Nutrition For Dummies
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Not every food and drug interaction is an adverse one. Sometimes a drug works better or is less likely to cause side effects when you take it on a full stomach. For example, aspirin is less likely to upset your stomach if you take the painkiller with food, and eating stimulates the release of stomach juices that improve your ability to absorb griseofulvin, an antifungus drug.

The table lists some drugs that may work better when your stomach is full.

Drugs That Work Better on a Full Stomach
Purpose Drug
Analgesics (painkillers) Acetaminophen Aspirin Codeine Ibuprofen Indomethacin Mefenamic acid Metronidazole Naproxen/naproxen sodium
Antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals Ethambutol Griseofulvin Isoniazid Ketoconazole Pyrimethamine
Antidiabetic agents Glipizide Glyburide Tolazamide Tolbutamide
Cholesterol-lowering agents Cholestyramine Colestipol Lovastatin Probucol
Gastric medications Cimetidine Ranitidine
Source: James J. Rybacki, The Essential Guide to Prescription Drugs 2002 (New York: Harper Collins, 2001)

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Carol Ann Rinzler is a former nutrition columnist for the New York Daily News and the author of more than 30 health-related books, including Controlling Cholesterol For Dummies, Heartburn and Reflux For Dummies, The New Complete Book of Food, the award-winning Estrogen and Breast Cancer: A Warning for Women, and Leonardo’s Foot, which the American Association for the Advancement of Science described as “some of the best writing about science for the non-scientist encountered in recent years.”

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