Part one of this story is that someone who shall remain nameless¹ was eating grapefruit in the van one day, and holy moly, it smelled so good. One bite and I became a lover of grapefruit. I don’t eat it very often but I almost have a culinary orgasm and go into spasms of happiness when I do.

Part two of this little story is that I’m taking Lipitor as part of my cardiologist’s ongoing effort to keep me alive until his overpaid buddy in Toronto can dink with my plumbing.

Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium) is part of a class of drugs called statins (or HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors). It works by blocking a particular enzyme, HMG-CoA reductase, that controls the rate of cholesterol production in the body. This causes the liver to make less cholesterol. The medication also increases the liver’s ability to collect and get rid of LDL cholesterol (“bad cholesterol”).

Grapefruit products, such as grapefruit, grapefruit juice, or grapefruit supplements, can interact with some cholesterol-lowering statins and increase the level of medication in your blood. Lipitor is one of these statins. Bummer, as I do like grapefruit.

Grapefruit products are believed to interfere with an enzyme your body uses to break down Lipitor. This means that the drug stays in your body longer when it interacts with grapefruit. In fact, clinical studies have shown that grapefruit can significantly increase the levels of Lipitor in a person’s blood. In one study, drug levels increased by 83 percent in those who drank grapefruit juice three times a day compared to the people who only drank water.

[1] often referred to as youknowwho