Blood thinner medications can save your life by helping you to prevent blood clots in your arteries and veins that can cause a stroke or heart attack. Yet, eating Swiss chard, a green leafy vegetable, can interfere with the effects of blood thinner medications. Consult your doctor about Swiss chard and blood thinners.
Swiss Chard
Swiss chard is a nutrient-dense vegetable that is a member of the beet family. Swiss chard contains high concentrations of vitamin A and vitamin K. One cup of boiled Swiss chard provides 10,717 IU of vitamin A and 573 mcg of vitamin K. The recommended dietary allowance for adults ages 19 years and older for vitamin A is 3,000 IU for males and 2,333 IU for females. The recommended dietary allowance for adults ages 19 years and older for vitamin K is 120 mcg for males and 90 mcg for females.
Vitamin K
Vitamin K is a fat soluble vitamin that has three primary roles in your body. The biggest role vitamin K plays in your body is to help you form blood clots to stop your bleeding after injury or internal hemorrhages. Vitamin K also supports bone mineralization and regulation of cell growth. Increasing your dietary intake of vitamin K may enhance your ability to form blood clots and may interfere with blood thinner medications function to reduce blood clots.
Blood Thinners
Physicians often prescribe blood thinner medications to reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke in patients with blood clots, poor blood flow or certain cardiovascular diseases, such as abnormal heart rhythm. There are two types of blood thinner medications. Anticoagulants, such as warfarin, increase the time it takes your body to form a blood clot. Antiplatelet medications, such as aspirin, prevent your blood platelets from clumping together to form a blood clot. A blood clot is a life-threatening condition and is characterized by hardening of blood that can stay in one place and block blood flow or travel in your blood to a different location in your body.
Risks
Taking blood thinner medications incurs a big risk. During the time you are taking blood thinner medications, you are vulnerable to excess bleeding if you become injured. This is why surgeons often do not operate if patients are taking blood thinner medications. Taking blood thinners and eating Swiss chard is also a big risk. When your physician prescribes a blood thinner medication, he often instructs you to limit the amount of foods such as Swiss chard, which contain high amounts of vitamin K and which can affect the action of the drug, As a result, eating Swiss chard when taking blood thinners increases your risk of blood clot development and consequent heart attack or stroke, especially if you have a blood clot in your lungs, heart or brain. Research by scientists at the University of Georgia in Athens and published in "Nutrition Reviews" in March 2005 reports that very large amounts of vitamin K from a single meal of vegetables can interfere with the effectiveness of warfarin.
References
- MedlinePlus; Blood Thinners; 2010
- Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University; Vitamin A; Victoria Drake; November 2007
- Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University; Vitamin K; Sara Booth; May 2008
- MedlinePlus; Blood Clots; June 22 2011
- MayoClinic.com; Blood Clots; October 6 2010
- "Nutrition Reviews"; Influence of Vitamin K on Anticoagulant Therapy Depends on Vitamin K Status and the Source and Chemical Forms of Vitamin K; Mary Ann Johnson.; Mar 2005
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