Can I drink a ruby red 4% grapefruit juice drink made by Ocean Spray

Medical advice for simvastatin previously includes avoiding grapefruit juice consumption while on this medication because it would cause a slower breakdown of the drug which would, in turn, increase the amount of the drug in your bloodstream. This increased level of simvastatin would increase the risk of experiencing adverse effects from the medication.

The adverse effects of statins on muscles can range from mild discomfort (myalgia) to the more serious rhabdomyolysis, which requires hospitalization and, in extremely rare cases, causes death.

An updated review has been made and published in The American Journal of Medicine in January 2016. It does confirm that grapefruit juice intake would increase the blood levels of statins. It could increase by about 13.5-fold if taken with unusually large intakes of grapefruit juice (equivalent to 6 whole grapefruits a day). However, a typical grapefruit juice intake (equivalent to an 8 oz glass or 1 grapefruit per day) would only increase the blood levels by 3.6-fold. At 3.6% increase, this would serve as a therapeutic effect-enhancer rather than cause an adverse effect.

Therefore, the interaction between grapefruit juice and simvastatin leads to an increase in effective dose, resulting in reduced LDL cholesterol and Ischemic Heart Disease. The risk of rhabdomyolysis is much less in comparison, and overall, there is no need to advise people on statins to avoid drinking grapefruit juice if done in moderation.

amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(15)00774-3/pdf

Enjoy your grapefruit juice! =)