blake murphy wrote:
> my father was recently put on coumadin, for which i understand the
> generic is warfarin, a blood thinner or anti-coagulant (and yes, i
> know, a major ingredient in some rat poisons). there were some food
> restrictions (leafy green vegetables, etc.), due to large amounts of
> vitamin k, which apparently reduces the effect. those didn't bother
> him, but 'no onions' is chafing his knickers. (paradoxically, onions
> themselves seem to have an anticoagulant effect.)
>
> apparently, cooked onions are less bad, i presume because cooking
> destroys some of the viatmin k.
>
> anyhow, i told him i would put the question here to you all, since
> there seems to be much group experience in food allergies and medicine
> interactions, to see what you all thought, and ideas for
> substitutions, etc. so, any insights, wisdom, or warnings not to seek
> medical advice on the 'net? my dad's a pretty good cook, if that
> helps.
>
> (some years ago, i had a girlfriend who was allergic to onions, but i
> don't know that i acquired any cooking knowledge, other than i didn't
> make chili, and one side of the cutting board was non-onion. i did
> finally come up with a meat loaf.)

Here's the USDA web site I use for all nutritional data. It will also
give vitamin K data. http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

My DG is taking Warfarin, the genetic for Coumadin. Onions are not a
problem.

I am sure that Dad gets a blood test at least once per month to see how
his clotting factor is doing. According to DH's docs, one should not
increase the amount of vitamin K containing foods in their diet, but
decreasing them is not necessary. The doctor will read the blood test
and adjust the medicine accordingly.

Let him eat onions in the same quantities he was used to and let the doc
adjust the meds.



--
Janet Wilder
Bad spelling. Bad punctuation
Good Friends. Good Life