Consistent vitamin k diet

Your body needs vitamin K to clot blood and keep your bones strong. It's found in leafy green vegetables such as kale and spinach.

If you take the blood thinner warfarin (Coumadin), you need to be careful about how much vitamin K you get. Vitamin K can keep your warfarin from working as it should.

Most people who take warfarin can eat normally. The important thing is to get about the same amount of vitamin K each day. Don't suddenly start eating foods with a lot more or a lot less vitamin K.

You can choose how much vitamin K you eat. For example, if you already eat a lot of leafy green vegetables, that's fine. Just keep it about the same amount each day.

Warfarin is a pill that you take regularly to help prevent blood clots. To make sure that warfarin is effectively thinning your blood, it's important to eat about the same amount of vitamin K every day.

Warfarin and vitamin K work against each other in your body.

• Vitamin K normally helps your blood clot so wounds don't bleed too much.
• Warfarin works against vitamin K. It makes your blood clot more slowly.

So it's important to keep them in balance. If you do suddenly change the amount of vitamin K-rich food that you eat, your warfarin dose may need to be adjusted.

It's up to you to decide how much vitamin K you choose to eat. Just keep it about the same amount each day. If you want to start eating more of a food that's rich in vitamin K, talk to your doctor about how to add it safely.

You don't need to stop eating foods high in vitamin K. But you do need to know what foods contain vitamin K. Then you can try to eat about the same amount of vitamin K each day.

If you have questions about foods with vitamin K, ask if your doctor can refer you to a registered dietitian, an expert in healthy eating.

• You might limit foods that are high in vitamin K to about 1 serving a day. These foods have more than 100 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin K in each serving. They include:
  • Cooked leafy green vegetables. Examples are kale, spinach, turnip greens, collard greens, Swiss chard, mustard greens, broccoli, and brussels sprouts. One serving is ½ cup.
  • Raw leafy green vegetables such as kale, spinach, and endive.
• You might limit foods that are moderate in vitamin K to about 3 servings a day. These foods have about 25 to 100 mcg of vitamin K in each serving. These include:
  • Cooked cabbage, okra, and asparagus. One serving is ½ cup.
  • Raw leafy green vegetables. Examples are green leaf lettuce, and romaine lettuce. One serving is 1 cup.
• Vitamin K also is found in many multivitamins. You don't need to stop taking your multivitamin if it has vitamin K. But you do need to take it every day.
• Check with your doctor before you start or stop taking any supplements or herbal products. Some of these may contain vitamin K.