# LSD/citrus reaction **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 3, 2003, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lsd-citrus-reaction/166149 "2003-04-03T06:34:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Humungus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@The\_Humungus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Humungus)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lsd-citrus-reaction/166149/1 "2003-04-03T06:34:37Z")
Does citrus fruit affect the effects of psychoactives? I’ve heard this before, and now I’m watching fear and loathing in las vegas and theres quite a bit of grapefruit. If theres nothing to this, how did it arise? ---
**Author:** ![mooka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@mooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mooka)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lsd-citrus-reaction/166149/2 "2003-04-03T11:28:32Z")
I’ve never heard of that particular story to be honest. It sounds like an myth but i could be mistaken. Bananas do contain something called Tryptaphan (spelling?) though which your brain can easily convert to serotonin. Hence eating bananas could increase the effects of ecstasy. ---
**Author:** ![Kubbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/96bed5/32.png) [@Kubbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kubbo)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lsd-citrus-reaction/166149/3 "2003-04-03T11:32:08Z")
It’s all about vitamins, sort of. Abram Hoffer and Humphrey Osmond had a theory that people who suffered from schizophrenia were producing excessive amounts of adrenochrome, which derives from adrenaline, and that LSD had a similar effect. vitamin C would prevent this from happening, although not very efficiently. Adding several other vitamins seemed to help. So, the buzz is that vitamin C supposedly soothes the effect of LSD and makes the trip easier to deal with while not nullifying it. It is also supposed to make the aftermath easier. I’m not sure if this is from where it originated, but you’d probably have to stuff yourself with quite an amount of vitamins for this to happen, and i wouldn’t rule out the placo effect. ---
**Author:** ![gris\_gris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/439d5e/32.png) [@gris\_gris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gris_gris)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lsd-citrus-reaction/166149/4 "2003-04-03T11:38:18Z")
I have been told the vitaman c in oranges or grapefruits will dull the effects of lsd if your “trip” gets to intense for you to handle. On the other hand I have also been told by others that the vitamin c will make your “trip” more intense. I tried drinking some oj once while on the “acid” and I cant tell you if it made it better or worse so i don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![gris\_gris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/439d5e/32.png) [@gris\_gris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gris_gris)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lsd-citrus-reaction/166149/5 "2003-04-03T11:39:53Z")
oops i didnt see kubbo’s post, he has a better answer. ---
**Author:** ![brainfizz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/da6949/32.png) [@brainfizz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainfizz)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lsd-citrus-reaction/166149/6 "2003-04-03T11:41:03Z")
Supposedly taking vitamin C and lots of it well in advance of a trip can take the paranoid edge off your trip and make you more lucid. Doesn’t seem to affect the overall “quality” of the trip, though. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lsd-citrus-reaction/166149/7 "2003-04-03T13:10:56Z")
LSD is metabolized in the liver. The enzyme involved is unknown, but is probably one of the P-450 cytochromes. Cytochrome P-450 3A4 is [significantly inhibited by grapefruit juice](http://www.anaesthetist.com/physiol/basics/metabol/cyp/g.htm). Note the drug interaction warnings ! There _may_ be a similar effect on LSD breakdown. This article claims that [Oranges](http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2001-02/UoNC-Lgso-0602101.php) have a similar, but less pronounced, effect. Acids, such as Vitamin C or citric acid, also affect the rate at which some drugs are absorbed. If the drug happens to be psychotropic, this can alter the users perception of the drug’s actions.