I have put on warfarin for 6 months following a DVT in the left leg. I understand that it is safe to take pomegranate juice with warfarin.
There are some products here that are almost 70% pomegranate juice, but there are also some pomegranate juice products in the UK which have in addition a small amount of the juice of the Aronia berry added (eg. 23% pomegranate juice 2% of the Aronia berry and the remainder made up of white grape juice). The Aronia (chokeberry) is noted for its health giving properties throughout Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, but I cannot find if it has any interaction with warfarin. I obviously would like to continue taking the pomegranate juice because of its vascular strengthening properties, but would like to know if I could also take a product (these are quite a bit cheaper!) with the Aronia berry in it.
May I add that your site lifted my heart, because the clinic that treated me and my own doctor offered little or no advice on what I could eat at all, so I had consigned myself to a very bland and depressing diet.
Dr. Gourmet Says...
I have done a great deal of research on this in the last few weeks and I am not able to find any issues with the Aronia berry.
That said, the issues that have been reported with those drinking cranberry juice while taking Coumadin are clearly well reported in the literature. The reasons for this are not, however, well defined as to what is causing the interaction.
It is certainly possible that the Aronia berry could be an issue as it is somewhat related to cranberries (while pomegranates are not as close). The best course would be to check with your doctor and have your INR checked on a regular basis as you begin to drink this.
Thanks very much for the kind words about the Dr. Gourmet site. As with most health issues, there's a whole lot of food that's really good for you and you can eat well, eat healthy and enjoy life.
Thanks for writing,
Timothy S. Harlan, M.D.
Dr Gourmet
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