Valuing nutrition

When talking with people in practice, during a structured medication review or in the community pharmacy, for example, it is important to consider the interactions between medicines and foods/nutrients, alongside drug–drug interactions. During effective consultations, by including patients as equal partners in decisions about their care, consideration about the interplay between medicines and nutrition could broaden your conversations beyond medicines towards self care.

A nutritious and well-balanced diet is needed to maintain or restore good health. The synthesis, function, and repair of every structure in the human body are reliant upon the nutrients we eat, the air we breathe, and the action of sunlight (UVB) on our skin. Nutritional issues affect every bodily function and every illness. There is not a ‘one size fits all’ approach to supporting people’s health through discussions about medicines and nutrition.

Nutritional status is not only influenced by diet. The presence of disease, genetics, and whether an individual is taking regular or intermittent medicines are all factors that can influence nutritional status. For example, medicines can influence absorption and excretion of nutrients. If certain nutrients are lacking in the diet, or if a medicine influences nutritional status, a vitamin or mineral deficiency (or deficiencies) can develop, which in turn can lead to symptoms, illness, and disease.

Understanding how medicines can change nutritional status may help to identify the cause of a micronutrient deficiency symptom. Correcting the micronutrient deficiency may then alleviate the symptom/side effect of the medicine.