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TUESDAY, June 11, 2019 (HealthDay News) – Elders loving spinach are rejoicing. A new study suggests that, despite the doctor's warnings, you can eat vitamin K-rich leafy greens if you are taking warfarin, an anticoagulant.
In fact, "I think all patients treated with warfarin would benefit from increasing their daily vitamin K intake," said lead author Guylaine Ferland. She is Professor of Nutrition at the University of Montreal in Canada.
The results of the study were to be presented Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition in Baltimore.
Vitamin K promotes clotting. Thus, doctors who take anticoagulant (or "anticoagulant") warfarin medication are often warned by their doctor to limit the amount of nutrient-rich foods. These foods include green vegetables such as spinach, kale, broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and many others.
However, the Ferland team wanted to test the long-standing notion that vitamin K actually poses a problem for these patients.
The study involved 46 patients aged 32 to 85, all of whom had difficulty maintaining their anticoagulation rate.
Half followed regular dietary advice and cooking clbades. The other half attended cooking clbades and counseling, but instructors of these courses advocated the addition of green vegetables, as well as oils containing vitamin K, to the children. ;food.
To their surprise, six months later, 50% of people who added more vitamin K to their diet maintained stable anticoagulation levels, compared to only 20% of those who did not add more. .
These results suggest that taking more vitamin K, and not less, could be beneficial for patients taking warfarin (Coumadin)
Based on new discoveries, Ferland now recommends a minimum of 90 micrograms of vitamin K per day for women and 120 micrograms per day for men.
"We hope that health professionals will stop advising warfarin-treated patients to avoid green leafy vegetables," she said in a press release.
"That being said, given the direct interaction between vitamin K in the diet and the action of the drug, it is important that the daily intake (higher) of vitamin K is as constant as possible "said Ferland.
A specialist in cardiology was encouraged by the new discoveries.
"The accepted teachings of patients taking warfarin are to avoid vitamin K at all costs, to prevent any inhibition of warfarin by vitamin K," said Dr. Marcin Kowalski, director of the cardiac electrophysiology at Staten Island University Hospital in New York. "But this study showed that a reasonable and balanced diet based on vitamin K better the results. "
He nevertheless agreed with Ferland that consistency was essential to avoid disrupting the effectiveness of warfarin.
"Informing patients about the importance of maintaining a constant intake of vitamin K helps them achieve the appropriate levels of warfarin," Kowalski said.
Dr. Satjit Bhusri, a cardiologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, was not as enthusiastic about the results.
First of all, he said, "we now have many new anticoagulant medications to administer to patients who do not interact with vitamin K and who do not need blood tests. frequent ". This means that "the use of warfarin becomes very limited," said Bhusri.
But for those taking warfarin, the best approach is to evaluate the patient's food intake and try to adjust warfarin doses accordingly, he says.
Since this study was presented at a medical meeting, its results should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
More information
For more information on Warfarin, visit the American Heart Association.
SOURCES: Marcin Kowalski, MD, Director, Cardiac Electrophysiology and Associate Director, Cardiology Fellowship Program, Staten Island University Hospital, New York City; Satjit Bhusri, MD, cardiologist, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York; American Society for Nutrition, press release of June 11, 2019
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