How much does spinach affect INR

[Guest guest]

Clear DayBy the way, my husband did a test on how much effect a tablespoon of

canned spinach had on his INR. Eating approximately the same amount of green

vegetables from one week to the next, and adding one tablespoon of canned

spinach, It brought his INR level down about .12.

That means that about 2/3 of a cup of canned spinach would push someone with

otherwise an INR of 2.0 to about 3.2.

Jo Anne

[Guest guest]

>

> Clear DayBy the way, my husband did a test on how much effect a

tablespoon of canned spinach had on his INR. Eating approximately

the same amount of green vegetables from one week to the next, and

adding one tablespoon of canned spinach, It brought his INR level

down about .12.

>

> That means that about 2/3 of a cup of canned spinach would push

someone with otherwise an INR of 2.0 to about 3.2.

According to the chart, 3.5 oz of spinach has about 420 mcg of Vit.

K. which should lower his INR as you mention in your first

paragraph, not raise it as you mention in the above paragraph.

Remenber that the increase/decrease in INR is a logarhythmic scale

not a linear scale so it's unsafe to predict change based upon

direct change of substances ingested. Ref:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?

cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12871463&dopt=Abstract

Gordon

[Guest guest]

Jo Anne:

It isn't just the amount of spinach one eats that affects the INR,

although a consistent amount of vitamin K is helpful and

recommended....it is eating your veggies cooked or raw with or

without fat, with or without an acidic dressing (fat enhances

absorption while acid dressings reduce absorption of vitamin K),

travel, emotions and taking antibiotics can disrupt the routine and

either increase or decrease the INR.

In my own case I have been able to lower my weekly intake of

Coumadin dosage by eating smaller portions of meat and more fish.

Isabelle

>

> Clear DayBy the way, my husband did a test on how much effect a

tablespoon of canned spinach had on his INR. Eating approximately

the same amount of green vegetables from one week

SNIP.................

[Guest guest]

Please, please be careful with all this! If you increase your vitamin

K, you would increase the clotting of your blood, and your INR would

go lower (ie below 2), not higher. This would need more

coumadin/warferin to adjust your INR back up to stay in range 2-3.

Best advice that I have heard, is to settle down on a diet you are

comfortable with, be consistent in your eating, and let the medics

adjust the coumadin/warferin to hit the target.

Remember it's easier to hit a target that isn't moving!

Good luck

> >

> > Clear DayBy the way, my husband did a test on how much effect a

> tablespoon of canned spinach had on his INR. Eating approximately

> the same amount of green vegetables from one week

> SNIP.................

>

[Guest guest]

>

> We were trying to figure out how much spinach my husband could eat

without having to increase his dosage of warfarin, and keeping his

other green vegetables constant.

According to my cardiologist it's not bad to take more Coumadin as

long as you keep your INR in the therapeutic range.

I'd suggest your husband regularly as much spinach as he wants, check

his INR every week or so until it stabilizes and adjust to whatever

dosage of Coumadin it takes to get the INR where your doc wants it.

Then he'll probably only need to get his INR checked monthly like most

of us.

My doc also said some people never can reach and hold a stable

therapeutic level INR and therefore can't use Coumadin.

Gordon

[Guest guest]

Joanne,

Speaking from my own experience, as someone who was on coumadin for

three and half years, your husband should eat his regular diet.If he

likes spinach, he can eat spinach. The key is, he has to be

consistent with his intake of spinach, or of any of the foods that

are high in vitamin K.

If he suddenly gets the urge to eat a pound of spinach, let's say,

that will probably affect his INR.

Consistency is the key. Somewhat boring, some would say, but that's

the way to maintain a consistantly regular INR.

Hope this helps.

>

> We were trying to figure out how much spinach my husband could eat

without having to increase his dosage of warfarin, and keeping his

other green vegetables constant.

[Guest guest]

I occasionally enjoy a large main course salad as lunch or dinner.

Wonder what impact that has on my INR. Do we know anything about maybe

adding a 1/4 Coumadin or so to make up for the Vitamin K splurge. I

would find it helpful if we could somehow counteract the increase of K

in a K rich dish. Is there any information out on this?

[Guest guest]

> The most important message to get here with the combination of coumadin

(warfarin) and green vegetables (vit K) is that you are consistant in regards as

to the amound you each each day. The coumadin dose can be adjusted and the INR

maintained IF you don't vary the amount from day to day. So pick the veggies you

like, inform the person doing your INR (so you can have a close f/u after

increasing veggies) and be consistant. No one should give up veggies just

because they are on coumadin!

>

>

> lisam20011 madisonn99@...> wrote:

>

>

> I occasionally enjoy a large main course salad as lunch or dinner.

> Wonder what impact that has on my INR. Do we know anything about maybe

> adding a 1/4 Coumadin or so to make up for the Vitamin K splurge. I

> would find it helpful if we could somehow counteract the increase of K

> in a K rich dish. Is there any information out on this?

>

>

>

Hi , I think the problem with that is that you might have to take

that extra 1/4 of coumadin a couple of days before your meal The time

it takes for vitamin K to do what it does and the time it takes for

coumadin to do what it does aren't necessarily the same. Consistency is

the name of the game I'm afraid. (but I wouldn't worry to much about

small wobbles on your INR graph)

--

D - planning to come off of warfarin in a couple of weeks.

(75 days of NSR since second ablation