coumadin and diet

[jonnum]

My husband had a valve replacement last August. He's doing great, and I'm grateful for this miraculous treatment. But I am having some trouble cooking for him. Before his surgery we ate lots of vegetables. But many vegetables contain large amounts of vitamin K. Can you all suggest some vegetables that are not high in vitamin K? For anyone else interested in this subject there is some good information at this website: www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/
Thanks!

 

[Lynlw]

Hi, I don't take coumadin, but the members here that do very well with keepingtheir INR stable, have a saying, "dose the diet, don't diet the dose", meaning eat what you normally eat and go from there. Here is a really good thread that came up the last week or so. http://valvereplacement.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22998
Lyn

 

[Ross]

Throw your ideas out the window and go back to eating the vegetables as you always have. The Coumadin will have to be adjusted for the extra K, but so what. Eat the normal diet you usually eat and don't try playing the game of dieting the dose, dose the diet instead. I eat lots of high vit k vegetables nearly daily. There is no reason to stop doing anything differently besides some silly person telling you that you can't do it. Broccoli, Spinich, Lettuce, Brussel Sprouts, you name it, I eat it and a whole lot more then they say to also. If you read the Coumadin Cookbook, your allowed 5 Brussel sprouts per serving. Not this boy, I settle for 10 or 12 as a serving.

Don't plan meals out of a chart either, it won't work!!! You can use the charts for a reference number, but outside of that, forget them completely.

Bottom line---Do NOT modify the diet. Continue to eat as you always have. Just don't suddenly eat a whole bag of spinich or do some crazy off the wall binging on High K items.

 

[EVELYN]

Hi Jonnum

Ross is absolutely right.....dose the diet. My husband had AVR surgery about 5 years ago. At first we started out trying to stay away from high Vit K vegetables. Now, we eat as we normally do, whatever veges we want and have found there's not a whole lot of difference in his INR score. Tyce might have an extra salad or more broccoli if his inr was on the high side after a test, or take a bit smaller amount if it was on the low side, but, NO major changes. Relax.....don't get too stressed about warfarin. I know I was, but not any more, thanks to this site.

Evelyn

 

[Cooker]

I echo what has been said above. I eat what I want, when I want. I have always remained stable

 

[Karlynn]

Our bodies need Vitamin K. There are also studies that show that people who have a regular intake of Vit K have more stable INR's. The dose of Coumadin that keeps your husband in-range is the right dose for him. Don't let anyone ever tell you that he's on too much Coumadin. Don't think you have to work to keep his dose down. The important # is the INR, and if he's in range, then his dose is perfect.

This is not like diabetics where it is better to eat a specific diet to keep their need for insulin lower. Insulin and sugar levels change very quickly based on what you put in your mouth and this can cause a diabetic problems. This is not the case with Coumadin and INR levels. Food will not cause quick drastic changes.

Trying to eat a Vitamin K restricted diet is frustrating and will make your husband feel like a continual patient. Let him eat what he wants.

The only warning I will give is to watch out for pre-packaged diet foods and nutritional drinks. Most get their protein source from Soy and will lower your INR and increase the need for Coumadin if eaten regularly. If you know it and are prepared for it, the dose can be increased if it's something that he'll regularly eat.

 

[dick0236]

I agree with the earlier posts. Don't alter your eating habits because of warfarin. I like, and eat a lot of vegetables (except stewed okra ). I just use use common sense about kale, brockile(?) etc. But I eat the vit K vegs almost dailey.

 

[geebee]

You and your husband can both relax. As stated above, he can eat what he wants. Foods make very little difference in INR unless you pig out on something or, as Karlyn said, add a regular item that is very high in Vit. K. However, that can still be done if he tests within a week and adjusts his dose from there.

So - go cook something you both really love and have been denying yourselves.

 

[Dustin]

Ross has made an excellent point. Now go and prepare some brussel sprouts and don't forget to put some nutmeg on top of them. Yummie

 

[jonnum]

Thanks for the advice

Thanks for the advice

Thank you to everyone for the advice on vitamin K. I guess I just need to relax a bit.

 

[Ross]

Thank you to everyone for the advice on vitamin K. I guess I just need to relax a bit.

Yeah we were all like you once upon a time. Didn't take long to figure out it's mostly hogwash. Diet plays a very small role in INR management, but if there is really a significant amount of K, then the dose will have to be adjusted to accommodate the diet. Most people don't even have to adjust.

 

[Blanche]

Great site for info about Coumadin

Great site for info about Coumadin

Jonnum:

Hope the link I am leaving will be of interest to you.

http://www.warfarinfo.com/foods.htm

This site belongs to one of our members here, Al Lodwick. He is a recognized expert on anticoagulation. You might want to explore the site for other useful information. www.warfarinfo.com

Regards,
Blanche

 

[heartfelt]

Thanks to this very topic and you guys and your sensible and kind advice, I'm a much happier camper than I was when I first found you all. Just hafta' tell you thanks again b/c my life has completely turned around. Now, as soon as I get my own testing machine, there will be no holding me back!

I'm freeeeeeeeee!!!!

heartfelt