If you've filled out a new patient form recently, you've noticed that more healthcare professionals ask your to list supplements. That's a refelction of bias, it's because dietary supplements can interact effect use of other medication and can even sometimes create symptoms of illness - like changes in your bloodwork. We take that seriously, and so should you.

We're completely transparent by saying we have not yet conducted extensive drug interaction testing with Nápreva for several reasons:

1) Nápreva is made from plant ingredients that we regularly consume in common foods, fresh herbs and spices.

2) All ingredients in Nápreva are Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) by the FDA. This means that the FDA agrees that an ingredient is safe to use in food and beverage products, based on a long history of common use or solid scientific evidence.

3) As a part of the research done to obtain GRAS status from the FDA, scientists and clinicians conducted extensive research to determine if there might be potentially harmful effects of using the terpenes used in Nápreva in ordinary food products and in extremely high concentrations that could be found in something taken more like medication. They did this because food products like flavor extracts can contain extremely high concentrations of specific terpenes and they had to be sure that if someone accidentally drank a whole bottle of extract, they would either see no negative reactions or the manufacturer could provide adequate warnings and remedies if necessary.

Beta Caryophyllene in Food and Flavorings

For one of the active ingredients in Nápreva, a serving of 222 mg. for every 2.2 pounds of body weight for a period of 90 days was shown to have no toxic effects. For a 100 lb. person, that more than 10,000 mg. per day for 3 months. In contract, a single 1 ml serving of Nápreva contains less than 10% of that amount.

In real-world use, FDA data indicates that one of Nápreva’s primary active ingredients, beta caryophyllene, is found in 80 different food additives. This includes spices like cloves and black pepper, as well as food products containing concentrated flavorings from cloves, black pepper, hops and other herbs, spices, fruit and vegetables. Unless they use synthetic chemical flavorings, your favorite pumpkin spice, beer, broccoli, mango ice cream and pesto probably contain some beta caryophyllene. The average person consumes more than 10 mg daily.

Precursors to Drug Interaction Testing

With the increasing focus on potential therapeutic benefits of beta caryophyllene, researchers have begun early testing and development of models for future testing no only of direct testing of potential drug interactions, but on the metabolic systems in the human body that can affect how common prescription drugs work and how beta caryophyllene might alter those systems.

One such study evaluated beta caryophyllene’s impact on production of liver enzymes important for metabolizing drugs like statin drugs, often prescribed to lower cholesterol. If beta caryophyllene were to inhibit or neutralize naturally-occurring enzymes, it could cause a build-up of drugs in the body, slow their bioavailability and reduce effectiveness.

The study was conducted in vitro instead of in animals or humans and indicated that amounts far greater than the concentration of terpenes in Nápreva may cause some inhibition of key liver enzymes. On the other hand, the study also cautions that that there are substantial and significant differences in the way that test tube (in vitro) exposure works, and the way the same molecules and enzymes may work in a real human or animal body leading to overstated risk.

Customer Feedback

Like any food or dietary supplement, there are always the possibility that, in a small number of cases, it’s possible to have a reaction or interaction, but there have also been no notable adverse reactions have been reported by our customers – animal or human. Some have been using Nápreva for 2 years or more with other commonly-used medications for blood pressure and cholesterol control, among others.

All said, if you are taking a complex combination of prescription and non-prescription medications and other supplements, or even if you’re just uncertain, we strongly recommend that you consult with your pain professional before adding Nápreva to your wellness program. Please refer them to the Ingredients page and Knowledge Hub on our web site for information on the ingredients used in our products and if you need more information, please reach out to us at info@napreva.com or using the contact form on this site.

Learn More:

Dietary administration of β-caryophyllene and its epoxide to Sprague-Dawley rats for 90 day https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31610257/

Enhanced Oral Bioavailability of β-Caryophyllene in Healthy Subjects Using the VESIsorb Formulation Technology, a Novel Self-Emulsifying Drug Delivery System (SEDDS) https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/27/9/2860?utm_source=chatgpt.com

SUMMARY OF DATA FOR CHEMICAL SELECTION https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/sites/default/files/ntp/htdocs/chem_background/exsumpdf/betacaryophyllene_508.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com

FEMA: 2252 Beta Caryophyllene https://www.femaflavor.org/flavor-library/beta-caryophyllene

The inhibitory effects of β-caryophyllene, β-caryophyllene oxide and α-humulene on the activities of the main drug-metabolizing enzymes in rat and human liver in vitro https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29074051/