With its slightly sweet flavor and sour taste, the pineapple is a nutritious snack full of vitamin C. The aromatic fruit can be threaded on a skewer fruit, mixed into a smoothie or grilled and is used to overcome an exquisite dessert. But if you are taking certain medications, have to be a little careful about how much you eat pineapple.Certain drugs and medications can interact with the enzyme bromelain in fresh pineapple.
Pineapple
Fresh pineapple contains the enzyme bromelain, which is commonly used for medicinal purposes.The National Library of Medicine explains that the enzyme bromelain causes the body to produce specific substances that fight inflammation. The enzyme also contains specific chemicals to retard tumor cell growth. It has been used as a treatment for arthritis, muscle pain, inflammation, ulcerative colitis and inflammation after injury.
Drug interaction
Fresh pineapple should not be combined with amoxicillin or tetracycline antibiotics. When fresh pineapple combined with these types of drugs may increase the amount of drug absorbed by the body. In this case, it may increase the side effects of medications. Bromelain also affects the body's ability to blood clotting. When combined with drugs that slow or prevent blood clots, such as treatment with anticoagulants or antiplatelet agents can significantly increase the risk of bleeding or bruising. The University of Maryland Medical Center also explains that the enzyme bromelain may increase the effects of sedative drugs, such as anticonvulsants, benzodiazepines and alcohol.
Other side effects
Generally, eating fresh pineapple not cause any adverse side effects, however, eat lots of fruit may occasionally cause nausea, diarrhea, rash and vomiting. You might also notice swelling or tenderness in the mouth, cheeks and tongue. Fresh pineapple can also cause an allergic reaction in people allergic to wheat, celery, carrots, pollen, fennel, ragweed, chrysanthemums and daisies. It is also important to note that ripe pineapple is extremely toxic; eating can cause severe vomiting and excessive.
Contraindications
Women who are pregnant should avoid eating large amounts of pineapple. Although more research is needed to determine the exact correlation, it is believed that bromelain may stimulate contractions, potentially increasing the risk of miscarriage. And because bromelain affects the ability of blood to clot or coagulate, avoid consuming large amounts of pineapple in the two weeks prior to any surgery or invasive medical procedure. Also avoid bromelain if you are taking blood-thinning medications for high blood pressure. The combination of thin blood with anticoagulant properties of bromelain may lead to coagulation disorder. In addition, large amounts of pineapple should be avoided in patients with liver or kidney disease, since many of the clotting factors in the blood are produced by these organs.
