On Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:56:48 -0500, Goomba38 >
wrote:

>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.
>
>Hmmm.. believe it not I've never heard of the "No Onions" warning. I
>used to council patients all the time about the Vit K aspect. In fact,
>Vit K isn't as much a problem as long as the intake is *consistent*
>rather than 3 pounds of greens eaten one day and none the next and so
>on... A stable intake is tolerable as the monitoring labs will remain
>stable and the dose not altered based on faulty lab results.
>I'll have to look into this "no onions" idea.....

o.k., i hadn't thought of the 'stable intake' idea, but it makes
sense.

thanks.

your pal,
blake