Ask Dr. Gourmet

Not long ago I had a heart attack. I had 5 bypasses, and a valve replacement. That was the good part. I had tons of problems after surgery.

I feel just great now, but find myself slipping into my old eating habits. I am on Coumadin, have cholesterol, trygliceride and acid reflux problems. So..... just tell me what to eat!!

Your website appears to be the answer and I am more than willing to diet. I am concerned, however, about the Vitamin K in some of the veggies. Do I substitute, or are the portions acceptable.

Dr. Gourmet Says...

I am glad that you are feeling better after everything that you have gone through. Certainly it is easy for us to slip back into old eating habits.

The recipes on the Dr. Gourmet website are designed around recommendations by the American Heart Association and American Diabetic Association. The balance of carbohydrates, fats and proteins follow research that shows improvement in health. I work very hard to reduce the amount of saturated fat and use fats that have been shown to be better for you. Sodium is minimized. The goal is a balance between eating healthy and eating well.

The eatTHISdiet meal plans are designed to help people who may never have eaten healthy to get started with recipes and meals that are familiar to them. At the same time the portions are created for a healthy diet. You should be able to follow this and it may help with controlling your health issues.

There are two approaches to eating for people who take Coumadin® (warfarin). One is to avoid all foods that are higher in Vitamin K. Here are links to three lists on my web site that review foods based on increasing levels of detail about the Vitamin K content of foods.

http://www.drgourmet.com/md/warfarinbrief.pdf

http://www.drgourmet.com/md/relativewarfarinlist.pdf

http://www.drgourmet.com/md/warfarincomprehensive.pdf

The second alternative is to eat foods with about the same amount of Vitamin K each day.

As far as the Vitamin K content of some of the recipes there is no meal plan specifically designed for Coumadin® (warfarin) users. This is coming soon with an eatTHISdiet plan. It is, however, easy to substitute. This page is an index to recipes for Coumadin users:

http://www.drgourmet.com/warfarin/warfarinrecipes.shtml

For instance, one day having brussels sprouts, the next broccoli and the next a salad made with spinach or having cooked spinach as a side dish. By getting a consistent amount of such ingredients each day the intake of Vitamin K is likely to be more stable.

Thanks for writing,

Timothy S. Harlan, MD, FACP, CCMS
Dr. Gourmet

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