1882 Grapefruits of Wrath

Interesting news from the medical community. Grapefruit juice can kill.
This comes as great news to me, since I've never really liked grapefruit juice. My tongue has too many bitter-oriented tastebuds and so certain foods like grapefruits, Brussels sprouts and coffee beans really overwhelm me. Still, I periodically try them, thinking of their health benefits and hoping I may have finally developed a taste for them.
It was difficult growing up when I had a cold, as my grandmother was a big grapefruit advocate. Squeezing the giant orbs mercilessly before she produced a rendered glass for me to imbibe for my coughs and snuffles.
Turns out grapefruits contain chemicals called furanocoumarins that interfere with how your body breaks down drugs before they enter the bloodstream. By preventing this normal breakdown of a drug, these chemicals effectively cause a drug overdose and more severe side-effects.
The article I read in ABC News said that doctors of the Canadian Medical Association recommend expanding the grapefruit interaction warning to 85 drugs. One of those is Lovastatin, used to lower cholesterol and prevent a heart attack. Side effects include confusion and constipation. Not the kind of overdose old people who take the drug need.
Another of the drugs on the list is dextromethorphan. Yep, that dextromethorphan. The one you take when you have a cough from a cold.
Interestingly, when I went to the ABC News website to read the story, a commercial video started playing that was obviously planted by a computer algorithm because it related to the topic. The commercial was for Robitussin. With Dextromethorphan!
Something I just took for a cold I had. At least the ad wasn't for fresh grapefruit juice. Granny might be rolling over in her grave.
And I might have been joining her.
America, ya gotta love it.