Ask Dr. Gourmet

Does Coumadin (warfarin) cause weight gain?

I too take warfarin and lead a sedentary life - is there anything that I can do to lose weight - does warfarin put on weight?

Dr. Gourmet Says...

Warfarin doesn't cause weight gain by itself. Weight gain and loss for most people is a simple matter of the amount of calories you eat and the amount you burn. If you lead a sedentary life it is time to discuss a healthy exercise plan with your doctor. Along with a good diet, exercise is the key to remaining healthy. Read more on Coumadin and weight gain here.

The Dr. Gourmet web site provides a number of resources for you to eat healthy and watch the amounts of Vitamin K that you are consuming. For instance, there are three lists that you can download in PDF form. They range from a very simple list of foods that have a high or moderate amount of Vitamin K to a complete listing of all ingredients used in Dr. Gourmet recipes with the amounts of Vitamin K listed. You can find those links here:

Basic list

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

List of foods with relative amounts of Vitamin K

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

Comprehensive list

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

Also every recipe now has a section of Special Diet Information that can help determine if a recipe might be safe for you if you are using Coumadin or have other health issues like Acid Reflux, Lactose Intolerance or need to be on a low-sodium diet. Over the coming months this section will be expanded to include other conditions such as gout and information for those who are sensitive to gluten (wheat products).

The Ask Dr. Gourmet section on the website has a listing of questions that have been asked by readers like yourself. The questions and answers are posted on this page:

http://www.drgourmet.com/askdrgourmet/index.shtml

In addition there is an easy way to find out about the nutrition content of any food. The USDA National Nutrient Database is at this link:

https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/index.html

By entering an ingredient and following the steps this website will report the complete nutritional values of any ingredient and many prepared foods. The Vitamin K content is the last listing at the bottom of the Vitamins section. If it is not there, the food or ingredient that you searched on doesn't contain enough Vitamin K to be reported.

You can see that there's a host of information available to you on the Dr. Gourmet website for eating healthy while taking Coumadin.

Thanks for writing,

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

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