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We're not even going to discuss much of the data put forth in an issue from some months past of the British Journal of Cancer (Monroe KR et al, Br J Cancer 2007 Aug 6;97(3):440-5. Epub 2007 Jul 10) that was recently disputed by a revision of the very same study and discussed at length in the New York Times Health.
By now we're used to hearing incredible statements pronounced solely to create alarm that are regularly followed by the usual disclaimers. In this case, however, it's useful to understand why this assault is being directed towards such a widely consumed fruit. The original article claims that grapefruit juice can inhibit a particular enzyme (cytochrome p450) that is involved in the regulation of estrogens and goes on to say that the inhibition of this enzyme can facilitate the growth of breast tumors. As we mentioned, this study was widely disputed.
If we take a look at the data drawn from much vaster populations and traced over a longer period of time, we can see that what's really being said is that grapefruit can interfere with four types of drugs:
- statins (to lower cholesterol)
- calcium channel blockers (for high blood pressure)
- immunosuppressants
- hormones used in substitution therapy
that make up a group of great economic interest. As we have already pointed out in the article about St. John's Wart, shown at right in the related news, this discussion has been going on for some time, but it becomes worrisome when this type of news is released in such a major and destabilizing manner. No one will ever link grapefruit's action to an action on cytochrome P450, in fact few people even know it exists, but to succeed in creating a fear that links grapefruit to cancer and relate this fear to an interference with the action of some of the most widely sold drugs becomes a powerful and predictable marketing maneuver.
For example we can take several important substances such as D-limonene, contained in grapefruit and tangerines and widely used today for regulating cholesterol (D-limonene is one of the components found in Colestrinol and evidently grapefruit is troublesome because of its interference with some drugs).
As a society, we need to decide whether it makes more sense to trust Nature and its health-supporting qualities or drugs and the pharmaceutical companies that produce them. Respect for the balance inherent in every living thing and for what is natural makes for a foregone decision on our part.
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