Drug & supplement interaction

Maple Syrup Diet + Dextromethorphan

Dextromethorphan brand names: Hold, Benylin Adult, Benylin Pediatric, Theraflu Thin Strips Long Acting Cough, Neo Citran Thin Strips Cough.

No Known Interaction

Medically reviewed by Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS · Updated July 2026 · Pair last verified Sep 20, 2026

The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Maple Syrup Diet and Dextromethorphan in our sources. Absence of a documented interaction is not the same as proven safety, and does not guarantee one does not exist. Do not start, stop, or change a medication or supplement based on this page; confirm with your pharmacist or doctor first.

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Interaction report

Maple Syrup Diet and Dextromethorphan

We checked these two against our interaction database. Here is what we found.

No Known Interaction Found

We did not find a documented interaction between Dextromethorphan and Maple Syrup Diet in our sources. This does not guarantee that the combination is completely free of risk — research on Maple Syrup Diet alongside specific medications may be limited.

Worth understanding: our licensed dataset holds no drug-interaction record for Maple Syrup Diet at all — not against Dextromethorphan, and not against any other medication we track. This verdict therefore rests on the absence of any recorded data, not on research that looked at this combination and found nothing. We cannot rule an interaction out.

Maple Syrup Diet is an eating pattern rather than something you take. Ask your pharmacist or doctor before changing how you eat while on a prescribed medicine: some medicines are dosed around meals, and a change in diet can change how they work. Do not stop a prescribed medicine on your own.

Always talk with your pharmacist or doctor before making changes to your medications or supplements, particularly if you take several medications or have an ongoing health condition.

Maple Syrup Diet safety at a glance

Maple Syrup Diet overall Use caution It is a very-low-nutrient liquid fast that can cause nutrient deficiencies and other problems, especially if done for more than a day or two.

Pregnancy Possibly Unsafe During pregnancy and lactation. The maple syrup diet is not intended to provide adequate nutrition and can result in electrolyte imbalances when used short-term... Read the full pregnancy detail

Breastfeeding Possibly Unsafe During pregnancy and lactation. The maple syrup diet is not intended to provide adequate nutrition and can result in electrolyte imbalances when used short-term... Read the full breastfeeding detail

Pregnancy & breastfeeding ratings are from Natural Medicines (Therapeutic Research Center) — the full detail is in the Special populations card below. Safety guidance is general; always confirm with your pharmacist or doctor for your situation.

Still wondering about combining Dextromethorphan and Maple Syrup Diet? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›

What to actually watch for

What Maple Syrup Diet Itself Has Been Linked To

This is not an interaction — nothing below involves Dextromethorphan. It is the side-effect record for Maple Syrup Diet on its own, from the licensed Natural Medicines monograph. If something new turns up after you add Maple Syrup Diet, this list is the first place to look. One entry is worth acting on rather than waiting out — marked below.

An electrolyte imbalance Worth acting on Additional detail
“There is limited reliable information available about the adverse effects of the maple syrup diet. However, the maple syrup diet does not provide adequate nutrition and involves the consumption of large quantities of water. This can lead to electrolyte imbalances when used short-term and malnutrition when used long-term.”

Maple Syrup Diet · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in malnutrition.
1 source cited

103181. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. "Detoxes" and "Cleanses": What you need to know. Available at: https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/detoxes-and-cleanses-what-you-need-to-know. Updated September 2019. Accessed on: June 15, 2020.

Everything above comes from the Natural Medicines adverse-effect record for Maple Syrup Diet — expand a row for the licensed statement it rests on. We haven’t matched Dextromethorphan to its FDA label in our system yet, so we can’t compare its own side-effect list here — the leaflet that comes with your prescription is the authoritative list for Dextromethorphan.

Special populations

Maple Syrup Diet in Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

Pregnancy And Lactation Possibly Unsafe

During pregnancy and lactation. The maple syrup diet is not intended to provide adequate nutrition and can result in electrolyte imbalances when used short-term, as well as malnutrition when used long-term.

DISCLAIMER: This tool is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be interpreted as specific medical advice. Patients should consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making decisions about therapies and/or health conditions.© 2026 Therapeutic Research Center

From our Q&A

Questions About Maple Syrup Diet or Dextromethorphan

These are real questions from readers, answered by the pharmacists at HelloPharmacist — written by a person, not generated from a database. Each one covers Maple Syrup Diet or Dextromethorphan, not necessarily both, but if one is close to what you were about to ask it will usually go further than a database entry can:

Not quite your question? Ask our pharmacists directly — it is free, there is no account required, and answers usually come back within 24 hours.

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With Dextromethorphan

This page covers Maple Syrup Diet only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Dextromethorphan page lists 171 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Grapefruit (major), Lithium (major), St. John's Wort (major) and 1,3-dmaa (moderate).

By severity: 4 major · 125 moderate · 42 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Dextromethorphan page

“A glass of grapefruit juice can push dextromethorphan (Benylin, Hold, and other cough medicines) to higher levels than intended, one of four major-rated entries among the 171 supplements and herbs on file, and the list as a whole warrants real care. Most interactions trace back to the liver enzymes (CYP3A4 and CYP2D6) that clear dextro…”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Dextromethorphan interaction page

How much people look this up

Where Maple Syrup Diet and Dextromethorphan Sit Against Everything Else

Out of every supplement and medication people look up on HelloPharmacist, here is where these two land this week — and which way each has been moving.

Supplement Maple Syrup Diet

Steady interest

#1,232 of 1,452 supplements looked up here in the last 7 days

29 days ago today

Medication Dextromethorphan

Top 10%

#282 of 2,830 medications looked up here in the last 7 days

29 days ago today

Position among everything looked up on this site, not a measure of how commonly either one is used or how important it is. A supplement can climb this list because of a news story. It counts every request to the page, automated ones included, and nothing here identifies anyone.

Where does our data come from?

Source: the Natural Medicines (TRC Healthcare) clinical database — the evidence-graded professional reference for herb & supplement interactions.
Citation library: 103,510 references behind our interaction content, 65,311 of them resolved to verified PubMed/DOI sources. See every Maple Syrup Diet reference on this page ↓
Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 20, 2026. The Maple Syrup Diet and Dextromethorphan records this page draws on were last updated July 10, 2026.
What “no known interaction” means: no documented interaction in the sources above — not a guarantee of safety. Supplements are studied far less than prescription drugs, so we say exactly what the evidence supports, and nothing more.

Data structure & sourcing designed and verified by Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS.

Eating pattern

About Maple Syrup Diet

What is Maple Syrup Diet?

Short-term weight loss
Body 'detox' or cleanse
Jump-starting a diet
Quick fasting program

The Maple Syrup Diet (also called the Master Cleanse or Lemonade Diet) is a fad cleanse where you drink a maple syrup, lemon, water, and cayenne mixture instead of eating food for several days. There is no good scientific evidence that it 'detoxes' the body, and any weight lost is mostly water and is usually regained. It can be risky because it provides almost no protein, fat, vitamins, or minerals, so most people should avoid it.

Liquid cleanse drink (a mix of maple syrup, lemon juice, water, and cayenne pepper)

An interaction check asks whether these two react with each other — it does not ask whether Maple Syrup Diet is a good idea for someone in your situation. Here is what our Maple Syrup Diet record says about it on its own.

Maple Syrup Diet: dosing

There is no medically established or recommended dose for the Maple Syrup Diet, because it is a fad cleanse rather than a proven treatment. Popular versions have people drink several glasses of the maple-lemon-cayenne mixture throughout the day in place of meals.Health experts generally do not recommend this diet at all. A balanced, calorie-controlled eating plan is a far safer and more effective way to lose weight.

From our Maple Syrup Diet monograph — the full record covers uses, side effects and every documented interaction.

Read the full Maple Syrup Diet monograph & all interactions

Medication

About Dextromethorphan

What Is Dextromethorphan Used For?

Brand names: Hold, Benylin Adult, Benylin Pediatric, Theraflu Thin Strips Long Acting Cough, Neo Citran Thin Strips Cough

Dextromethorphan temporarily relieves cough due to minor throat and bronchial irritation, such as the kind that comes with the common cold or breathing in irritants. It also helps reduce the urge to cough so you — or your child — can get to sleep.

Some products, including CVS Long Acting Cough and Premier Value Tussin Cough oral liquids, are also indicated to help loosen phlegm (mucus) and thin bronchial secretions to help drain the airways.

See full Dextromethorphan drug information

Keep checking

Other Drugs & Maple Syrup Diet

Browse every other medication we’ve checked against Maple Syrup Diet — both the ones with a known interaction and the ones without. Select any drug for the full detail.

0Major

0Moderate

0Minor

2,829No known interaction

2,829 No interaction

No interaction 2,829 drugs checked — show the list

We also checked Maple Syrup Diet against these medications and found no known interaction in our sources. Open any page to confirm.

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 2,829 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Maple Syrup Diet list.

See the full Maple Syrup Diet interactions page

See every supplement checked against Dextromethorphan, ranked by severity

Evidence & sources

Maple Syrup Diet References

The 2 references that drive our Maple Syrup Diet monograph and interaction data, from the evidence-graded Natural Medicines (TRC Healthcare) database. Citations with a link open the study on PubMed or the publisher’s site.

Kim MJ, Hwang JH, Ko HJ, Na HB, Kim JH. Lemon detox diet reduced body fat, insulin resistance, and serum hs-CRP level without hematological changes in overweight Korean women. Nutr Res. 2015 May;35(5):409-20. PubMed
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. "Detoxes" and "Cleanses": What you need to know. Available at: https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/detoxes-and-cleanses-what-you-need-to-know. Updated September 2019. Accessed on: June 15, 2020.

Medication overviews come from MedlinePlus (NIH); supplement label data from the NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database. Content is written and reviewed by licensed HelloPharmacist pharmacists — see our data sources and editorial standards.

Pharmacist Counseling Corner

Following Maple Syrup Diet While Taking Dextromethorphan: Common Questions

Is it safe to follow Maple Syrup Diet while taking Dextromethorphan?

We do not list a known interaction between Maple Syrup Diet and Dextromethorphan. That does not guarantee the combination is risk-free, so confirm with your pharmacist or doctor — especially if you take other medications or have a health condition.

Does Dextromethorphan interact with any supplements?

Yes. Dextromethorphan has documented interactions with 171 supplements in our database — Maple Syrup Diet is not one of them. The Dextromethorphan interaction page linked on this page lists every one, ranked by severity.

Written and reviewed by the HelloPharmacist editorial staff. Our editorial policy

Where next

Keep Exploring

Maple Syrup Diet monograph Uses, safety profile, and every drug interaction in one place Dextromethorphan drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Dextromethorphan supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Dextromethorphan, ranked by severity Supplement interaction checker Check any supplement or product against your medications Browse medications A–Z Every drug we’ve checked against herbs & supplements References The 2 citations behind this page Ask a pharmacist Free, personal answer from our licensed team

Still Have a Question About Dextromethorphan and Maple Syrup Diet?

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This information is for education only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always check with your pharmacist or doctor before starting, stopping, or combining supplements and medications.