Date

Friday 28 Aug 2026

Time

14:00 - 14:30

Location

BW017

Supervisor

Rene Olsthoorn

Jury

Rolf Boot

Most drugs are metabolised by cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes before they can be cleared from the body. This process can be strongly influenced by what we eat. Grapefruit and St John’s wort are the best-known examples of food- and herb-drug interactions, but they are far from the only ones. This review looks at how foods such as cranberry, baby kale, green tea, curcumin and pomegranate also affect CYP enzymes. This happens through mechanisms ranging from reversible and irreversible enzyme inhibition to enzyme induction and effects on drug transporters. For each food, the underlying mechanism, the strength of the supporting evidence and the clinical relevance are discussed. Along with the patient groups most at risk, including transplant recipients, cancer patients, people with HIV and older adults on multiple medications. Taken together, the evidence shows that food-CYP interactions are more common and more varied than commonly assumed. It is important to recognise them, beyond the well-known cases of grapefruit and St John’s wort, for preventing avoidable harm from drug interactions. Especially since commercial supplement use is becoming more popular every year.