Can You Take Rooibos Tea with Pantoprazole and Losartan?

Thank you for reaching out to us. If I understand your question correctly, you intend to start taking rooibos tea but you want to know if it will interact with your current medications – pantoprazole and losartan.

If that’s the case, then here is what I have to say regarding that. 

Can You Take Rooibos Tea with Pantoprazole and Losartan?

There is an interaction between Rooibos tea and both Pantoprazole and losartan. These two medications are both broken down by the same enzyme in the body and unfortunately, rooibos tea can inhibit or block the activities of these enzymes involved. 

Drinking the tea while also taking these medications can lead to the accumulation of Pantoprazole and losartan in the body. This can lead to toxicity and side effects. You should not drink rooibos tea while on these medications.

Pantoprazole belongs to the same class of drugs as omeprazole and lansoprazole called proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). Medications in this class often share a similarity in how they work and the effect they produce. That is why they can be interchanged with one another. 

Losartan on the other hand belongs to a very different drug class called angiotensin II receptor blockers. It works to lower blood pressure.

The Interaction Between Rooibos Tea and Pantoprazole and Losartan

Pantoprazole and losartan are two different medications but the only thing they have in common is that they are both metabolized (broken down) by the same kinds of enzymes. 

For drugs to be removed from the body, they have to be broken down first, although there are also medications that are excreted unchanged. A group of enzymes in the body called Cytochrome P450 is responsible for the breakdown of a great majority of drugs.

The enzymes responsible for the breakdown of both pantoprazole and losartan are CYP3A4 and CYP2C9, among others. Research has shown that rooibos tea can inhibit or block the activities of these two enzymes [1]. 

This means that if you take Rooibos tea while on pantoprazole and losartan. There is a possibility for the enzymes tasked with the job of breaking them down to be inhibited. This will prevent their metabolism and also allow them to accumulate in the body.

If they accumulate, they could cause toxicity and also increase the likelihood of side effects. As l earlier recommended, you should consider swapping rooibos tea for another or you vary the timing between the doses of the drug and the tea intake.

Pharmacist Recommendation

I have two recommendations for you in this regard. The first is that you should not start taking rooibos tea with these medications. You can ask your doctor or pharmacist for an alternative tea that will provide you with the same benefits as rooibos without interfering with your meds.

My second recommendation would be to vary the timing of the medications if you really must take rooibos tea. Losartan is preferably taken in the morning to put the blood pressure in check during the day. Pantoprazole is usually taken once daily but can also be taken twice daily depending on the severity of the condition being managed.

So if you’re taking losartan and pantoprazole once a day, you can take them in the morning and then drink rooibos tea late in the evening or at night. This will provide adequate spacing between the two. 

However, what research hasn’t shown is how long the inhibitory effect of rooibos tea on the enzymes responsible for metabolizing these two drugs lasts.

If this effect happens to extend to the next day when you’ll be taking the meds again, it could still interact. To eliminate every possibility of drug-herb interaction, you should consider switching to another tea.

Final Thoughts

References

1. Patel O, Muller C, Joubert E, Louw J, Rosenkranz B, Awortwe C. Inhibitory Interactions of Aspalathus linearis (Rooibos) Extracts and Compounds, Aspalathin and Z-2-(β-d-Glucopyranosyloxy)-3-phenylpropenoic Acid, on Cytochromes Metabolizing Hypoglycemic and Hypolipidemic Drugs. Molecules. 2016 Nov 12;21(11):1515. doi: 10.3390/molecules21111515. PMID: 27845750; PMCID: PMC6273468.
2. Bernshteyn MA, Masood U. Pantoprazole. [Updated 2023 Jul 10]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. 
3. Meyer UA. Metabolic interactions of the proton-pump inhibitors lansoprazole, omeprazole and pantoprazole with other drugs. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 1996 Oct;8 Suppl 1:S21-5. doi: 10.1097/00042737-199610001-00005. PMID: 8930576.
4. Mulla S, Siddiqui WJ. Losartan. [Updated 2022 Jul 18]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-.