Most Americans who drink grapefruit juice do so for breakfast at a time of day when most people also take medication. It turns out that grapefruit juice can affect some drugs. Therefore, you may need to rethink your morning drink.

 Do not drink grapefruit juice if you are taking any of these medications unless advised by your doctor:

 Some statins (cholesterol-lowering drugs): lovastatin (Mevacor), atorvastatin (Lipitor), simvastatin (Zocor). (Other statins such as fluvastatin (Lescol), pravastatin (Pravachol), and rosuvastatin (Crestor) have little or no interaction with grapefruit juice.)

 Antihistamines: fexofenadine (Allegra)

 Some calcium channel blockers (blood pressure medications): felodipine (Plendil), nifedipine (Adalat, Afeditab CR, Procardia)

 Some psychiatric drugs: buspirone, triazolam (Halcion), carbamazepine (Tegretol), diazepam (Valium), midazolam (Versed), sertraline (Zoloft)

 Some immunosuppressants: cyclosporine (Neoral), tacrolimus (Prograf)

 Some pain medications: methadone

 Impotence drug (erectile dysfunction): sildenafil (Viagra)

 Some HIV drugs: saquinavir (Invirase)

 Some antiarrhythmics: amiodarone (Cordarone, Nexterone, Pacerone)

 Many of these drugs have alternatives. So if you can't avoid grapefruit juice, talk to your doctor about the possibility of using another medication.

 When taking a new medication, it is recommended to ask your doctor or pharmacist about the possibility of the new medication interacting with foods, supplements or other medications you are currently taking.