Warfarin and salads

LesH said:

I was diagnosed type 2 about three years ago and given the usual "healthy eating" advice
I have now put on too much weight and need to diet
In the past I have found cutting carbohydrates effective
Unfortunately I am now on Warfarin which means I have to go easy on greens and anything rich in Vitamin K
As I see it this includes most salads
Is there a low carbohydrate diet I can use?

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Hi Welcome!

I take warfarin too. How long have you been taking it? has your blood stabilised yet? My target INR is 2.5 with an acceptable range of 2 -3. I agree with you that cutting carbs is an effective way of losing weight. I can only tell you my opinion and what I myself do. At first, while I was getting used to the warfarin I ate what was probably an average diet. Now I eat a lower carb diet, with plenty of salads and green vegetables. I particularly enjoy curly kale which is high in vitamin K. My warfarin dose started at 3 mg's and is now 6 mg's. My nurse told me to find the right diet for me and then stick to it and they would adjust the warfarin dosage to suit my diet. Am I right in thinking that you haven't been taking warfarin very long?

Yes I think so, you may have to go back for INR tests more regularly as you re-introduce salads and greens to your diet - it may be back to weekly testing for a while so that they can check if your dosage needs changing. For me it was certainly worth it, because without cutting down on carbs I would never lose weight. I was put on warfarin because of atrial fibrillation and have been taking it for around 2 years this time, and also for about a year previous to that.

The advice my husband was given when he first went on warfarin was to keep his diet as stable as possible: the example the doctor gave was that it would be better for a patient to drink a bottle of wine every night than to abstain most of the time and binge drink once a month. He said that if you keep to the diet you're comfortable with they can keep testing and modify your warfarin dose around your diet.

I think that advice would also apply to eating greens: change to a new higher-veg diet, be tested weekly for a while so your dose can be adjusted, and then you should be stable again. And I suspect that eating lots of greens is better for your general health than drinking a bottle of wine a day!

Kate

My understanding is that the vegetables high in vitamin K which you might want to avoid when on Warfarin are the dark green leafy veg eg broccoli, spinach, sprouts, kale, cabbage, but that carrots, cauliflower, celery, lettuce and cucumber have low levels of vitamin K. I do think that if you choose to routinely eat a high veg diet which includes a lot of dark green veg then your warfarin dose can and should be adjusted by the medics until they are satisfied with your INR level.