I'm late to the conversation and didn't read the 45 replies that you have already had. The USDA nutrient database is easy to read and fairly comprehensive. I personally eat anything I want and ignore the vit. K levels of foods unless they are over 800 mcg per cup. I try to stay consistent with my intake of those foods. I'm on coumadin long term and that has been working for me. My INR is stable and I don't go crazy because there are only a handful of foods I need to think about.

www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/SR17/wtrank/sr17w430.pdf

PS - Having an adequate intake of vit. K is very important for lots of health reasons.

While I totally understand the whole "live life and don't worry" thing, my doctors have been stressing like crazy to take the same amount of Vit K every day until I'm off warfarin... I'm going to assume no one else's doctor said that same? It seemed pretty important to my docs O_o

What the majority of doctors say is to be consistent with your diet vs counting each food's vitamim k level.

My doctor/coag nurse tell me to both be consistent with my diet while keeping an eye on (not obsessing) about Vit K input.

I eat a fairly consistent diet (with some Vit K each day) and my warfarin dose remains the same, which is my preference.

Others prefer to not think about Vit K and change their warfarin dose as needed.

That's their preference and there are just as many articles that condone that as there are ones that encourage managing by controlling Vit K input.

***Try to keep a healthy, well-balanced diet and keep your vitamin K intake consistent.***

http://www.impactteam.info/documents/Warfarinpthandout_000.pdf

****Remember that the critical consideration in managing Warfarin and vitamin K is keeping the levels of vitamin K constant so your doctor doesnt have to constantly change your dosage.*****

The other points of view can be found on PubMed and by googling.

dude keeping Vit K consistent is just one aspect!
But that is no gaurantee that your INR number and therefore your dose of warfarin will not change.

It could be as simple as changes in the weather. Could be as simple as not having enough hydration.
There are so many variables ,........ thats why they have it checked and monitored and doses adjusted accordingly.
I have been on warfarin..... have clotted on warfarin.
I used to adjust my own dose while on warfarin .
I just wish people would eat healthy and continue to recover and not put so much focous on just one tiny lil aspect of this whole ordeal

I really, really don't want to get involved in this conversation, because honestly I think it's at best silly. But here I am anyway, against my better judgement.

While I understand the good intentions of wanting to help with education, the number of micrograms per ounce or whatever it is that each food has is just not that important, unless you do want to obsess over every bite you eat. At most, doctors will refer you to lists that categorize foods as low, medium or high in vitamin K. And even at that, I don't know how really helpful it is, because as mentioned, vitamin K is one tiny piece of the puzzle of INR. Besides that, almost every food has some K in it, so literally just the quantity of food you're used to eating will affect how much any given amount of K would change your INR. Percentages do matter when you're talking about maintaining consistency with your norm, so what makes no difference to one person may make a lot to someone else, and that's ONLY factoring in what they eat and not factoring in the 362 other things which seem to affect INR.

Although my doctors taught me correctly that I should continue to eat normally, just not binge on foods high in K, the first time I was on warfarin my diet became an issue, because every time my INR plummeted they grilled me over my diet, which was basically counter to what they had taught me since I was eating consistently. I then tried to control my INR through my diet and little by little I eliminated any food with more than a speck of K in it. You know what? I still had to be on an insanely high dose of warfarin, because for me it was more about how my body processed it. And I drove myself crazy in the process, worrying about every single bite of food I took. Not a good way to live.

I want to clarify what I think is a position which has been widely misunderstood here by people who are either new to anticoagulants or just on them temporarily: when someone says you should eat healthy and consistently and not stress about your diet, it's not a 'live and don't worry' attitude of life, nor is it a matter of 'eat what you want and just change your dose when you need to'. Every person's body processes warfarin differently, and nobody knows until you start taking it how much you'll need to stay therapeutic.And it takes awhile to figure it out.When we say eat however you always eat and adjust your dose accordingly, we're talking about when you're in the early stages of figuring out that dose. I can guarantee that those of us who are long-term on this stuff are not bouncing our dose around every time we get an INR check. We are on basically the same dose all the time (once we figured out the right dose for us). But if you're playing around with your diet before figuring out what your magic dose is, you're setting yourself up for a nightmare.

Going back to my experience, while I worried about dosing & vit K intake, my INR was a complete wreck, and always too low even while I had eliminated anything anyone could think of with "too much" vitamin K, and I was still taking 15mg warfarin daily. And that was for 9 months. When I had to go back on wafarin, I decided to eat as I usually did, not worry about every mouthful, and who would have figured, but my INR was therapeutic and stable within 2 weeks, and I've stayed at the same dose, always within correct INR range, without every worrying about how much vitamin K is in my food.

I would also like to point out that while again there may be good intentions in presenting this information, it is likely more destructive than helpful, especially to new patients who are in an already overwhelming and anxious situation, many of whom leave hospital undereducated about the whole ordeal. Cave, you say that you're not personally obsessing over this, but you're putting information out there, as though it's quite important, that can lead to unnecessary anxiety for someone new and already scared. And it's ultimately information which doesn't truly matter, unless someone out there plans on binging on nopales or seaweed. Really? If you eat those things, they likely make a regular appearance in your diet, hence that's consistent for you. There are just honestly a lot more important things to focus on during recovery, like getting enough rest and reasonable exercise and trying not to let your anxiety get the better of you.

No matter how much reason and common sense anyone tries to inject into this discussion, it's not going to matter. Cave, you'll keep adding your food values to it because you want to be heard. We get it.

I really wish people would hear long term warfarin users on this issue since we have a history with INR management and have seen how trying to micro manage your diet can result in really sketchy INRs. But hey, if folks want to count every vitamin K value they put into their bodies, that's their choice, as irrational as it is.

I'll post this again with all respect to members of this forum, newcomers and old timers:

A note for ALL who might be reading this thread.

Listing the Vit K in some foods (here on this thread) is not intended to imply that you should limit or increase those foods in your diet.

The listing is a compilation of facts, nothing more, just as a dictionary might be.
****************************************

I'm sorry to see that some people are bordering on ad hominem attacks.

Sticky:
A note for ALL who might be reading this thread.

Listing the Vit K in some foods (here on this thread) is not intended to imply that you should limit or increase those foods in your diet.

The listing is a compilation of facts, nothing more, just as a dictionary might be.

Brussels sprouts. YUM!
300 mcg of Vit K per one cup cooked.

[But how do you measure one cup of those little green spheres? (grin)]

Cave give it a rest!
we all know you feel you are providing information.
while everyone else here thinks you are providing damaging information
To be quite honest here I actually had an email from someone thanking me for something i said regarding one of your postings. While you feel u may just be providing innocent information realize that you are NOT!!!!!!

Please give it a rest

i've been on warfarin for 41 years back when i started they told me to watch my vit k in take .it didn't take long to figure out that vit k intake had no effect on my INR .
your not helping any one giving out this information .the newbies are scared and confused enough .ive been on the same does i started when i was 10 .it's been as low as 1.2 and as high as 8 .i could see the number being high if vit k was a factor but what about the low number .please just let this post go were it should in the garbage and quit scary people .
i don't mean any disrespect

Skihillguy: I read u clotted while on warfarin.. Was this due to low dosage ? I have diagnosed with lupus anticoagulant .in Jan 2012. I have started back running. I now have more aches in chest/sides now which I guess is due to the exercising. My concern is clotting again in lungs while on warfarin

yes i did clot while on warfarin. I did so while being therapeutic. I was also on a higher INR level.
I spent time on LMWH injections. I am now fortunate to not have to worry about my INR levels any longer. I am now on a drug as an off label use.

Late to this conversation. I have a well known and very good pulmonologist who told me from the beginning....3 years ago. "Just be consistent. If you ate spinach before in bunches, continue doing that. I've been consistent now for 2 months at 5 mg. And I don't worry about Vit. K. Good or bad. In fact, I had some spinach the other night for the first time in a LONG time. And I didn't even think about it until I'd eaten it. Coincidentally, I had my INR checked 2 days later. NO difference. I was talking with my boss who has been on warfarin a few years now and he was told that it also is the person's individual make-up. Some have problems, others become pretty stable, pretty quickly. And lastly, my primary doctor told me Friday that almost any other medicine you put in your body can affect your INR. Bottom line, I have adopted a healthy eating style, mostly fresh cooked and I have to watch sodium and carbs....and I go from there. It seems to boil down to that old saying..."moderation in all things".

A note for ALL who might be reading this thread.

Listing the Vit K in some foods (here on this thread) is not intended to imply that you should limit or increase those foods in your diet.

The listing is a compilation of facts, nothing more, just as a dictionary might be.

Blueberries and blackberries raw, 1 cup gives 28 mcg Vit K

The strange thing-----
1 cup frozen blueberries (sweetened) is 40 mg Vit K.

Sugar has no Vit K in a teaspoon---- so where do the extra K's come from???? Can more frozen blueberries be packed into a cup than fresh ones???