Pomelo, anyone?

Speedster, Cozaar (losartan) is an angiotensin II receptor (type AT1) antagonist prescribed for hypertension (high blood pressure). Statin drugs are prescribed for hypercholesteremia (high blood cholesterol levels). In some patients grapefruits and their relatives may decrease the efficacy of Cozaar, so check with your doctor about whether or not it’s okay to eat grapefruit while taking Cozaar. There are other anti-hypertensive medications (mainly calcium channel blockers) that also react with grapefruits and other grapefruit relatives - felodipine, nifedipine, nimodipine and nisoldipine are a few. Along with other medications. The list is somewhat extensive. So, if you’re on any medication on a regular basis, read the prescribing information insert, or check with your pharmacist or doctor just to be sure :slight_smile:

1 Like

Is this about fruit?

It is Mrsg, but one of our list members stated it was okay to eat pummelos while on Cozaar. Which is actually not the case. As a nurse, I have to make sure speedster knows to check with his doctor, first. We can get back to talking about how delicious pummelos are! Yum.

2 Likes

that was me saying it was fine to eat grapefruit when on cozaar, and the following pdf document is the fda-approved “prescribing information insert”. It was last revised on Sept 2014 and there is no mention of grapefruit in the precautions, warnings, food-drug interactions, or contraindications sections of the document.

Are there more recent fda guidelines about cozaar which i may have missed? Websites have come across saying it is a no-no are in the league of webmd, drugs.com,healthcentral.com etc. Regardless, my stance remains the same-- it is so much safer and cheaper for the general population to take steps trying to do away with statins and anti-hypertensive meds altogether, as these drugs more often than not-- have more unpleasant side effects than just having qualms about eating grapefruit…

for relevance, the following is the prescribing insert equivalent for lipitor, which specifically mentions grapefruit and grapefruit juice.

http://labeling.pfizer.com/ShowLabeling.aspx?id=587#section-7.2

1 Like

Great article. Learned a lot.

Unfortunately the world is not all glitter and unicorns. Hypertension runs in my mothers family and 2 year ago it ultimately killed her as she died from the long term effects of not controlling her blood pressure. We can debate the use of blood pressure meds all we want but the bottom line is my blood pressure was too high even on a low fat diet and getting plenty of exercise. I’ve tried several types of anti-hypertension meds and the Angiotension II types drugs have been wonderful at controlling my BP without any type of negative side effects. I get a yearly multiphasic blood test to monitor any changes in hy kidney and liver function and so far all is well. After seeing what my mom went through I’m not going to walk around pretending I don’t have high blood pressure.

1 Like

Well said. In many cases high blood pressure and high cholesterol level/ratios are hereditary. Right now my confidence is in the trained medical field. Bill

jujumulberry, I found the information on Rxlist.com & Drugs.com, which are reliable sites:

I would still have anyone on Cozaar, and other anti-hypertensives (as well as any other medication you take on a regular basis), to check with their doctor, first, regarding grapefruits & their relatives (pummelos, tangelos).

And yes, it would be the best case scenario for someone not to have to take a statin or an anti-hypertensive, but there are some people who, even in the best of shape, have genetics against them, and these medications are potentially life-saving for them. We need to be careful not to paint with a broad brush.

And mrsg has already mentioned we probably need to get back to the subject matter, and let those on regular medications for chronic conditions have this conversation with their doctor :slight_smile:

sad to hear about your mom, and your unsuccessful attempts to ply the no-medication route. Medications are definitely life-saving in your scenario.

my dad died of MI due to hypertension, but his circumstances were due more to an unhealthy meat and potatoes(and no fruit) lifestyle, which was also an inconvenient one due to the slew of medications he needed to take, hence my stance.

and going back to the benefits of pomelo, the following also happen to be relevant to cozaar, hypertension, and potassium. Quite intriguing that pomelos, which help lower bp due its high potassium content-- is the same thing which could purportedly increase bp when taken with cozaar, an anti-hypertensive.

Just opened my first ever pummelo. Never had one before. Sold w/ Sunkist sticker as “Red Pummelo” at the grocery.

1 Like

I had to cut it open with a breadknife!

Does taste a lot like its child, the grapefruit, but drier in texture, milder and not as sour. The rind has the most peculiar smell like exotic flowers. It is enjoyable, but talk about the new darling of the Slow Foods movement. I could only eat half of it, and then felt like I should take a nap! It’s a lot of work to peel and eat- very much like a giant grapefruit. After eating, the inside of my mouth felt funny; much like after eating too much pineapple, which has protein-eating properties that abrade your tongue.

If nothing else, it was a delight to try something new. The floral aroma of the zested peel really is something unique and special. But I’ll probably stick with the dark red grapefruits from Texas as my go-to “pamplemousse!”

Our pumellos from the supermarket. Don’t have quite that much skin and pith. Geesh that fruit is fifty percent pith, and its bitter too. Fruit is good though.

To avoid funny taste, after I remove pomelo skin, I wash my hands. Pith needs to be removed as much as possible. Some work, yes but you probably won’t get that funny feeling after eating it.

Here how I peeled the skin first.

And the final product.

9 Likes

I really don’t mind the “final product” :grin:

Just not quite interest in the peeling process!

I agree Tom. In spite of really liking them I very rarely buy them in the US. Years ago my wife would occasionally peel them for me (I prepared crab meat for her many times in case you’re thinking this was one-sided :wink: )

I’m from Malaysia and we LOVE durian. It’s called the King of Fruits in some Asian countries.I also have friends who didn’t grow up eating durian and think that it tastes and smells like poop, lol.

As for Pomelo, we also love this unusual citrus fruit. Yes, more work than an orange, but have you ever tried feeding a family of four a single orange? With Pomelo you can and still have left overs. Its way more expensive in Canada. Never really find it for less than $2.50 each, more likely closer to $4-5 each. Ours are usually the off-white colour flesh, not pink like in your pics.

If you have Costco there, pomeloes from Costco are the most reasonable-priced but they are only seasonal.

When I was in Thailand around Xmas, pomeloes were everywhere. Theyvwere extra large and weighed about 4-5 lbs each. It was about $2 a fruit

When I was there, it was not a durian season. Oh, so disappointed :slight_smile:

1 Like

I do the exact same method for peeling, Slice the top then do thin cuts in quarters. My Chinese Grandma would save the rinds for broths/soups and all of them looked like that. I feel lucky that I can get Pomelo year round since I live so close to Vancouver.

One common thing I have seen people do with pomelo rinds is to cand them. I admit I dislike the taste and texture of candied pomelo rinds.

I have not seen people use it in soup or as an ingredient in dishes.

We do use pomelo flesh to make spicy pomelo salad by separating pulpy flesh into small pieces and add other ingredients to make spicy salad.