Is V8 really safe?

I decided to make my own V8. One of the 8 ingredients is watercress.

I google watercress to get a photo so when I return overseas I can find it.

The wiki website mentions the follow drug interactions with the CYP450 family-the same family of drugs we all take. I personally am sensitive (used to frequently faint when taking flecainide and Prilosec together) due to its inhibitors. I still take low sodium V8 with my drugs when my heart is jumpy with PVCs.

By inhibiting the cytochrome P450 enzyme CYP2E1, compounds in watercress may alter drug metabolism in individuals on certain medications such as chlorzoxazone.[15]

I think V8 is fairly safe, nothing to back it up, though. I will say if you are not sure and don't want to risk it, you can leave the watercress out, and it won't really affect the taste and just marginally change the vitamin count. The big benefit from V8 is the potassium in it, and you can get that from plain tomato juice.

I assume you can leave the watercress out when you make your own? I look at LS V8 as the V8 being a carrier for potassium chloride which I assume is the active ingredient for ectopic rhythm issues.

Until I switched to potassium citrate, I used to travel with a container of potassium chloride powder. I soon learned to put the container out by itself, not hidden in my luggage for TSA go find. It seems there is something in KCl that triggers their sensors. Once they scanned the container, they said my quantity was OK, but if I'd been carrying more, it wouldn't have. My container was about the size of a salt shaker you'd get at the grocery store.

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GeorgeN
I used to travel with a container of potassium chloride powder. I soon learned to put the container out by itself, not hidden in my luggage for TSA go find. It seems there is something in KCl that triggers their sensors.

KCl is slightly radioactive. I'm sure that's what they're picking up.

I assume you're talking about low-sodium V&, not the standard stuff. Just leave out the watercress and add a salt substitute composed of potassium chloride (KCl). That's easy to find at any grocery.

How much to add is another question. Campbell's adds a little over 100 mg K per ounce of juice (850 mg per 8 oz of juice), so I would go by that. The trouble is I don't know if Campbell's is saying the 850 mg is elemental K or if it's really just 850 mg of KCl. One mg of KCl does not equal one mg of K. I can calculate it for you if you can figure out what they're actually reporting on the label.

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Carey
The trouble is I don't know if Campbell's is saying the 850 mg is elemental K or if it's really just 850 mg of KCl. One mg of KCl does not equal one mg of K. I can calculate it for you if you can figure out what they're actually reporting on the label.

In the nutrition facts label, they are talking about 850 mg of K, not KCl (or on this label, 830 mg). I remember this from back in the day when I used to use it.

Thanks, George! That means that a mg of KCl is 52% K, so to equal V8's 850 mg of K, you would need to use 1292 mg of KCl. Basically, just measure out 850 mg of salt substitute then add half as much again and you've got what they add to LS V8. If the label on the salt substitute doesn't tell you how much KCl is in a given measure, you'll need to buy a gram scale. Those can be had for cheap on amazon.