I have a patient who is on Coumadin and was told not to eat any cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, green beans, turnip greens, etc., but he has, and his levels of Coumadin needed have skyrocketed. Can he do the diet and eat something else? Can patients on Coumadin do this diet?

Patients on Coumadin certainly MAY do the diet, over a couple of months, especially if they supplement with some good Omega-3 oils (i.e. fish oil, cod liver oil) and decreasing their blood sugar via the “protocol”, their dosage of Coumadin can usually be reduced. However certain vegetables (due to their high vitamin K content) can cause certain clotting factors to increase thus necessitating a need for an increased dose of Coumadin (Warfarin). Attached is a list of the “K” content of various foods. Patients should pick the vegetables that have the lowest levels of “K” and it should not pose a problem with the diet.

Good recommendations would be: mushrooms, zucchini, peppers, garlic, only iceberg lettuce, celery, etc. I would advise to keep this list handy and the “docs” can give it to patients who must take Coumadin. Also, there’s a pharmacist’s trick, if necessary, the patient can take a “baby aspirin” per day. This will cause the levels of Coumadin to rise in the blood without increasing the dose of the drug. Note: This should only be done if absolutely necessary and the patient should be advised to watch for signs of bruising.

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