Heads-Up For Rat Poison (Coumadin) Takers

[BLM_56]

For those of us taking coumadin monitoring our PT/INR (coumadin levels in the vernacular) is literally a life-or-death matter.  My Dad passed away a year ago this June because he had a series of strokes due to NOT monitoring his levels (poor bugger loved salad).  Unfortunately I have recently discovered that some "heart healthy" foods are really not so good for us on coumadin.  Specifically cooking oils both the pourable kind and the stuff in the spray cans.  

All of us who are on coumadin and take after GW's Dad (President Bush senior) have an excellent excuse NOT to eat Broccoli (40 mcg/oz Vitamin K boiled and drained, 28.8 mcg/oz raw) or brussels sprouts (80.92 mcg/oz boiled, 49.56 raw, 122.64 top leaf) but how many of us know about so-called "heart healthy" cooking oils?  Hmmmmm?

First off, frying is only bad because of cholesterol - specifically LDL vs HDL.  If we eat low fat otherwise that is pretty well taken care of.  But did you know that the "heart healthy" cooking oils are potentially as bad for those of us on coumadin as broccoli or brussels sprouts?  Betcha didn't!  Nice, "heart healthy" olive oil has 13.72 mcg/oz of vitamin K (the "K" in "vitamin K" is for the German word for CLOTTING FACTOR).  Canola oil has a whopping 39.48 mcg/oz and the ever popular soybean oil has 54 mcg of clotting factor in every "heart healthy" ounce!  Peanut oil has a paltry 0.196 mcg/oz and corn oil is next at 0.84 mcg/oz.  I'm personally not all that fond of cooking with peanut oil (and there seem to be a good number of people who are allergic to peanuts) so corn oil is OK for me.  Since potatos baked/boiled with their skin only have 0.57 mcg/oz and without their skin only have 0.09mcg/oz (0.095 raw) they would seem to be a good food for us taking rat poison.  OH, and every brand of cooking oil (generic/store brand or name brand) on the Super Wal-Mart shelf (bless you Sam Walton) that said simply "Vegetable Oil" was soybean oil.  

"Ah", you say. "But I don't USE cooking oil.  I just use one of the spray-on preparations like PAM so I'm OK".  BZZZZZZZZZZZZ WRONG ANSWER!  The most common oil in products like Pam - especially generic/store brands - is soybean oil (54mcg/oz vit. K) with canola oil (as is in PAM) coming in 2nd.  So you can ingest a lot of vitamin K without realizing it.  That's OK so long as you make sure to get your arm stuck often and you and your Dr. adjust your coumadin dose accordingly (I take 10mg 4 Sun, Tue, Thur & Sat and 7.5mg the other days).  Me, I just rty to watch what I eat.

The reason I bring all this up is that a couple of weeks ago my routine monthly PT/INR that had been hovering around 2.6-2.7 for months abruptly dropped to 1.4.  1.4 is NOT good.  Even though I have a full time pacemaker I am still in a-fib.  A PT/INR score of 1.4 is stroke territory - except that is also pulmonary embolism and coronary thrombosis territory as well.  Not exactly friendly territory for folks who have persistent rhythm problems or who have had coronary bypass or have stents.  

I lost my Dad because he ate otherwise healthy foods and because he failed to monitor his levels.  I don't want anyone else's family to have the same pain I went through a year ago.  

Regards,
Bionic Bill

[mamoojr]

yikes, I've been on coumadin for 36 yrs. and don't forgo any foods inparticular except liver (which I dearly love & now only eat a few times a year)  I have always been adjusted to coumadin according to what I eat not vice versa. I take 10mg 6 days a week & 8mg on Sunday. I get tested once a month and run fairly stable. If it is ever off I always know why.
People get so upset that they supposedly can't eat greens ever again but if they eat as usual your dosage will be adjusted that way.
I have a friend that just started coumadin & researched what was high in Vitamin K & said he can eat baked potatos but not mashed. I asked why & he said mashed are high in vitamin K! HUH?

[BLM_56]

I forgot to mention that all my numbers are from "The Coumadin Cookbook" Fourth Edition by Rene Desmarais, M.D., Greg Golden, RCS, and Gail Beynon.  Excellent sourcebook for watching your vitamin K intake.

Bionic Bill