Researchers have recently identified a group of chemicals believed to be responsible for grapefruit's meddling effects on some medications. For a long time, flavonoids were thought to be the culprit, but new research from UNC at Chapel Hill suggests that substances called furanocoumarins may be to blame. Furanocoumarins seem to make certain medications enter the bloodstream faster, which can make dosages unpredictable and cause unwanted side effects. Researchers say that furanocoumarin-free grapefruit juice produced none of these effects in test subjects. Aside from the possibility of marketing such juice, furanocoumarins, once studied further, might be of some use in moderating how fast drugs are absorbed by the body. [Photo: Nick Vagnoni]








