Nutrition and Meds Conflicts??

My daughter takes Coumadin as an anti coagulant. We were wondering if there are any foods that would counter the intended effects of Coumadin. For example we have heard that grape fruit is a no-no. Is this true and are there others?

[Renee Radenberg]

Yes, that is true about grapefruit and Coumadin. You should avoid grapefruit and grapefruit juice because does interfere with Coumadin. Food that is high in vitamin K also causes the Coumadin not to work as well because vitamin K helps clot our blood. The recommendation with vitamin K foods (spinach, broccoli, eggs, wheat germ) and supplementation with vitamin K in it, are to continue with the same amount and do not increase intake of those foods and/or supplementation. This will keep the vitamin K levels constant in the blood stream and will not alter the Coumadin levels in the blood. Thank you for your question.