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The Warfarin Myth: A Quiz About Foods and Vitamin K

Taking warfarin to manage your increased risk of clots and A-Fib stroke? Have you been told to avoid foods with vitamin K to prevent excess clotting? To separate the facts from the myths about warfarin and vitamin K, take our 5 question quiz.

A 5 Question Quiz about Warfarin and Vitamin K

1. True or False: Warfarin and vitamin K actually work against each other in your body.
True. Vitamin K helps your blood clot. Warfarin makes your blood clot more slowly. Your INR level is monitored to keep them in balance.

2. True or False: When taking warfarin, you should limit foods with high levels of vitamin K like dark, leafy greens.
False. You don’t need to avoid foods with vitamin K. The key is to consistently maintain your daily level of vitamin K.

Don’t confuse vitamin K with the K on the periodic table for potassium. One’s a vitamin, the other is a mineral.

3. True or False: Vitamin K information is not included on most packaged food nutritional labels.
True. So it’s often hard to determine the amount of vitamin K in your food.

4. True or False: To be safe, it’s better to maintain a low level of vitamin K in your diet.
False. Don’t avoid vitamin K foods. Vitamin K is an important nutrient especially for bone strength, brain function and cardiovascular health.

5. True or False: A vitamin K supplement may actually help stabilize your INR levels.
True. Some experts suggest that a low-dose vitamin K supplement (50-150 mcg/day) may help stabilize fluctuations in INR.

The Facts About Warfarin and Vitamin K

Vitamin K Finder - veggies with border at A-Fib.com

Vitamin K Finder at ptinr.com

Well, how’d you do on the quiz? Did you learn something? So, if you’re on warfarin, you now know the facts from the myths:

• You can eat dark, leafy greens rich with vitamin K
• You need to maintain a consistent intake of vitamin K
• Most nutritional labels won’t help when checking for the amount of vitamin K
• Vitamin K is important for bone strength, brain function and cardiovascular health
• A low-dose vitamin K supplement may help stabilize your INR

Misinformation Surrounding Warfarin

Prolific A-Fib blogger Dr John Mandrola (Dr. John M.), posted about misinformation surrounding warfarin patients and vitamin K. He wrote:

“I am so utterly tired of correcting this mistake….Patients on warfarin can indeed eat green vegetables; they should just eat them consistently. I have vegetarians who do beautifully on warfarin. The problem comes when people vary the weekly dose of vegetables.”

Reclaim the Benefits of Vitamin K

Safety first. When on warfarin, don’t make any changes to your vitamin K intake without first talking to your doctor.

If you and your doctor decide that you can increase your vitamin K intake, the key is to be consistent on a daily schedule. If consumption of vitamin K does affect your INR, your doctor can always adjust the warfarin dosage.

For a practical reference about foods with vitamin K, check out the online ‘Vitamin K Finder’ at the ptinr.com website.

References for this article
PTINR.com website sponsored by Alere. URL: http://www.ptinr.com/cafe-ptinr/vitamin-k-finder

Baker P, et al. Reversal of asymptomatic over-anticoagulation by orally administered vitamin K. Br J Haematol. 2006 May;133(3):331-6. URL: http://www.pubfacts.com/detail/16643436/

Dezee KJ, et al. Treatment of excessive anticoagulation with phytonadione (vitamin K): a meta-analysis. Arch Intern Med. 2006 Feb 27;166(4):391-7. URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16505257

Sconce E, Khan T, Mason J, et al. Patients with unstable control have a poorer dietary intake of vitamin K compared to patients with stable control of anticoagulation. Thromb Haemost. 2005 May;93(5):872-5. URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15886802

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