Can anyone suggest a user-friendly guide to how different foods affect warfarin?

[Clickyvalve]

Having had a surprising spike in my INR, which I now think was the result of eating a mango, I'm looking for an easy-to-follow but comprehensive guide to foods that alter the effect of warfarin on INR levels. The lists I have found though google are either unhelpfully short or very complex and full of US terms and brand names. Something UK specific would be great. So far I've not found anything particularly useful on either the NHS or BHF websites.

[Shar28]

Hi, have a look at the AF Association website. They have some very useful factsheets about food and drug interactions with Warfarin. Here’s the link

heartrhythmalliance.org/afa...

All the b3st. X

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

With Warfarin there are basically two ways to stabilise INR::

i) Keep to a fairly stable diet which includes foods with Vitamin K.

ii) Avoid all foods with Vitamin K.

Personally I would opt for the first option as many foods containing Vitamin K like liver, spinach, broccoli, etc. are also good sources of iorn. Once you find a list of foods to be careful with you can plan accordingly. Good luck!

[judes]

Will second what MichaelJH says you need your Vit K

They key here is consistency, same amount of Vit K each and every week. For instance I always have broccoli with my Sunday roast, don’t do liver buts that’s cos I don’t like it!

I’m not advocating alcohol but the odd glass is not in my opinion going to hurt. When we finally get to watch a live footy match in a stadium I will be having a pie and a pint! It’s tradition.

I’ve been on warfarin for over 20 years and have learnt that no matter what you do sometimes your INR is going to be having a laugh at you. Tho I did find out recently that things like ginger and pontefract cakes will effect your INR tho me thinks you’d have to eat a lot

Be careful, be consistent you will get there

J

[gladliz]

Been on warfarin for past 9 years and advice given by my INR nurses and others is to carry on as normal. If you have always eaten broccoli, cabbage etc, continue to do so, your body is used to it. If you have never eaten them and suddenly start that's when problems occur. Cran berries are a no-no but never heard about Mangos.

[Clickyvalve in reply to gladliz]

I happened to mention the mango to my dentist and she told me also to be careful of turmeric. That prompted me to look up ginger, which I do use in cooking from time to time. Both, it seems, are thought to increase the likelihood of raised INR.

[Rosanna75]

I also agree with the advices given in regards of the food rich in vitamin k.

Just try to be consistent and eat what you would normally eat.

I am vegetarian so removing food from my diet was not an option that I wanted to consider.

At the beginning I was also being so tedious and checking out on everything, but I then learned to have a more relaxed approach to it.

You will realise, in time, that is not only food that will effect your INR, but also the climate, the sun. The stress etc.

For example, whenever I go to Italy, on my return my INR is higher and it is not because of the food but the weather.

I am italian so my diet doesn't really change much if I am here or there.

Also a change of pattern in your routine.

During the lockdown for example, I covered a few night shifts.

This didnt go well with my INR that jumped to 8 (my bracket is beteween 2.5 and 3.5)

So what i can reccomend is to try to have a normal life and, if you have any changes, try to monitor more often than usual

I hope my experience can be helpful to you

[Clickyvalve in reply to Rosanna75]

Thanks for your reply. I didn't realise that non-food changes can affect INR so dramatically. I'll watch out for that in future.

[Clickyvalve]

Thanks to everyone who has replied and shared their experience. Just to clarify, I am largely sticking to a consistent diet and keeping an eye on my vitamin K intake. I'm pleased to say that my INR is remarkably stable. However, when presented with something unusual that I do not normally eat, such as that mango, I would like a quick and easy way to find out if it is likely to affect INR and in which direction. Perhaps there's a gap in the market for a handy phone app, like the ones that tell you about fat/salt/sugar in different foods.