List of alkalizing, acidifying food / drinks and their effect on how amphetamine work

[Josh_kelly]

By Dr. March Schwartz
Can food affect how well amphetamines work?

There are two ways what you eat or drink can affect drug metabolism: one is by affecting how much drug is absorbed from the gut, and the other is by affecting how quickly you excrete the drug via your kidneys. In the case of the amphetamines, more acid food decreased the absorption of the medication and more acid urine increases it excretion. Exactly the reverse happens when people have foods such as antacids like Tums that make their urine alkaline.

It might be assumed that any acid food, like orange juice, would reduce amphetamine levels by both of these mechanisms. But that turns out not to be true. For example, orange juice is a highly acidic food due to its high citric acid content, but after being metabolized it causes the (body and) urine to become more alkaline. So the effects of orange juice on amphetamine blood levels are mixed, and I don't know what effect predominates.
Cranberry juice is a drink that acidifies the urine. It is possible that people who have trouble sleeping after taking amphetamines may be able to more quickly excrete it before bedtime by drinking a couple of glasses of cranberry juice or a Vitamin C pill at dinner time. I have one patient who tried Vitamin C, and it worked.

Fatty food interferes with the absorption of the amphetamines so less of each dose taken around meal time gets into the blood stream.

List of food that make the urine more alkaline or acid (note that some alkalizing foods are very acid - after the body metabolizes them, they make the body and urine more alkaline. This seems counter-intuitive but seems to be generally agreed upon by nutritionists.)

Alkalinizing Foods (Some of these are quite acid before the body metabolizes them)		Acidifying Foods
Vegetables Asparagus Artichokes Cabbage Lettuce Onion Cauliflower Radish Swede Lambs Lettuce Peas Courgette Red Cabbage Leeks Watercress Spinach Turnip Chives Carrot Green Beans Beetroot Garlic Celery Grasses (wheat, straw, barley, dog, kamut etc.) Cucumber Broccoli Kale Brussels Sprouts	Fruits Lemon Lime Avocado Tomato Grapefruit Watermelon (is neutral) Rhubarb	Meats Pork Lamb Beef Chicken Turkey Crustaceans Other Seafood (apart from occasional oily fish such as salmon)	Dairy Products Milk Eggs Cheese Cream Yogurt Ice Cream
	Drinks 'Green Drinks' Fresh vegetable juice Pure water (distilled, reverse osmosis, ionized) Lemon water (pure water + fresh lemon or lime). Herbal Tea Vegetable broth Non-sweetened Soy Milk Almond Milk	Others Vinegar White Pasta White Bread Whole meal Bread Biscuits Soy Sauce Tamari Condiments (Tomato Sauce, Mayonnaise etc.) Artificial Sweeteners Honey	Drinks Fizzy Drinks Coffee Tea Beers Spirits Fruit Juice Dairy Smoothies Milk Traditional Tea
	Seeds, Nuts & Grains Almonds Pumpkin Sunflower Sesame Flax Buckwheat Groats Spelt Lentils Cumin Seeds Any sprouted seed	Convenience Foods Sweets Chocolate Microwave Meals Tinned Foods Powdered Soups Instant Meals Fast Food	Fats & OilsSaturated Fats Hydrogenated Oils Margarine (worse than Butter) Corn Oil Vegetable Oil Sunflower Oil
Fats & Oils Flax Hemp Avocado Olive Evening Primrose Borage Oil Blends (such as Udos Choice)	Others Sprouts (soy, alfalfa, mung bean, wheat, little radish , chickpea, broccoli etc) Bragg Liquid Aminos (Soy Sauce Alternative) Hummus Tannin	Fruits All fruits aside from those listed in the alkaline column.	Seeds & NutsPeanuts Cashew Nuts Pistachio Nuts

http://healthcalls.com/QuestionsAnsw...hetamines_work_

[CptNemo]

I've never heard of that.It is interesting,but it seems to contradict the specific instructions,and information,provided by Shire.
They are the original producer of:
ADDERALL XR^®
(mixed salts of a single-entity amphetamine)
www.AdderallXR.com

Here is a link to a really long pdf file regarding this drug:

http://www.adderallxr.com/pdf/AXR_FPI.pdf

I have included an excerpt from that pdf file,and highlighted what I thought contradicted the info in the post above.
I have also read many experiences from forum members that seem to reflect Shire's comments.

Am I misinterpreting something?
Thanks

(From pdf file mentioned)
Drug Interactions: Acidifying agents—Gastrointestinal acidifying agents
(guanethidine, reserpine, glutamic acid HCI, ascorbic acid, etc.) lower
absorption of amphetamines.

Urinary acidifying agents—These agents (ammonium chloride, sodium acid
phosphate, etc.) increase the concentration of the ionized species of the
amphetamine molecule, thereby increasing urinary excretion. Both groups of
agents lower blood levels and efficacy of amphetamines.
Adrenergic blockers—Adrenergic blockers are inhibited by amphetamines.
Alkalinizing agents—Gastrointestinal alkalinizing agents (sodium bicarbonate,
etc.) increase absorption of amphetamines. Co-administration of ADDERALL
XR® and gastrointestinal alkalinizing agents, such as antacids, should be
avoided. Urinary alkalinizing agents (acetazolamide, some thiazides) increase
the concentration of the non-ionized species of the amphetamine molecule,
thereby decreasing urinary excretion. Both groups of agents increase blood
levels and therefore potentiate the actions of amphetamines.
Proton Pump Inhibitors – act on proton pumps by blocking acid production
thereby reducing gastric acidity. In the presence of a proton pump inhibitor,
the median Tmax of ADDERALL XR was shortened from 5 hours to 2.75
hours. Therefore, co-administration of ADDERALL XR and proton pump
inhibitors should be avoided.
Antidepressants, tricyclic—Amphetamines may enhance the activity of
tricyclic antidepressants or sympathomimetic agents; d-amphetamine with
desipramine or protriptyline and possibly other tricyclics cause striking and
sustained increases in the concentration of d-amphetamine in the brain;
cardiovascular effects can be potentiated.


Edit: healthcalls.com has this disclaimer:" Do not use the information on this site to diagnose or treat yourself or others."

Shire does not have a disclaimer. They have millions(billions?) of dollarsriding on their info,right?

Not trying to be a pain in the *****,but I feel this is important.

[Josh_kelly]

Well These are studies by MDs, nutritionist and actual lab studies.

Anyways, that does not mean that it is true but I am inclined to believe that Orange juice causes the urine to be alkaline. The body metabolizes orange juice in a way that produces alkaline urine.

Orange juice is acidic, it will lead to acidic solution if you add it to distilled water. But the body is not only water, there are many chemicals that interact.

same thing with Acid rain. Over the years so much acid rain entered into the ocean but fortunantly ocean water has a huge buffering capacity (carbonate) to resist the change in pH (becoming more acidic). That's why deep oceans have a pH of 8 or so (alkaline) but there is a limit of course on how much nature can take from us.

STUDIES OF URINARY ACIDITY.
I. SOME EFFECTS OF DRINKING LARGE AMOUNTS OF ORANGE
JUICE AND SOUR MILK.

BY

N. R. BLATHERWICK AND M. LOUISA LONG.
(From the Chemical Laboratory of the Potter Metabolic Clinic

"The effects on the urine of drinking large amounts of

orange juice are the following: a marked increase in the pH value

(less acidity)"
http://www.jbc.org/content/53/1/103.full.pdf


from study
Influence of various beverages on urine acid output
"Orange juice (pH 3.64) and tube feeding (pH 6.78) both led to alkaline urine pH and significantly decreased urine acid output compared to the control group"

"orange juice is a highly acidic food due to its high citrus acid content, but after being metabolized it will cause urine to become alkaline"




"Other contradictions with the acid/alkaline theory:


Acid in doesn't necessarily mean acid out. Metabolism of foods is a highly complicated process, one that we really don't know everything about yet. Orange juice, when metabolized is alkaline while cranberry juice metabolizes to an acid form. Of course both can be trigger foods for IC.


The big thing to remember is that body pH and urine pH are two entirely different things."


http://www.pure-hope.org/BodypHvsUrinepH.htm

[CptNemo]

Ah hah...I see my mistake.
When I read your response post,I agreed with everything you said.(And I remember you mentioning in a post awhile back,that this area is one of your interests).

When I say that "I agreed",I mean only to say that your reply post agrees with my interpretation of what Shire says,I have no personal knowledge here.

So I went back to your initial post:

"It might be assumed that any acid food, like orange juice, would reduce amphetamine levels by both of these mechanisms. But that turns out not to be true. For example, orange juice is a highly acidic food due to its high citric acid content, but after being metabolized it causes the (body and) urine to become more alkaline. So the effects of orange juice on amphetamine blood levels are mixed, and I don't know what effect predominates."

I misread the first part of the above reference,and I admit my mistake.

That said,I strongly suggest that the above paragraph
just plain sucks,as far as being clear and easily understood. (I have an excuse,and I know you didn't write it)

Unless it is not read with more scrutiny than I feel is needed,it seems to suggest that the pH doesn't affect the stimulant upon initial digestion.
This disagrees with Shire.

The last part of it says:

"So the effects of orange juice on amphetamine blood levels are mixed, and I don't know what effect predominates.""

Well,I think it is clear that Shire believes their scientists *do* know the answer to this.

Bottom line,imho: acid, as well as base (ie orange juice vs Tums) will affect its potency upon initial ingestion.

Once the drug is metabolized, ie an hour or two before bedtime,drinking an acid(OJ) will metabolize itself into a base,to help reduce any lingering metabolized stimulant. So it can be helpful to induce sleep then.

Is that about right?

[Josh_kelly]

I understand your point of view CPtNemo, the paragraph is kinda of confusing and maybe I should have re-wrote it to be more clear but I wanted to quote the source so nothing is lost in "translation".

But the other studies I mentioned also that orange juice does not acidify the urine and maybe even makes it more alkaline.

If your urine is alkaline, more amphetamine will be absorbed by your body and into your blood stream (activated) . Acidic solution have an access of H+ ions (protons) which causes hurt burn, that's why you use nexuim) "proton" pump inhibitor to treat it.

anyways, As you see from the amphetamine molecule has hydrogen which has a positive charge also. The leads to repulsion because they are of the same charge + +


So the amphetamine molecule passes thru without being metabolized (have you heard of these drug flushing drinks so it wont be detected in urine?)

But when you have alkaline urine, you have more negative charges so the amphetamine molecule gets attracted to the negative and stays does not pass with the urine (absorbed)

Thats how I see it that explains why alkaline increases the effects of amphetamine. I can be wrong.

I tried orange juice (It had not effect on me)
next day had cranberry juice, felt tired 30 minutes later.

To be on the safe side, at least all sides agree that cranberry juice acidifies the urine, gets rid of left over amphetamine so you will be able to sleep better and also not to develop tolerance. Been on the same dose for a while now.

my goal is to inform, but if i am wrong i will benefit also from knowing whats right.

[Brookeslost]

ALL....... and I mean ALL OF this is WAY too confusing for me....Should I only drink water and eat egg whites lol??? Im SOOOO confused Im so sorry! When I read all of this I hear blah blah blah in my head.....again so sorry!

[CptNemo]

I quasi-understand,and agree with your reasoning.

My only goal was for others to not be confused like me.

It comes down to this for me:

Shire doesn't want a patient to introduce anything near the ends of the pH scale,when they swallow the pill.

I'm sticking with the people that have the most to lose,if wrong.

[CptNemo]

Originally Posted by Brookeslost

ALL....... and I mean ALL OF this is WAY too confusing for me....Should I only drink water and eat egg whites lol??? Im SOOOO confused Im so sorry! When I read all of this I hear blah blah blah in my head.....again so sorry!

I know what you mean.Me too.
I can't even tell if we're disagreeing.

Its frustrating to read a bunch of stuff,that I can't just skip to the end for the answer.

How about,don't drink juice,or eat anything that causes you heartburn,within 1 hour of taking meds.
This will prevent them from not taking full effect.

If you think your meds are keeping you from falling asleep at night,drink cranberry juice . Or OJ an hour before bedtime.
It will lessen the effects.

[Josh_kelly]

Sorry for being confusing, I guess that part of me being ADHD


If you want to get rid or flush adderall from your system, say Near bed time or if you think that the dose you already took is too high and feeling anxious,.... Drink cranberry juice (or any acidifying agent mentioned in the table above).


If you think that "you are not feeling adderall" or you think your dose "does not kick in early enough" take alkalizing agents also mentioned in the table above. That will make the effects of adderall more strong (more potent).

[Brookeslost]

THANK YOU! To both of you. I couldnt really tell if yall were agreeing or not either hahaa! When its a super long post sometimes I just skim it, reading is not my thing but on the internet its a bit easier, just not in this type of thread lol not that any of you were not clear.....just me!