Drug & supplement interaction

Potato + Lovastatin

Lovastatin brand names: Mevacor, Altocor.

No Known Interaction
Medically reviewed by · Updated July 2026 · Pair last verified Sep 20, 2026
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Potato and Lovastatin 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. Additionally, although there is no interaction, the label for Lovastatin states a food rule worth keeping to, and the two are separately associated with some of the same side effects, which would make a new symptom harder to attribute to one or the other.

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Interaction report

Potato and Lovastatin

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 Lovastatin and Potato in our sources. This does not guarantee that the combination is completely free of risk — there is often limited research on supplements and herbal products, especially around drug interactions.

If you decide to take both, the practical routine is simple: add one new thing at a time and note the date you started it. If the combination is going to disagree with you, it usually shows in the first days to a couple of weeks — and a start date turns “I’ve been feeling off” into something a pharmacist can actually work with. 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.

Potato safety at a glance

Potato overall Use caution Cooked potato is safe as food, but green, sprouted, or raw potato can contain natural toxins (glycoalkaloids).
Pregnancy Likely Safe When unblemished, ripe potatoes are used orally in food amounts. There is insufficient reliable information available about the safety of medicinal use of potat... Read the full pregnancy detail
Breastfeeding Likely Safe When unblemished, ripe potatoes are used orally in food amounts. There is insufficient reliable information available about the safety of medicinal use of potat... 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 Lovastatin and Potato? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Lovastatin

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Lovastatin is filed under 8 classifications — including hmg-coa reductase inhibitors ("statins"), organic anion-transporting polypeptide substrates (oatp), cytochrome p450 2c9 (cyp2c9) inhibitors. Potato has documented interactions with 2 drug classes — the most serious being succinylcholine (moderate) and thrombolytic drugs (moderate) — and none of Lovastatin’s classifications are among them.

Classification data comes from our licensed Natural Medicines dataset. A medication can belong to classes beyond those recorded there, so this describes how the check was run — it is not a safety guarantee.

Keep it in perspective

Potato Does Interact With Other Medications

Potato has 7 moderate known drug interactions in our database — Lovastatin isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Moderate 7 No known interaction 2,823 (incl. Lovastatin)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Potato

Covers the 2,830 medications we’ve checked against Potato. Pick one to open its full report.

What to actually watch for

No Interaction Found — But Data Suggests Potato and Lovastatin May Share Several of the Same Side Effects

This is not an interaction. Neither one changes how your body handles the other, and nothing here says they react together. What our sources do show is that each has separately been linked to the effects below — so taking both can make those effects more likely to turn up, and harder to pin on one or the other if they do. 2 of them are worth acting on rather than waiting out — marked below.

  • Hives / An allergic reaction Worth acting on Additional detail

    Potato

    “Orally, one case of food-dependent exercise-induced allergic reaction has been reported after potato consumption. A 31-year-old female experienced several acute, exercise-induced allergic reactions shortly after eating. Symptoms included widespread urticaria, palpitation, fever, faintness, vomiting, abdominal pain, and swelling of the eyelids, palms, and soles.”

    Potato · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in nausea and vomiting.

    1 source cited
    1. 103260. Elefterova-Florova EV, Popova DN, Andreeva RV. An unusual and rare case of food-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis caused by ingestion of potatoes. Folia Med (Plovdiv). 2018;60(3):479-82. PubMed

    Lovastatin

    Listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Lovastatin. Read the label on DailyMed ›

  • Flushing / Anxiety or restlessness / Headache reported in 4.0% of FDA reports for Lovastatin Additional detail

    Potato

    “Orally, consuming whole, unblemished, ripe potatoes has not been associated with adverse effects. Drinking potato juice has resulted in heartburn, abdominal distension, diarrhea, and increased mucus production. Potatoes absorb oil readily, increasing their energy content.”

    Potato · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in cluster headache.

    4 sources cited
    1. 97757. Chrubasik S, Chrubasik C, Torda T, Madisch A. Efficacy and tolerability of potato juice in dyspeptic patients: a pilot study. Phytomedicine. 2006;13(1-2):11-5. PubMed
    2. 97752. Vinson JA, Demkosky CA, Navarre DA, Smyda MA. High-antioxidant potatoes: acute in vivo antioxidant source and hypotensive agent in humans after supplementation to hypertensive subjects. J Agric Food Chem. 2012;60(27):6749-54. PubMed
    3. 97758. Mensinga TT, Sips AJ, Rompelberg CJ, et al. Potato glycoalkaloids and adverse effects in humans: an ascending dose study. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 2005;41(1):66-72. PubMed
    4. 6. The Review of Natural Products by Facts and Comparisons. St. Louis, MO: Wolters Kluwer Co., 1999.

    “Orally, glycoalkaloids found in damaged, green potatoes and sprouts affect the nervous system. This can cause sweating, headache, flushing, bronchospasm, and restlessness (17, 97758). Severe poisoning can result in paralysis, respiratory insufficiency, cardiac failure, coma, and death. The glycoalkaloids in potato cannot be destroyed by cooking.”

    Potato · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in cluster headache.

    1 source cited
    1. 97758. Mensinga TT, Sips AJ, Rompelberg CJ, et al. Potato glycoalkaloids and adverse effects in humans: an ascending dose study. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 2005;41(1):66-72. PubMed

    Lovastatin

    Listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Lovastatin, and in voluntary FDA adverse-event reports. Read the label on DailyMed ›

  • Bloating or gas / Stomach pain / Diarrhea / Nausea reported in 5.5% of FDA reports for Lovastatin Additional detail

    Potato

    “Orally, potato juice has resulted in heartburn, abdominal distension, diarrhea, and increased mucus production.

    Glycoalkaloids found in damaged, green potatoes and sprouts can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and thirst (17, 97758). The glycoalkaloids in potato cannot be destroyed by cooking.”

    Potato · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in diarrhea.

    2 sources cited
    1. 97757. Chrubasik S, Chrubasik C, Torda T, Madisch A. Efficacy and tolerability of potato juice in dyspeptic patients: a pilot study. Phytomedicine. 2006;13(1-2):11-5. PubMed
    2. 97758. Mensinga TT, Sips AJ, Rompelberg CJ, et al. Potato glycoalkaloids and adverse effects in humans: an ascending dose study. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 2005;41(1):66-72. PubMed

    Lovastatin

    Listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Lovastatin, and in voluntary FDA adverse-event reports. Read the label on DailyMed ›

  • Fever Additional detail

    Potato

    Recorded for Potato in the same Natural Medicines adverse-effect record shown under Hives / An allergic reaction above.

    Lovastatin

    Listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Lovastatin. Read the label on DailyMed ›

Showing the 10 most notable of 11 shared effects — ranked by how unusual each one is, not just whether both lists mention it.

Reported for Potato but not commonly for Lovastatin: heart failure, wheezing, weight gain and heartburn.

Effects for Lovastatin come from the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of its FDA label; effects for Potato come from the Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, quoted above. Where a percentage is shown, it is the share of 25,528 voluntary FDA FAERS reports for Lovastatin that mention that effect — a reporting proportion, not an incidence rate and not evidence the drug caused it. Wording is matched across sources by our own clinical vocabulary, so treat this as a prompt to pay attention, not a diagnosis.

Special populations

Potato in Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

Pregnancy And Lactation Likely Safe

When unblemished, ripe potatoes are used orally in food amounts. There is insufficient reliable information available about the safety of medicinal use of potato in pregnancy and lactation.

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

How to take them

Some Lovastatin Products Have a Food Rule — Potato Should Not Break It

At least one FDA label for a product containing Lovastatin says to take it with food. If you take Potato on an empty stomach out of habit, keep them separate — and take Lovastatin with a meal where the label says to.

This may not be true of your version. Food instructions belong to the product, not the ingredient: two Lovastatin products can carry different directions, and extended-release forms often differ from immediate-release ones. The label we read is quoted below — check the directions on your own box or bottle, or ask your pharmacist, for how to take the exact product you were given.

Lovastatin tablets USP should be given with meals.

From the Dosage and Administration section of the FDA label we read for Lovastatin — where that label names a specific product, the instruction is that product's. Read the label on DailyMed ›

A food rule is not an interaction — it is about how much of the medicine you absorb. The directions that came with your own product, and your pharmacist, outrank anything on this page.

Overlapping uses

What Lovastatin Is Prescribed For, and What Potato Has Been Studied For

These two come up together because they touch the same health topic — not because they do the same job. Lovastatin is a prescription medicine with approved uses on its FDA label. Potato is a supplement: what follows is what researchers have looked at it for, and how strong that evidence is.

Lovastatin is prescribed for: Lovastatin is used to lower high LDL ("bad") cholesterol and total cholesterol in people whose levels have not improved enough with diet alone. It is also used to slow the buildup of plaque in the arteries (coronary atherosclerosis) in people who already have coronary heart disease. In adults without existing heart disease but with high cholesterol and low HDL ("good") cholesterol, lovastatin tablets are approved to reduce the risk of heart attack, unstable angina, and the need for procedures to open blocked arteries. Lovastatin tablets are also approved for adolescents aged 10–17 with a specific inherited condition called heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (heFH), when diet changes alone haven't been enough.

Potato has been studied for:

  • Stroke studied, not established Potato has been studied for this. Natural Medicines rates the evidence: Possibly Ineffective Read what the research shows

    Potato for stroke

    A meta-analysis of 6 observational studies shows that potato consumption is not associated with a reduced risk of stroke.

    1 source cited
    1. 103261. Schwingshackl L, Schwedhelm C, Hoffmann G, Boeing H. Potatoes and risk of chronic disease: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis. Eur J Nutr. 2019;58(6):2243-51. PubMed

Effectiveness ratings and the research summaries above are the verbatim record from the Natural Medicines database, which grades evidence from “Effective” down to “Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate”. A rating below the top of that scale means researchers have looked at it — not that it works, and never that it can stand in for a prescribed medicine. Do not stop or replace Lovastatin on your own; if you are taking Potato for the same health topic, tell your prescriber, especially if the medicine is being adjusted to a target.

From our Q&A

Questions About Potato or Lovastatin

These are real questions from readers, answered by the pharmacists at HelloPharmacist — written by a person, not generated from a database. Each one covers Potato or Lovastatin, 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 Lovastatin

This page covers Potato only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Lovastatin page lists 184 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Apple (major), Beer (major), Grapefruit (major) and Siberian Cocklebur (major).

By severity: 8 major · 140 moderate · 36 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Lovastatin page

“Lovastatin (Mevacor) lowers cholesterol, and the liver clears it through an enzyme called CYP3A4, which is where most of these 184 supplements collide with it. This list deserves careful attention.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Lovastatin interaction page

One more smart check

Taking Potato as Part of a Dietary Supplement Product? Check It for Interactions

We hold 140 real supplement products containing Potato, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Potato. Even though Potato itself has no known interaction with Lovastatin, another ingredient on your label might. Find your product and we’ll check every ingredient on its label:

How much people look this up

Where Potato and Lovastatin 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 Potato
Top half

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

29 days ago today
Medication Lovastatin
Steady interest

#1,806 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 Potato reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 20, 2026. The Potato and Lovastatin 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 .
Supplement

About Potato

What is Potato?

  • Digestive complaints and heartburn
  • Minor skin irritation or burns (topical folk use)
  • Joint or muscle aches (traditional poultice)
  • Source of carbohydrates and potassium in the diet
  • Eye puffiness (cosmetic folk use)

Potato is a common food, and as a supplement it is mostly used in folk remedies such as raw potato juice for stomach upset or as a topical poultice. Solid scientific evidence for these uses is very limited. The edible tuber is safe as food, but green, sprouted, or raw potato in large amounts can contain natural toxins, so use caution and talk to your pharmacist before using potato as a remedy.

Solanum tuberosum · Solanaceae · Tuber (and sometimes raw potato juice); leaves and sprouts are not used and can be toxic · Whole cooked potato (food), raw potato juice, topical poultice, starch

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

Potato: dosing

There is no established standardized dose of potato as a supplement or remedy. As a food, normal portions are part of a regular diet.For folk remedies like raw potato juice, no proven safe or effective dose exists.

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

Read the full Potato monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Lovastatin

What Is Lovastatin Used For?

Brand names: Mevacor, Altocor

Lovastatin is used to lower high LDL ("bad") cholesterol and total cholesterol in people whose levels have not improved enough with diet alone. It is also used to slow the buildup of plaque in the arteries (coronary atherosclerosis) in people who already have coronary heart disease.

In adults without existing heart disease but with high cholesterol and low HDL ("good") cholesterol, lovastatin tablets are approved to reduce the risk of heart attack, unstable angina, and the need for procedures to open blocked arteries. Lovastatin tablets are also approved for adolescents aged 10–17 with a specific inherited condition called heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (heFH), when diet changes alone haven't been enough.

Most-Reported Side Effects for Lovastatin

From FAERS, the FDA’s public side-effect reporting system (25,528 reports, all brands). Reports are voluntary and are not proof the drug caused the effect.

Fatigue 1,535 reports
Nausea 1,401 reports
Diarrhea 1,275 reports
Dyspnea 1,226 reports
Dizziness 1,159 reports
See full Lovastatin drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Potato

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

0Major
7Moderate
0Minor
2,822No known interaction
7 Moderate 2,822 No interaction
Moderate

7 interactions

No interaction 2,822 drugs checked — show the list

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

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 2,822 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Potato list.

See the full Potato interactions page
See every supplement checked against Lovastatin, ranked by severity
Evidence & sources

Potato References

The 15 references that drive our Potato 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.

  1. The Review of Natural Products by Facts and Comparisons. St. Louis, MO: Wolters Kluwer Co., 1999.
  2. Klement P, Liao P, Bajzar L. A novel approach to arterial thrombolysis. Blood 1999;94:2735-43. DOI
  3. Redlitz A, Nicolini FA, Malycky JL, et al. Inducible carboxypeptidase activity. A role in clot lysis in vivo. Circulation 1996;93:1328-30. PubMed
  4. Larsson SC, Wolk A. Potato consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease: 2 prospective cohort studies. Am J Clin Nutr. 2016;104(5):1245-1252. PubMed
  5. Vinson JA, Demkosky CA, Navarre DA, Smyda MA. High-antioxidant potatoes: acute in vivo antioxidant source and hypotensive agent in humans after supplementation to hypertensive subjects. J Agric Food Chem. 2012;60(27):6749-54. PubMed
  6. Bestas A, Goksu H, Erhan OL. The effect of preoperative consumption of potatoes on succinylcholine-induced block and recovery from anesthesia. J Clin Monit Comput. 2013;27(6):609-12. PubMed
  7. Chrubasik S, Chrubasik C, Torda T, Madisch A. Efficacy and tolerability of potato juice in dyspeptic patients: a pilot study. Phytomedicine. 2006;13(1-2):11-5. PubMed
  8. Mensinga TT, Sips AJ, Rompelberg CJ, et al. Potato glycoalkaloids and adverse effects in humans: an ascending dose study. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 2005;41(1):66-72. PubMed
  9. Darooghegi Mofrad M, Milajerdi A, Sheikhi A, Azadbakht L. Potato consumption and risk of all cause, cancer and cardiovascular mortality: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2020;60(7): PubMed
  10. Elefterova-Florova EV, Popova DN, Andreeva RV. An unusual and rare case of food-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis caused by ingestion of potatoes. Folia Med (Plovdiv). 2018;60(3):479-82. PubMed
  11. Schwingshackl L, Schwedhelm C, Hoffmann G, Boeing H. Potatoes and risk of chronic disease: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis. Eur J Nutr. 2019;58(6):2243-51. PubMed
  12. Tsang C, Smail NF, Almoosawi S, McDougall GJM, Al-Dujaili EAS. Antioxidant rich potato improves arterial stiffness in healthy adults. Plant Foods Hum Nutr. 2018;73(3):203-8. PubMed
  13. Stone MS, Martin BR, Weaver CM. Short-Term RCT of Increased Dietary Potassium from Potato or Potassium Gluconate: Effect on Blood Pressure, Microcirculation, and Potassium and Sodium Retention in Pre-Hypertensive-to-Hypertensive Adults. Nutrients 2021;13( PubMed
  14. Darooghegi Mofrad M, Mozaffari H, Askari MR, et al. Potato Consumption and Risk of Site-Specific Cancers in Adults: A Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies. Adv Nutr. 2021 Oct 1;12(5):1705-22. PubMed
  15. Yiannakou I, Pickering RT, Yuan M, Singer MR, Moore LL. Potato consumption is not associated with cardiometabolic health outcomes in Framingham Offspring Study adults. J Nutr Sci. 2022 Sep 2;11:e73. PubMed

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

Taking Potato and Lovastatin Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Potato with Lovastatin?
We do not list a known interaction between Potato and Lovastatin. 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.
Do Potato and Lovastatin have any of the same side effects?
Yes — our sources link each of them separately to 10 of the same effects. That is not an interaction: neither changes how your body handles the other. It does mean that if one of those effects turns up, it can be harder to tell which one is behind it. They are listed on this page with the source behind each.
Should I take Potato and Lovastatin at the same time of day?
At least one FDA label for a product containing Lovastatin says to take it with food. If you take Potato on an empty stomach out of habit, keep them separate and take Lovastatin with a meal where the label says to. Food instructions belong to the product rather than the ingredient — two Lovastatin products can differ — so check the directions on your own box. This is about absorption, not an interaction.
Are Potato and Lovastatin used for the same thing?
They overlap in purpose, which usually means the real question is whether you need both rather than whether they are safe together. This page lists the shared uses and how strong the evidence is for Potato in each. That is a conversation for your prescriber, especially if Lovastatin is being adjusted to a target.
How was the Potato and Lovastatin combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Lovastatin is filed under 8 classifications, and Potato has documented interactions with 2 drug classes — none of Lovastatin's classifications are among them. A medication can belong to classes beyond those recorded in our dataset, so this describes how the check was run rather than guaranteeing safety.
Does Potato interact with any other medications?
Yes. Potato has 7 documented drug interactions in our database — Lovastatin is simply not one of them. If you take anything else, it is worth checking each one; they are all listed on this page.
Does Lovastatin interact with any supplements?
Yes. Lovastatin has documented interactions with 184 supplements in our database — Potato is not one of them. The Lovastatin 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

Potato monograph Uses, safety profile, and every drug interaction in one place Lovastatin drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Lovastatin supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Lovastatin, 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 15 citations behind this page Ask a pharmacist Free, personal answer from our licensed team

Still Have a Question About Lovastatin and Potato?

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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.