Q & A: Do Acidic Meals Affect Stimulant Levels?

The launch pad for todays discussion is this video:

   • Will Food Acidity Affect My ADHD Meds?  

Where I outline the basics of acid-base chemistry. Orange juice, other citrus, Vitamin C and soft drinks can acidify the stomach. This means that weak bases, like both methylphenidate (Ritalin) and amphetamine (Adderall) will be more ionized. This makes them pass less readily from the inside of the digestive system into the body. To the extent that urine is also acidified, the more highly ionized drugs will also be eliminated more quickly.

Some people notice strong effects of stomach acidification on their meds, and others detect no impact at all. Part of this is that very little drug absorption takes place in the stomach anyway. How quickly drugs are metabolized, or broken down, generally has a bigger role on drug levels in the blood and brain, than do absorption or excretion. Slow release medications often have coatings, so that even more of the medication absorption happens in the small intestine, not the stomach.


General:

Psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and author John Kruse, MD, PhD presents practical, actionable, well-researched information about treatment options that scientists and clinicians recommend for adult ADHD and other mental health conditions. Subscribe if you're curious about how neuro-atypical brains can optimize their functioning in our shared, and somewhat strange, world.

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