Since my wife recently had a Pulmonary Embolism we have to watch what foods she eats. Vitamin K is one thing she doesn’t want to get to much of as it will interact with her coumadin medication. We know to say away from green vegetables, but there are a lot of other foods high in vitamin K too.
We recently came across Ptinr.com, a great website that lets you put in any food and it’ll tell you if it’s high, medium or low in vitamin K. Did you know that Cheetos are high? Starbursts are low. Chocolate Milk is high. Chicken Nuggets are low. They also have a great, 10 page, print out of most foods and their vitamin K value that you can take with you.
Pintar’s Vitamin K Registry is by far the best resource we’ve found for looking up foods with vitamin K.
Thank you so much-I would not have found it by myself.
New at this. would like to see some sample meal plans. thanks for the information I found on your site.
With my history of PE, I really appreciate the link to Pentar’s Vitamin K registry. There are many foods I’ve had which I had no idea caused elevation in Vit K levels.
Since March is DVT (pulmonary embolism) Awareness month, I blogged about it yesterday. Grandpa and I are newbie bloggers and would sure appreciate you dropping by to read by DVT Awareness post on my blog yesterday and leaving a comment? You can find us at Grandparents Cyber Corner.
Thanks again for the valuable Vitamin K registry link. I wish you all the best.
Bonnie/Grandma
Thanks, thanks, thanks. I was having a lot of problems to identify food high in vitamin K and my blood tests were going lower every week. Now I can Identify what to eat and still maintain my levels. People who have survived PE are very lucky to be alive. Thanks for helping me stay that way for my family.
Thank you so much for the information on the ptinr.com website. I’m new to all of this and it gives me more information and guidance than any other sites I’ve found.
Just for information. Nice list. Would be good to include the amount per serving. This can vary from 1/4 c – 1 cup and the same with fluid oz. I have seen the amounts on other sites but not a total list like you have.
I found this info very useful, and will tell my grandmother about this useful information i have found for her. Thank you!
Very informative in ref to foods to avoid but no-one mentions drinks to avoid! How about, NA BEER, MILK, SODAS, REG TEA (NOT GREEN)??
We never really thought about beverages. Good question though.
Hi there.
I am recovering from pulmonary emboli.
The best advice that I was given whilst in hospital was from the phlebotomist and that was:
“make sure you control the warfarin (coumadin), don’t let the warfarin (coumadin) control you.”
Thinking about this logically it makes a whole lot of sense. If you just continue you normal diet and stick to a regular diet, we are all creatures of habit after all, then the amount of warfarin required to get your INR to the required level will be whatever it is. If you go out of your way to avoid all the food items that contain vitamin K not only are you putting yourself at risk of a deficiency in any number of other vitamins that are contained in these foods you are also artificially lowering your normal intake which will just have the effect of reducing the amount of warfarin required to hit INR target.
If you are eating minimal vitamin K and you try a different food that is, unknown to you, high in vitamin K or one that is known to you but you just want it then you can easily increase your daily vitamin K intake by 100% – 200% or more for that day which will have a drastic effect on your INR. On the other hand if you eat your normal amount of Vitamin K and try the new food this is more likely to only effect the overall daily intake by say 10% – 20% and have much less an effect.
So there is likely to be a correlation between wildly fluctuating INR levels and actively reducing Vitamin K in your diet.
So I am doing exactly what the doctor ordered and eating a normal balanced diet added consistent to it eating all the things that I like. My INR level has been stable from the start of the treatment.
Does this make sense to others?
Tim
Hello Tim,
My mother has recently developed a pulmonary embolism due to a knee replacement surgery she had in March.
I did some immediate research on the statistics of fatalities when our family found out she had the blood clot and then I immediately stopped. After gathering the information I did regarding the PE, I was frightened, I wasn’t ready to lose my mom!
She is home now recovering fantastic from the knee replacement and she will be taking the coumadin for a while to prevent any other blood clots. I take her blood pressure every night and it’s really high. (150/100-90) I haven’t contacted her doctor regarding that, but I am assuming it’s so high due to the blood thinning medication.
My question to you and to all of you on this blog is; how’s life for you now since your PE? The quality? What does your diet consist of?
There was someone that commented about those that developed the embolism are lucky to be alive and that is very true. I am very grateful and lucky that my mom has survived this condition. I also read there is a PE awareness month?! That would be interesting and I would like more information on that.
Thanks everyone for your great information!
Tim: Your information is exactly what my mother’s doctor advised her. He said her Coumadin requirements and blood levels will be under much better control if she continued to eat the foods she likes, to eat a well balanced diet, and use good judgment if she decides to eat the foods high in Vit. K. So it is important to educate yourself on the foods you already eat, so you don’t do harm. The key is consistency. It works for her. Jan
The problem with these blood thinning medications is that they block Vitamin K activity, and therefore also block some of the secondary functions of Vitamin K not related to blood clotting.
You should definitely ask the doctor about the possible side effects of using these medications for the long term.
The problem I have with the list is that it lists any number of items – like iceberg lettuce- on all three lists-high, medium, and low. I am on warfarain and don’t know how much I should allow myself to eat. Any help would be appreciated.
As an RN, I am aware of the confusion that surrounds eating leafy green vegetables. The key is not to avoid them – just simply eat the same amount you normally do to maintain the proper INR levels.
This list leaves me a bit confused. On one page it says that carrots are low, and on another page it says they are medium. ???
That’s where you’d have to talk to your doctor and find out what they think.
Thanks Thomas!
I just spent last weekend in the hospital with PE, partial collapsed lung and early onset of pneumonia… It was caused by my Temoxifen that I’m taking for post breast cancer treatment. Needless to say, it’s been a fun year… NOT!!
I wanted to thank you for sharing this information with everyone. I didn’t realize what kind of
difference one small Cesar Salad could make on my INR #’s! I’m going to put the website on my phone so I can look up foods when I go out to eat.
Hi everyone,
I was recently diagnosed with a bilateral PE about a month ago. Im On warfarin and My INR has been therapeutic since leaving the hospital. I have been on a ton of different sites that have conflicting info about high and low levels of vitamin k so I understand how annoying it is. What I have started to do for myself to keep track of amounts of vitamin k as well as food I eat is to keep a daily food journal where I put amounts of food, my Coumadin dose for the day (3/3/6) pattern and on days I get the INR checked what the number is.
I also use the hospital meal planner as a guide. They gave me 3-4 oz of meat or fish, 4oz or 1/2 cup of veggie and potato . Most serving sizes with the high vita K content is 1 cup so half a cup you still get your green leafy veggies but don’t go overboard. The food journal helps the consistency and it has helped me a lot.
Due to the severity of my PE I have to be on Coumadin for a year so I hope it all gets easier.
This is a good free list however I paid $4.95 to get a list and serving sizes from dr gourmet. Make sure you check years for up to date info on the Internet.
Good Luck to all!