Warfarin interaction with Flaxseeds/Chia Seeds?

[Warfarinking]

Hi,

I was reading about super foods and stumbled upon Flax seeds/Chia seeds. These seeds are typically really high in Omega-3, a fatty acid that can possibly interact with coumadin medication?

I've gotten really into working out and running (130lbs down so far) and every morning I usually drink a protein shake as my breakfast, which brings me back to the seeds --- doe anyone know if Flax seeds / Chia seeds interact with Coumadin? I would love to add them to my shakes.

My current shake:

2 scoops of Whey Optimum Nutrition Protein
Half cup of blue berries
4 Strawberries frozen
1 Banana
1.5 cups of Almond Milk
1/2 cup of raw oatmeal

and now, I would like to add these seeds into my daily shake.

I don't see my Coumadin doctor for another week. Any feedback would truly be appreciated.

 

[pellicle]

buy them and monitor your INR ... its the ONLY way to be sure

PS: be careful about juicing you can end up taking huge doses of things you just would not naturally eat in those quantities. This is not just related to warfarin, but related to nutrition in general.

 

[honeybunny]

I can't speak to your question but want to say Congratulations! on the 130 lb loss!

 

[RTZdad]

I assume the affect varies from person to person. I regularly put flax, chia seeds and hemp seeds in my oatmeal for breakfast. It hasn't moved my INR needle at all.

Tom

 

[pellicle]

Hi Tom

I assume the affect varies from person to person. I regularly put flax, chia seeds and hemp seeds in my oatmeal for breakfast. It hasn't moved my INR needle at all.

Exactly.
Its my observation that all of us have some differences in reaction to Vitamin K and other inputs. For example some people are really super steady (so I've heard) and others (I believe the vast majority) squiggle all over the place. For example this is my INR graphed over 2015 from my weekly measurements (which I keep in excel which makes graphing super easy).

Without a rigourous methodology you're just guessing if any peak you find in there was related to food or being sick or whatever. So without weekly measurement (and really home self testing is the way to go there) you'd just never know if something added to the diet caused it (like flax seeds) or it was just part of the usual background 'static' on the LP of life.

Also, please note that my dose seems to vary higher than it does in reality because I deliberately make the axis for the chart (its the RHS) between 5 and 10 so that a change from 7.5 to 7 shows in a readable manner. This of course makes a change down to 6 seem a huge drop when it isn't.

 

[QuincyRunner]

I have almost daily protein shakes made with flaxseed milk with no noticeable effect on my INR. Blueberries are another story.......

 

[Protimenow]

Aaaah. QuincyRunner has answered a question for me. I now make my own jams. I usually use frozen strawberries, frozen peaches, and a mixture of frozen organic berries that I get from Costco. I got some fresh blackberries on sale a few months ago and quickly made some nice blackberry jam.

My INR went down, and I wasn't sure why. I didn't consider that the blackberries may have caused my INR to drop.

My daily dose of warfarin went from 7.5 to 8, and my INR is consistently above 2.5 (which is where I want it to be). The minor addition to my dose hasn't pushed my INR out of range, and even though I'm nearly out of the blackberry jam, I'll have some idea of the cause of any INR drops if I eat the blackberry jam and test the next day.

It's interesting what little things may cause changes.

(BTW - I have a teaspoon or so of ground flaxseed in breakfast most days, and the eggs that I eat are from chickens that eat flaxseed - high in Omega 3s. I don't think that this has done a lot to my INR, but my slightly higher warfarin dosage may reflect an adjustment to a slight drop that the eggs and flaxseed may POSSIBLY be causing to my INR)