Weight Loss & Blood Thinners

kcelliott0207

Hi all.

I am currently on blood thinners for the rest of my life. I have found it difficult to eat veggies since I can only have so many without it being dangerous to my health i.e. vitamin K. Are there are suggestions for healthy veggie options that won't affect my INR? It needs to be low in vitamin K. I need my options to be low calorie.

halleymw

Here is a list of vit k content of some common foods:
Some foods that are high in vitamin K include spinach, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, collard greens, bib and red leaf lettuce, mustard greens, turnip greens, watercress, parsley, endive, swiss chard, liver, green tea, mayonnaise, canola oil, and soybean oil. Some foods that are low in vitamin K are carrots, green beans, cauliflower, celery, eggplant, cucumber, mushrooms, onions, potato, green pepper, pumpkin, tomato, beef, chicken, turkey, pork, fish, corn oil, peanut oil, safflower oil, and fruits. Foods that have a moderate amount of vitamin K are pickles, green peas, iceberg lettuce, asparagus, avocado, red cabbage, margarine, and olive oil.
Mike

aaleigha1

I keep my veggies high and get my INR checked regularly
eating veggies is NOT dangerous to your health when on blood thinners
eat what you want and get your thinners regulated for your WoE

xxnellie146xx

If I am not wrong, it is mostly dark greens that you need to avoid. So you can have iceberg lettuce, carrots, corn, peeled cucumbers, eggplant, mushrooms, bell peppers, potatoes, squash, turnips, ect.

kathleennf

I keep my veggies high and get my INR checked regularly
eating veggies is NOT dangerous to your health when on blood thinners
eat what you want and get your thinners regulated for your WoE

This is correct. It is not dangerous to eat a lot of veggies - what is dangerous is to VARY too much how much you eat. If you are going to eat more- you have to eat more all the time, so that your INR remains stable.

janet0513

Here is a nice chart http://www.med.unc.edu/im/files/patient-education-handouts/nutrition-and-diet-files/Vitamin K Content of Common Foods.pdf

npalacios78

I was on blood thinners for about 8 months due to trombosis on one of my shoulders. I really enjoyed not eating any veggies, given that I despise them. The Doc prohibited me having any green veggies, particularly.
Nevertheless, you have countless options to stay on track with your healthy diet. Do ask your Doc if you can add any supplements substituting any of the veggie intake you were used having to fill in for missing vits and mins from the green ones.

sgtbrown

I am on Coumadin as well thanks to an aortic root replacement complete with a new mechanical valve (anneurysm 2009). The most important thing is to keep your diet consistent. Being on "thinners" doesn't mean you should treat spinach like the plague, it just means that if you eat salads, or any other form of vitamin K-containing food, do it on a consistent basis. Get your PT/INR checked regurlay as your doctor will be trying to get you in therapeutic mode on your doses (meaning you are stable and your dose is keeping your INR in range). I am currently getting checked once a month. It took a long time to get me therapeutic, but I learned that keeping my diet consistent was the key. Hope this helps.

wowie69

aaleigha1 is correct.
My husband is on lifelong Coumadin and eats multitudes of veggies daily. He does test his INR regularly (which is just part of the deal with thinners). What the Coumadin Clinic nurses told us is that he just needs to be consistent in the incorporation of vitamin K in his diet. For example, he takes a salad to work every day and we regularly use spinach in place of lettuce, eat broccoli, etc.
He does self-test his INR with a home monitor and usually within 2 hours of his reporting his score, we get a followup call from the nurses. Since beginning our new healthier eating regimen (1/1/13), he's not had to alter his dosages at all. Consistency is key....

As always, you can certainly double check with your prescribing MD.

kcelliott0207

Thanks for the info everyone. I do get my INR tested on a regular basis. I take a high dose and I still cannot consume the greens like I want. Does anyone have any good veggie recipes with low vitamin k veggies?

elliespal

This takes the blood thinner question in a different direction. Since being placed on Coumadin a year ago I've gained 40 pounds and working like crazy to get it off. I'm also coming across more people who are on the same medicine and agree with me that the medicine definitely makes some people gain weight. Have you found that to be true also?

JTick

This takes the blood thinner question in a different direction. Since being placed on Coumadin a year ago I've gained 40 pounds and working like crazy to get it off. I'm also coming across more people who are on the same medicine and agree with me that the medicine definitely makes some people gain weight. Have you found that to be true also?

I just came off Warfarin, was on it for 9 months due to blood clots. I did not have weight gain, and in fact dropped over 50 lbs while I was on it. I did have a problem with my hair falling out (I have so much hair though that other people didn't notice, but I could feel the difference).

As far as vegetables go, my doctor told me I could continue to eat any veggies, but that I had to eat them very consistently. I chose to give up the greens altogether because I knew I would only be on blood thinners for 1 year. During this time, I ate a lot of tomatoes, banana peppers, onions, squash, pumpkins, carrots, etc. I eat Subway several times a week, so I always had them throw extra of these veggies on there. I know how hard it is to give these up, I never missed lettuce until I couldn't have it anymore!

chloejustinesophie

So true, and also, it's not about much of your diet is green and leafy, it's about consistency. If you maintain a green diet, rather than occasionally introducing vitamin k into your diet, your INR will stay in range, no problem. And test regularly anyway.

chloejustinesophie

I certainly have gained quite a bit in the past 5 years since I began taking Coumadin.

chloejustinesophie

How does one go about getting INR readings from home?!?

Davis911

I'm also on Coumadin for the rest of my life. When I first got on Coumadin, I did in fact gain weight and at first struggled to get the weight off but I've learned that watching my salt levels seem to help me. My INR test constantly varied, so I actually cut down on the number of salads I eat in a day (from 3 to one big one at night during the work week) and watch my K.

JTick

My INR was also always all over the place, even with me cutting out greens. I have been told that Warfarin is just a difficult drug to control, which is why you have you be monitored so closely. I typically had to get my INR checked every 10 days because it just would not stay steady.

rsbiv1

I am on Warfarin possibly for the rest of my life. One thing I am consistent in is my levels I stay in between 2-3 but I agree with gaining weight because I have gained the most weight ever in my entire life. I beed help and I even eat a even amount of vitamin k to keep my levels leveled out.

caellen518

I was on Warfarin for about 6 months after suffering from a PE, and I find it odd that some people are saying their docs told them to avoid these foods rather than REGULATE their intake of them. If you want to start changing your diet to include these types of veggies, you need to let your doctor know so he can make sure he's sending you to get your INR checked daily (if you don't go that often already) and then you need to make sure you are eating the same amounts of those foods every day. That way you can increase/decrease your dosage based on your diet changes.

I will say the one thing that you should avoid is green tea. For some reason it makes your INR go all out of whack.

kalch

im a lifer on coumadin.
i suggest eat a diet that is healthy and nutritious, full of fruits and veggies (minus seaweed), and test INR a few times during the month to stabilize your dosing. you do have to keep the diet constant, though.

mzgti

Hi,
I've been on Warfarin since 2011 and will be for ever... I, too, found that i have gained quite a bit of weight. I think it's' the combination of being very inactive for about 6 months along with the medication. I eat a ton of green veggies, and always have- i just keep it consistent, and my INR is consistant.
I mentioned the weight/warfarin to my dr but he didn't think it was related...

Dawnajeanmary

ME. I have gained as well.grrrrNeed to lose now, not getting any younger I need help.