Science

A popular drink may be weakening your medication

Certain medication coatings may interact negatively with mineral water and affect how it's absorbed in your body © Image Credit: Unsplash / Mariana Rascão

When you take medication, you expect it to do its job quickly and effectively. That may not be the case, though, because scientists have found that some drinks mess with the effectiveness of medication in your body.

Reading the warning label may not be enough

Prescriptions always come with instructions and a warning label, and even if you're following them to the letter, that may not be enough.

Scientists have found that alkaline beverages could interfere with how the pills release medication in your body. Unfortunately, labeling doesn't often go into details like these.

The study looked directly at how the enteric coating on pills dissolves and reacts in your body. This type of coating is common on proton pump inhibitors like Prilosec and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen.

A handful of beverages may interact with your meds

Scientists were able to pinpoint alkaline beverages as the culprit, with mineral water being the main one. Mineral water is bottled spring water. There are naturally occurring minerals in spring water, such as calcium and magnesium.

"The study showed that some beverages, such as mineral water, which tends to be more alkaline than tap or plain bottled water, can affect how quickly gastro-resistant dosage forms release medication," explains Christine D. Sommer, Pharm.D., a clinical informatics pharmacist with First Databank, Inc. "Unfortunately, most medications that are affected do not address this issue in their drug labeling."

Looking at the science

When you take medication, it gets broken down by the acid in your stomach. If the stomach is too alkaline, it will break down more quickly.

“Taking them with an alkaline beverage, such as mineral water, can cause the gastro-resistant coating to dissolve too soon, releasing the medicine too early in the digestive tract," said Sommer.

"This results in the medicine breaking down before it can be absorbed by the body.”

Best to check with the pharmacist

Despite the labeling on your medication, it may be wise to ask the pharmacist what beverage is safe to take with it. When in doubt, skip mineral water.

Source: Prevention

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