What foods to avoid when taking furosemide?
Even if you haven’t heard of furosemide, you may have heard of it by its common name, “water pills.”
Furosemide can change the way your body handles fluids and can cause side effects and risks. If you change what you eat while taking furosemide, you may be less likely to have serious side effects or complications.
Read on to find out which foods you shouldn’t eat while taking furosemide and which ones you should.
Describe furosemide.
Furosemide is a loop diuretic, which is also called a “water pill.” Lasix is a brand name for the drug furosemide. Furosemide is usually given in 20–80 milligram doses, either all at once or split up over the course of the day.
How does furosemide work?
Furosemide can be used to treat a number of health problems, such as congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, kidney disease, edema, and others.
The main reason people take furosemide is to get rid of extra fluid in their bodies, which can make heart failure and kidney disease worse.
How does furosemide work?
Furosemide is a diuretic, which means it makes you pee more, which helps your body get rid of fluid and sodium. Furosemide helps your kidneys get rid of more sodium, which pulls water with it as it leaves your body. This means you have to go to the bathroom more often while taking furosemide, which is good if you have trouble getting rid of fluid.
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Foods you shouldn’t eat while on furosemide
Here are some foods that you shouldn’t eat while on furosemide.
Some plants
Some herbs can make you pee more, so if you are taking furosemide, you should avoid those herbs. Herbs like dandelion, uva ursi, juniper, buchu, hibiscus, and parsley may cause you to pee more, so you should stay away from them if you are taking furosemide.
Licorice is another herb that could make furosemide less effective. The glycyrrhizic acid in licorice root can lower the amount of potassium in your blood (1). Hypokalemia, a condition in which your blood potassium levels are too low, could happen if you take licorice root with furosemide (more on that later).
Foods high in sodium
The goal of diuretics is to get rid of extra water in your body. When you eat a lot of sodium, your body holds on to more fluid, which makes furosemide less effective.
High blood pressure and heart failure, which furosemide is used to treat, can get worse when you eat too much sodium.
Most people think of table salt when they think of a low-sodium diet because it contains sodium. But most people don’t get most of the sodium they need from table salt. Instead, most sodium comes from processed and ready-to-eat foods.
Some foods that are high in sodium are:
- Meats that have been smoked, cured, or canned, such as bacon, deli meat, sausage, sardines, anchovies, and other fish.
- Burritos, pizzas, and other “TV dinners” can be cooked frozen.
- Meals like chili, soup, “Spaghetti-Os,” etc. that come in a can.
- Beans and vegetables that have been canned and salted.
- Snacks like chips, microwave popcorn, pretzels, etc. are salty.
- Baking soda, which is in mixes for quick loaves of bread like pancakes, muffins, etc., is very high in sodium.
- Salad dressings, sauces, marinades, etc.
Natural cheese has a lot less sodium than processed cheese. One slice of processed American cheese, which is 21 grams, has 273 milligrams of sodium, while one slice of mozzarella, which is 28 grams, has 175 milligrams of sodium.
According to the American Heart Association, these six popular foods can add a lot of sodium to your diet. They are called the Salty SIX.
- Rolls and bread
- Pizza \sSandwiches
- Cuts of cold meat and cured meats
- Burritos and tacos with soup
Try not to eat more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day (the current recommended daily amount). Ideal is below 2,000 milligrams.
What you can eat while on furosemide
Now that we’ve talked about what you shouldn’t eat while taking furosemide, here are some things you should eat.
Foods high in potassium
Furosemide is a diuretic that can lower your potassium levels. Because of this, you should try to get enough potassium in your diet to make up for the potassium you lose.
Men aged 19 and up should get 3,400 milligrams of potassium per day, while women aged 19 and up should get 2,600 milligrams per day.
Many plant-based foods, like fruits and vegetables, have potassium. A healthy way to eat while taking furosemide is to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables.
Some foods that are high in potassium are:
- Fruits \sApricots
- Bananas
- Cantaloupe
- Dried fruit
- Honeydew melon
- Kiwi
- Mango \sNectarines
- Oranges and juice from oranges
- Papaya
- Pomegranate and pomegranate juice
- Prunes and prune juice
- Pumpkin \sRaisins
- Tomatoes, tomato sauce, and paste made from tomatoes
- Vegetables
- Hubbard squash, Hubbard squash, and Acorn squash
- Avocado
- Artichoke
- Beets
- Beans can be baked, cooked, or fried.
- Broccoli (cooked) (cooked)
- Brussels sprouts
- Kohlrabi \sLentils
- Okra Onions (fried)
- Parsnips
- Potatoes
- Rutabagas
- Spinach (cooked) (cooked)
- Vegetable juice
- Other meals
- Products made from bran
- Chocolate
- Coconut
- Soups with cream
- The French fry
- Granola
- Ice cream
- Milk
- Miso
- Molasses
- Nuts
- Peanut butter
- Potato chips
- Salt substitutes
- Seeds
- Tofu \sYogurt
Foods high in magnesium
If you take furosemide, you may have problems with your heart, like heart failure or high blood pressure. When you eat foods high in magnesium, your blood vessels can relax. This can help lower your blood pressure.
Magnesium can be found in foods that come from plants, such as vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and seeds.
Some foods that are high in magnesium are:
- Pumpkin seeds
- Almonds
- Spinach \sCashews
- Peanuts
- Soymilk
- Black beans are a type of bean.
- Edamame
- Black chocolate
- Peanut butter
- Whole grain bread
What foods make you pee a lot?
Some foods and drinks are diuretics, which means they make you pee more. While taking furosemide, you should be careful about what you eat and drink that makes you pee because you don’t want to lose too much fluid and get dehydrated.
Beverages with caffeine
Caffeine is a diuretic, which means it can make you go to the bathroom more often. Even though it may be safe to have a small amount of caffeine while taking furosemide, you should stay away from drinks like espresso drinks and energy drinks that have a lot of caffeine.
Some fruits and vegetables
Fruits and vegetables contain a lot of water, so they add to the amount of fluid you take in. Some fruits and vegetables have a lot of water, so if you eat enough of them, they can make you pee more.
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