Help with my vegan diet...

Toniixo

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Hi folks.

I am looking for some help with regards to my future vegan diet! I am already vegetarian, and am looking to take the next step!

I am finding it very tricky to find recipe's and foods I will be able to eat. I am on warfarin for the rest of my life (a blood thinner) which means I can't consume a lot of vitamin K, and have to keep a very consistent diet so my medication works as it is supposed to.

I would very much appreciate any help finding individual foods, along with some inspiration on how I can move forward, without becoming ill :(

Thanks for reading!
 
Hi Toniixo and welcome,

This is an interesting topic. The trouble with what we know between vitamin K and warfarin is that all studies are typically based on a 'standard' (rather unhealthy) omnivorous diet. Whereas veganism, without having to take an anti-coagulant, typically thins the blood slightly quite naturally and can reverse many cardiovascular defects. There are also natural blood thinners such as raw tomato juice, pomegranate juice, vitamin E, horse chestnut seed extract, aspirin, and ginkgo biloba. However some of these natural anticoagulants should not be taken at the same time as warfarin (especially ginkgo).

For safety's sake I agree that you ought to find a way to be vegan and to take warfarin at the same time. You can then take tests and consult your doctor at a later stage. Or if you suspect your GP does not know much about veganism (fairly common) you can consult with a registered nutritionist. If you're in the UK this is a particularly useful website: http://www.nutritionist-resource.org.uk/

The trick to getting in your greens without too much vitamin K will be in skipping leafy greens. So dark green vegetables and string beans etc. should be fine but skip on the broccoli, kale, spinach, chard, dark lettuces and such. I think you can re-engineer any recipe you might find on the internet if you swap out the leafy green for something else, like cabbage, leeks, or pale lettuces for instance.

You can also use something like http://cronometer.com/ to track how much vitamin K you are eating in a day. You can talk to your GP about what a safe level of vitamin K should be for you and observe the macros to stay within the limit.

I did find some vegetarian recipes for those taking warfarin online but no specifically vegan list (apart from a 'heart healthy' list on BBC). You will just need to substitute the eggs/dairy/honey for vegan alternatives.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/search#path=diet/heart-healthy/diet/vegan
Vegetable Recipes for Coumadin Users
http://www.drgourmet.com/warfarin/vegetarian.shtml

Hope this helps!
 
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