Foods to Avoid While Taking Vyvanse: A Helpful Guide

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Posted by Prescription Hope - See Editorial Guidelines (Last Updated On: Wed Aug 02 2023)

When taking medications, often there are certain foods or food groups you need to be aware of. Here we’re going through what foods to avoid while taking Vyvanse.

Let’s start with a brief answer, then we’ll get into more details…

Acidic foods can acidify your urine and interfere with Vyvanse. This reduces the effectiveness of controlling symptoms. Herbal drinks, supplements, or food is taken to treat common symptoms of ADHD, grapefruit juice, alcohol, and coffee can intensify the medication but can lead to harmful side effects.

That’s the brief takeaway answer on foods to avoid while taking Vyvanse. Let’s get into more details so you know exactly what foods to avoid while taking Vyvanse.

What foods to avoid while taking Vyvanse

The good news is that most foods do not interfere with Vyvanse or other similar ADHD medications.

This is why a dose can be taken with or without food. So it’s best not to alter your diet significantly unless directed to do so by your healthcare professional.

This is especially true if you have certain other health conditions that require you to stick to a specific diet, altering them to take Vyvanse is not recommended.

Talk to your doctor more about this before making any dietary changes.

One of the main reasons why certain foods are best to avoid as soon as possible after taking Vyvanse is to increase its effectiveness in controlling ADHD symptoms.

In other words, limiting the intake of certain foods and drinks can increase the duration of how your medication works and its overall effectiveness.

Acidic foods to avoid while taking Vyvanse

Many acidic foods reduce the absorption capacity of Vyvanse, reducing the effect of the medications.

This means that taking acidic food after your Vyvanse dosage may reduce the time period for how long it controls the symptoms of ADHD.

This happens mainly because acidic food makes urine more acidic. This increases the rate that the medication is released or flushed from your system. Thus decreasing both its ability to get absorbed into your body and its effectiveness in controlling the symptoms.

It is also believed that the absorption of Vyvanse can be reduced if strong acid is present in the stomach at the time of taking the medication.

So it’s best to avoid the following foods at least 1 hour before taking Vyvanse:

• Citrus fruits
• Citrus juices
• Soda/carbonated beverages
• Vitamin supplements
• Other foods containing Vitamin C.

Aside from obviously acidic food, some other foods that can acidify the urine include:

• Berries
  • Cranberries
• Dairy products
  • cheese
  • milk
  • butter
• Oils
  • canola
  • corn
  • olive
  • safflower
  • sunflower
  • sesame
• Grains
  • rice
  • wheat
  • corn
  • oats
• Nuts
  • cashews
  • peanuts
  • pecans
  • walnuts

Thankfully, there are certain foods that make a person’s urine more alkaline, helping to reduce the time that medication is released from the body.

This helps in increasing the effectiveness of the medication and extending the period it stays and works in your body.

Some of these foods include:

• Vegetables – like asparagus, cucumbers, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, and squash.
• Fruits – like apples, bananas, oranges, lemons, pineapples, cherries, berries, tropical fruits, and watermelon.
• Protein-rich foods – such as eggs, chicken, yogurt, and almonds.

Herbal drinks and supplements

There are many different kinds of herbal teas, drinks, supplements, and even food that can naturally relieve some common symptoms of ADHD.

Taking Vyvanse alongside these herbal foods, drinks, or supplements can thereby increase the risk of serious side effects from Vyvanse.

This happens mainly due to intensifying the effects. One of the most common conditions resulting from this is serotonin syndrome – caused by serotonin buildup in the body.

Even herbal products, food, or beverages that are taken to ease symptoms of depression, restlessness, anxiety, nausea, or sleeping difficulties can interfere with Vyvanse and result in side effects.

As a general rule, try to avoid taking food, drinks, or supplements you think will interfere with Vyvanse 1 hour before and after taking Vyvanse.

It’s also best to talk to your doctor before getting into a course of herbal supplements if you are taking Vyvanse or any other similar ADHD medications.

Grapefruit juice

It’s important to emphasize that food interactions can reduce not only how long the medication works or its effectiveness. In some cases, certain food interactions can extend how long the medication stays and works in your body. Some of these include foods to avoid while taking Vyvanse.

While this, to some extent, can intensify the effects of the medication, giving better effects in controlling symptoms, the medication remaining for longer than recommended in your system could lead to side effects, or in worse case scenarios, lead to an overdose.

Grapefruit juice is one such beverage that can cause food interactions with Vyvanse, causing the medication to stay longer in your body.

The chemicals in grapefruit juice can interfere with the enzymes in your body that break down the medication in your digestive system, which makes it easy to disperse from the body over time.

In other words, grapefruit juice blocks the action of intestinal CYP3A4. So instead of being metabolized, more of the medication enters the blood and stays in the body longer. This causes it to build up, which could potentially reach dangerous levels.

The point here is to understand that any medication breaking down quickly, having less time to work, or staying in the body for longer are equally harmful.

And foods that cause such interactions should be consumed within a reasonable time gap before and after consuming the medication.

And here are 7 Healthy Eating Habits Everyone Must Be Aware Of.

Alcohol

Using Vyvanse or any other ADHD medications with alcohol can cause significant interactions.

It can increase the risk of cardiovascular side effects like increased heart rate, chest pain, or blood pressure changes.

In some instances, it can make it difficult to control the symptoms of ADHD. Or, in the worst cases, intensify symptoms like restlessness and anxiety.

It’s recommended to avoid the use of alcohol when using ADHD medications in general. Or as the last option, you should look to limit its intake.

If you are experiencing frequent headaches, chest pain, and/or a fast, pounding heartbeat, as soon as you take alcohol while being on Vyvanse, then consult with your doctor immediately.

Caffeine

Although it may come as a surprise, caffeine interacts with most medications and is no different from Vyvanse.

Caffeine and Vyvanse are central nervous system (CNS) stimulants.

Coffee is among the types of drinks and foods to avoid while taking Vyvanse. Caffeine causes typically similar side effects to that of Vyvanse.

So taking both together can worsen the side effects.

There are also certain medications and supplements that have caffeine as an active ingredient.

These can also cause interactions with Vyvanse – and lead to unpleasant side effects like nervousness, trouble sleeping, or tremor.

Normally if you are a coffee drinker, the doctor will likely recommend reducing your caffeine consumption during your Vyvanse treatment.

If you continue to have side effects that are susceptible to root from caffeine – known as chicory, then your doctor may also recommend avoiding coffee altogether.

Foods to avoid while taking Vyvanse – Summing up

We hope this has answered the question of what foods to avoid while taking Vyvanse.

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