Men Should Avoid Eating These Foods Before Taking Viagra

If you're like the 30 million other men in the United States experiencing erectile dysfunction (per National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases), your doctor might offer some lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking, not drinking alcohol, and increasing physical activity to improve your condition. You could also treat erectile dysfunction (ED) through phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors like Viagra (sildenafil).

That little blue pill you take for erectile dysfunction relaxes your muscles and increases the blood flow to your penis to help you maintain an erection. Although your doctor can give you the best advice about your dosage and strength of Viagra, you'll typically take it about an hour before sexual activity.

You'll want to avoid eating foods high in fat when you take Viagra because high-fat food will delay the medication's effect. That means limiting foods like fried chicken, cheeseburgers, and bacon. Even if you experience a delayed effect of Viagra after eating a high-fat meal, don't take another dose. Viagra will still kick in, but you'll have to be patient. Unlike some medications that can upset your stomach if you don't take them with food, you can take Viagra on an empty stomach. You'll also want to be careful about other things you put into your system while taking Viagra.

Having a few drinks before having sex might be a regular practice for you, but using Viagra means taking some precautions with alcohol. Viagra opens up your blood vessels, which means you could experience lower blood pressure and feel a little dizzy. When you combine Viagra with alcohol, you can feel even more lightheaded or have heart palpitations. Drugs.com suggests having no more than four drinks while taking Viagra, and you'll also need to be careful about how quickly you stand up after being seated or lying down.

Grapefruit juice also interferes with many medications, including Viagra. A 2002 clinical trial in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics tested the effects of grapefruit juice on the body's absorption of Viagra. When 24 healthy men drank grapefruit juice before taking a 50-milligram dose of Viagra, it increased the absorption of the drug in the bloodstream by 23%. Even though the drug was quickly absorbed into the body, Viagra took longer to reach its peak. Drinking grapefruit juice while taking Viagra isn't harmful, but it might work differently than usual.

Even though Viagra was originally designed to treat angina, you should let your doctor know about your Viagra prescription if you're already taking nitrates to treat chest pain. Riociguat, which is also used to treat high blood pressure, might cause your blood pressure to drop to dangerously low levels if you take it with Viagra (per Drugs.com). Alpha-blockers, diuretics, and ACE inhibitors could also interact with Viagra by causing low blood pressure. Herbal supplements might appear to be safe, but let your doctor know of any supplements you're taking before using Viagra since they could interact with it too.

Medications like Viagra are often processed by your liver. If you're taking medications that affect the proteins in your liver — such as ritonavir, clarithromycin, and ketoconazole — this could increase the amount of Viagra in your system and cause side effects such as headaches, upset stomach, or runny nose. On the other hand, medications like rifampin and carbamazepine and the herb St. John's wort can suppress the amount of Viagra in your system, which might make you feel the medication isn't working (per GoodRx). In either case, your doctor should adjust the strength of your Viagra to ensure the effectiveness of the medication without causing unwanted side effects.