rmb...what's interesting to me is that shortly after my PE ( just over a year ago) the pulmonologist I was seeing looked over the list of food the hospital gave me that had to do with vitamin K and said it was rubbish. He then looked over each item more carefully and said, "except for the green tea-you should stay away from that one". I have been seeing another pulmonologist since last March and he has never had a problem with my adding alcohol, vitamin K foods to my diet, etc., but he became much more intense about adding green tea and was very specific this time. I'll have to ask him about it when I next talk to him. In the mean time, I'll check my INR next week after having been without green tea for awhile to make sure that my INR is back to where it should be and see if the doctor is okay with my trying perhaps 1/2 cup of green tea that has been steeped for only 1 minute.

Inycrts, that is interesting that all your docs sort of perked up when you mentioned green tea over other foods that contain vitamin k. Yeah, ask him why he was so specific about green tea I'm be curious why that's an issue over other vitamin k rich foods

I wonder too if you drank it consistently, why your doc couldn't just adjust your warfarin dose to accommodate adding it to your diet, know what I mean. Rather than saying stay away from it, just work with it

rmb...Oh, I'm sure that he'd be glad to adjust my Warfarin dosage around the slump in my INR with the green tea, but I'm already on 9 mgs. of Warfarin now. While I value the importance of healthy eating and do partake in the consistent consumption of vegies with vitamin K, I'm also mindful as to the bone thinning that occurs with Warfarin, etc., and would like to keep the amount I take as low as possible. I recently had a bone density study done and I do have osteopenia now which I'm working on to keep it from progressing. I will for sure let you know what he says. It may be awhile before I can actually converse with him rather than his assistant though.

You give some good thoughts on what should be the effects of alcohol drinking and what should be necessary steps to be taken.In starting phase keep a small amount or no alcohol at home.

I know that grapefruit and cranberry both contain a substance that affects the action of one of the liver enzymes that break down warfarin (and some other drugs) and can lead to high INR because of a prolonged half-life of the drug in the body (slower elimination = a "buildup" of the drug in the body). Perhaps some types of green tea have a similar action that affects INR in some people and it's not simply directly connected to vitamin K levels in the tea.
It's like alcohol. If you really want it, try it and see how it affects you. A slightly lowered INR for one week is probably not going to really hurt you (especially since we must remember that what we anti-coagulated folks think is a "low" INR is still about twice the "normal" reading for people who don't take these meds). But I wouldn't jump into a green tea binge or diet without doing a "one cup a day" and gradual increase to test, and I definitely would involve my doctor so I could be monitored a bit more often during the "experiment".

I stopped caring about what I eat or drink. I just go for my INR checks and let my doctor adjust my dosage to reflect my lifestyle. Obviously, moderation is key. Sometimes I'm on 11mg, sometimes 14mg.

What I do pay a lot of attention to is supplements. Those things can have very high concentrations of herbs that could dramatically affect my INR, so I always consult my doctor and pharmacist before trying a new supplement.