Eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice can affect some medicines. In most cases, it increases the level of the medicine in your blood. This can increase the risk of side effects or alter the effect that the medicine has.
Health Benefits and Therapeutic Uses of Buckthorn. 1  The plant helps clean toxins from the body. 2  It can be strongly purgative and it is therefore used in the treatment of constipation. In some cases, where a patient has had rectal surgery, this herb is given so that the patient has soft stools that do not aggravate the surgery area.
1 For constipation: the typical dose of alder buckthorn is 0.5-2.5 grams of the dried bark. 2  Take only the amount of bark needed to produce a soft stool. 3  Alder buckthorn is also taken as a tea. 4  The tea is prepared by steeping 2 grams of the herb in 150 mL of boiling water for 5-10 minutes and then straining.lder buckthorn is POSSIBLY SAFE for most adults when taken by mouth for less than 8-10 days. Taking alder buckthorn by mouth for more than 8-10 days is POSSIBLY UNSAFE. It might cause low potassium; heart problems; stomach problems; muscle weakness; and blood problems, including blood in the urine.