that is to say that the body and/or the diet will modify the metabolism of the drug. On the other hand, mechanisms of physicochemical incompatibility will disrupt the absorption of certain medications if they are taken with certain foods Thus, certain antibiotics should not be combined with dairy products Finally, certain medications will have an impact on the patient’s metabolism and, again, certain dietary recommendations. will be necessary.”
In France, today there are a minimum of “50 negative interactions between food and drugs“as well as a”hundred necessary adaptations of diet to prescribed treatment“.
Since, to date, there are no databases associating medications and dietary rules, the company Pharmacodietetics has decided to offer nutritional support adapted to taking medication, called “Eat’s ok!“.
Offered at an affordable price (€4/month), the application allows patients to enter their medical data (by scanning their medication boxes in the application) to be offered a whole series of advice and services, including in particular personalized menus (based on foods compatible with their health).
Result ? Patients’ daily lives are made easier.
“Thanks to this mobile application developed by pharmacists and dieticians, patients but also their caregivers will be able to easily find out the list of foods to avoid or simply incompatible with their doctor’s prescription, whose recommendations are forgotten by 80% of people. patients leaving the office… The application will even help them create menus. Enough to relieve patients but also their caregivers!”, revealsin conclusion, the press release.