Vitamin K does important things in your body, like helping your blood clot normally when you get a cut and keeping your bones strong.
You get vitamin K from foods such as leafy green vegetables.
If you take warfarin, or Coumadin—a medicine used to prevent blood clots— you need to be aware of how much vitamin K you eat.
That's because too much vitamin K can stop warfarin from doing its job.
Most people who take warfarin can eat a normal, healthy diet.
You don't need to stop eating foods that have vitamin K.
The important thing is to eat about the same amount of vitamin K each day.
This helps warfarin work the way it should to prevent blood clots.
So, try not to make sudden diet changes, like eating a lot more—or less—of foods that are high in vitamin K than you usually do.
Remember, it's all about keeping your vitamin K levels stable.
To make this easier, it helps to know which foods have a lot of vitamin K.
If you eat any of these foods, try to have about the same amount each day.
Foods that have a lot of vitamin K include green leafy vegetables, like kale, spinach, turnip greens, collard greens, Swiss chard, and mustard greens.
Other vegetables with vitamin K include brussels sprouts, broccoli, and cabbage.
These are examples, but there are other foods that have a lot of vitamin K.
So ask your doctor or dietitian for a list of these foods.
Vitamin K is also found in many multivitamins.
So if you take one that has vitamin K, be sure you take it every day.
Check with your doctor before making big changes in what you eat, like if you plan to start losing weight or if you'll be traveling and eating different kinds of foods.
Your doctor or care team can help you be more aware of what's in the foods you like to eat, so you can keep your vitamin K level the same from day to day.
This way, you can stay healthy and safe when taking warfarin.
