Patient education

Health guides

Plain-language answers to common questions about medicines, food and your health — written from the evidence and reviewed by a licensed pharmacist.

• Protein & carbs: how to balance them for your goal

  A plain-language, evidence-based guide to balancing protein and carbohydrates — for blood sugar, appetite, weight, exercise recovery, and healthy aging.

• Grapefruit and your medicines: when it matters, and when it does not

  Grapefruit changes how your body handles some medicines — but not all of them. A plain-language guide to which medicines are affected, how big the effect really is, and what to ask your pharmacist.

• Calcium, iron and antacids: when a supplement blocks your medicine

  Calcium, iron, magnesium and aluminium can bind some medicines in your gut so they are never absorbed. A plain-language guide to which medicines, why timing fixes it, and what to ask.

• Warfarin and green vegetables: consistency, not avoidance

  If you take warfarin, the goal with vitamin K is a steady amount week to week — not cutting greens out. A plain-language guide to why, and what actually unsettles an INR.

• Alcohol and common medicines: four different risks, not one rule

  "Alcohol interacts with medicines" hides four unrelated risks with very different evidence behind them. A plain-language guide to which one is genuinely dangerous.

• Potassium, salt substitutes and blood pressure medicines

  Some blood pressure and heart medicines make it harder for your kidneys to shed potassium. A plain-language guide to where the added risk really comes from — and it is not bananas.