For starts you can browse foods that are highest in vitamin K.
http://nutritiondata.self.com/foods-000104000000000000000.html
Spinach, such as in the form of ready-made souffl or dip, is a rich source. If you eat pasta, the primary ingredient of pesto sauce is basil, which is also vitamin-K rich. Pesto sauce is also available in jars or refrigerated packaging.
I had tested a borderline high INR yesterday (3.0) and brought it down to 2.4 today with a can of spinach and some pasta with pesto.
If you have the fixings to self-test your INR and have a ready stock of convenient vitamin-k rich foods, then you can test frequently and make quick dietary adjustments for high INR emergencies, just as diabetics can test for low glucose and then take a hit of maple syrup. Low INR emergencies must wait for a doctor's dose change unless you have been authorized to self-adjust.

This sounds a bit like the age old medical practitioner trick of you must adjust your life to the warfarin/coumadin dose we give rather than, okay you eat more of this on a regular basis we should adjust your dose accordingly.

The trick is to have a fairly consistent diet without binge eating things now and again, your diet can have whatever you want in it, it is then up to the practitioner to adjust the dose to your diet/life style not the other way round.

It's okay to stray from your regular diet, you may blip but you will actually come back to your level quite quickly, same if you miss a dose, they don't tell you to double dose the next day just carry on as normal and surprise surprise your INR if it drops at all returns to its level again in a couple of days

I agree with Markarina completely.

I gotta say in the early days of taking warfarin, my INR was never therapuetic (below 2 for almost 6 months), despite trying to eliminate certain foods, discontinuing salads etc. I became anal about everything and it really made no difference in my INR, but it sure did make me crabby and feel like shit. So, I finally just ate what I normally ate, just being consistent and everything finally came together with the INR.

Thinking about food all the time is not real healthy and trying to control your INR with vitamin K foods here and there makes this more high maintenance when it doesn't have to be. If you're INR is 2, maybe a glass of wine a couple night a week would give you some piece of mind. If you're looking to start eating veg again and don't want to do the salad, steaming vegetables in the microwave is pretty low maintenance. Or just eating raw vegetables as a snack still helps you get your veg in. If you don't like certain vegetables don't start eating them just for the sake of your INR. Eat what you LIKE to eat. INR and warfarin doesn't need to take the joy out of eating good food.

Personally, I'd not waste my time / money with a nutrionist, but that's me. We aleady get antiquated information regarding diet and warfarin from some in the medical community regarding what we should or shouldn't eat.

I had similar questions when I started on Coumadin because my diet mostly consisted of salads every day for lunch. People on here told me that I should still eat the greens and let them dose around that, but I could not get therapeuitc. I think the bottom line is that everyone is different. My IRN was finally therapeutic on Thursday for the first time in almost 2 months- on 15/10mg of Coumadin and eating NO salads or leafy greens. That is a really high dosage but the PA told me, everyone metabolizes Coumadin and Vitamin K differently. Some people may be able to eat more Vit K foods than others.

For me, I am trying to find other healthy veggies to eat with low K- tellow and red peppers, green beans, squash, cucumber without peel, etc. If you do find a nutritionist for Coumadin, please share! Good luck!

Well, for me the consistency is the problem. Really I eat very few veggies anyway, which is great for a warfarin diet.

But I do like the occasinal salad and I go through phases where I eat a lot of greens and then go weeks without. This is not good for a warfarin diet.

Just trying to figure out what I could eat when I'm not eating salads so that I don't make my INR all wonky.

I do like the idea of self-testing ... that would help me stay steady I think.

I just had a long talk with a pharmacist from my insurance company. She stressed balance and regularity in the diet: no binge eating of veggies/salads, etc. She advised me that the best way to incorporate hi-K foods (which, by the way are all of my favorite vegetables) is to eat them regularly- not excessive amounts, but for example, if you usually eat broccoli 3x a week, you can continue to do so, and allow the INR to regulate around it. Just don't eat more than the recommended amounts. I imagine if you still have trouble regulating, you may have to decrease gradually. I'm new to taking coumadin, although I've been a registered nurse for 35 years, so I'm soaking in all information that I can get! The dietitian from the hospital where I was treated was very helpful, and so was the pharmacist from my health insurance company. If you have these sources, check them out; they are part of the service. I was hospitalized on July 16th with a massive saddle PE; so I've investigated all resources for information.

We all know that Warfarin takes time to "kick in" and hangs around in the body for a few days. Because of this I know that the INR result I get one day is affected by my doses over the past 3/4 days.

One question I have is the speed of the effects of foods rich in vitamin-K? If I have an INR of 3 today and eat a meal with a high level of vitamin-K is the effect almost instantaneous, bringing my INR down that evening, or does it take a day or more to take effect?

The science geek in me wants to carry out an experiment and rigidly control different variables, self-testing every day for results... I would love a self-tester but feel it would be tempting fate too much, considering that I am only supposed to be on warfarin for 6 months right now haha.

I was told by the dietitian at the hospital and by my Dr that the most important thing was consistency in my diet but they did give me lots of literature on which foods were high, medium and low in Vitamin K. Some lists contradict each other but we know that. I eat out quite often and if there is broccoli or spinach in a dish I eat some of it; I like Caesar salads but I only eat part of one and that's been my general approach. I drink V8 juice almost every day to add to my veggie count too.

The only time my INR really spiked a lot was after three salads that had mayonnaise which was made with soybean oil. Hard to find one that's not but I just bought the mayo made with virgin oil as a backup at home and threw the others out. Canola oil to be avoided too I was told. Hard to know how long it took the INR to soar after those salads since it was three more days before I had the INR done again but I knew that was the only thing I had consumed that was different from my usual diet.

Good luck - I can be consistent for weeks and then it's all over the place - feels like a crap shoot some times but it was only dangerously high the one time.

The Drs and dietitian know that i like a glass of wine or two also and that has not been a problem. Only problem really is that I need to lose about 15 lbs and even though I don't eat much I haven't been able to lose since being on Warfarin. I exercise but an limited by spinal stenosis also to a few minutes a day - had lots of PT for that.

All of the postings help me here - I didn't remember that basil was high and I love the stuff. Erk.