When you use the blood thinner warfarin (brand name Coumadin), you need to maintain the level of vitamin K in the diet consistently. When you amend the level of vitamin K on a regular basis, your doctor may need to alter the dose of warfarin repeatedly. A vast percentage of individuals who use warfarin actually consume a regular diet. However, it isn’t advisable to consume more vitamin K than usual. It is also highly not advisable to ingest solids that are extremely low in vitamin K. Try to acquire approximately the same dosage of vitamin K daily.

Warfarin is basically an anticoagulant, which is occasionally referred to as a blood thinner but doesn’t exactly dilute the blood. Alternatively, they advance the time needed for a blood clot to take shape. This actually helps to decrease the likelihoods for heart attack (infarction), cerebrovascular accident (stroke), deep vein thrombosis, or pulmonary embolism.

Warfarin drudges by declining the actions of vitamin K, a major nutrient that helps your blood clot so wounds do not bleed out disproportionately. When consuming warfarin, you’ll still require vitamin K in your diet. However, it is essential not to abruptly modify the concentration of vitamin K too frequently because that may keep warfarin from performing up to par.

Consuming plenty of vitamin K can slacken the effect of warfarin, making it more probable that blood clots will appear. Vitamin K in less than the middling amount can worsen the harmful impact of excessive warfarin and heave the risk of hemorrhage.

Warfarin & Getting Vitamin K

Warfarin helps you avoid knotty blood clots. It also acts better when the consumption of vitamin K stays roughly the same every day. By identifying the substances that have vitamin K, a person can get approximately an equal amount daily so the medication can execute its task.

Foods high in vitamin K are listed as follows:

• Steamed leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, collard greens, turnip greens, Swiss chard, seaweed, and beet greens, and mustard greens
• Natural parsley
• Uncooked or steamed broccoli
• Brussels sprouts, asparagus and cauliflower

Vitamin K is likewise accessible in certain multivitamin pills, as well as in herbal items.

How to Get a Steady Amount of Vitamin K

You don’t have to cease eating meals rich in vitamin K when prescribed warfarin.

Nonetheless, in order to remain healthy:

• Find out how much vitamin K is contained in the items you consume, and mind the size of each serving.
• Don’t suddenly shift the amount of vitamin K in the diet. Consider keeping the level you consume similar from one day to the next. For instance, if you don’t habitually consume leafy vegetables such as spinach, don’t include them in your diet or consume a great deal of these greens at once.

If you use a multivitamin pill that has vitamin K, you may ingest it daily, but, be sure to consult with your health professional before mulling over any contraindicated pills.

References

Fauci A. S., et al. “Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine.” New York: McGraw-Hill; 2001.