Vitamin K is an essential nutrient. Without it, your blood would not clot properly and your bones wouldn't be as strong. Foods that contain vitamin K include green tea, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, spinach and other leafy green vegetables. However, people who take Coumadin need to be careful how much vitamin K they consume.
Coumadin
Doctors prescribe Coumadin, also known as warfarin, for people who have conditions that make blood clots more likely. Coumadin helps prevent your blood from forming clots, thus lowering your risk for stroke or heart attack. Since a number of foods, beverages, medications and supplements interact with Coumadin, it is important for you to watch what you eat if you take this medication.
Vitamin K & Coumadin Interaction
Vitamin K and Coumadin interact, making Coumadin less effective. Since vitamin K increases your body's blood clotting ability, and Coumadin decreases it, you need to keep your vitamin K intake consistent so your doctor can prescribe the right amount of Coumadin for you.
Vitamin K Consumption Recommendations
If you take Coumadin, you shouldn't take vitamin K supplements. You should limit your intake of foods high in vitamin K, such as boiled kale, spinach and turnip greens, to one serving per day, and limit your intake of foods that are medium-high in vitamin K, such as Brussels sprouts, broccoli and Romaine lettuce, to three servings per day. You don't need to worry about watching your intake of foods that contain less than 60 percent of the daily value for vitamin K, which is 80mcg per day for adults.
Considerations
Alcoholic beverages, cranberry juice, vitamin E, antibiotics, coenzyme Q10 and some herbal supplements, including arnica, ginkgo, St. John's wort, licorice, turmeric, wheat grass, red clover, dong quai, ginger, garlic, willow bark, sweet woodruff, pau d'arco, horse chestnut, cat's claw, bilberry, forskolin, butcher's broom, melilot, insositol hexaphosphate and feverfew, also interact with Coumadin. They either increase or decrease its effectiveness.
