DR. MITRA RAY ANSWERS THE QUESTION: WILL JUICE PLUS+ INTERFERE WITH MY BLOOD THINNER? Eating a whole food plant based diet is the best way to protect your chances of preventing thrombosis and embolisms (fancy words for formation and migration of blood clots). Coumadin is marketed as an anticoagulant to prevent thrombosis and embolisms (also sold under brand names Warfarin, Jantoven and Waran). Like most pharmaceuticals, it is a synthetic derivative of courmarin which is naturally found in plants. They were developed as a way to kill rats and mice and still used for this purpose. Since the 50’s, they have also been prescribed as anticoagulants, provided a patient is monitored with frequent blood testing to make sure that the dosage of this poison is within “safe limits,” and the patient is also avoiding foods high in Vitamin K, and many other medications which interfere with these anticoagulants. Patients are usually asked to not eat leafy greens such as spinach because of high vitamin K content, and because if one day they have spinach and the next day they don’t, their blood thinner dose would have to be monitored daily. Because a person would be taking the same amount of Juice Plus everyday and therefore get a consistent amount of vitamin K in their diet, it is usually the case that a person can safely take Juice Plus with these blood thinners. Fortunately, those patients who are so motivated will often eliminate taking blood thinners since improving circulation through all three blends of Juice Plus (orchard, garden and vineyard) might be a more intelligent answer to the challenge at hand. Remember that we cannot play doctor and we can only help those that are willing to look at the information and be in charge of their own health. So this information is for those few people – make sure you ask first if they are willing to take a closer look at what they are choosing to do before sharing this information. Ask questions before you jump to giving people answers they aren’t looking for. We have many Juice Plus+ customers who take Coumadin. People who take Coumadin are asked to keep their intake of vitamin K consistent (The information sheet the patient gets with their Coumadin has a section entitled “Information For Patients”, and it states “Eat a normal, balanced diet maintaining a consistent amount of vitamin K”). You can also look at the following link from the National Institutes of Health. Please notice that the goal is to keep the intake of vitamin K consistent, not to eliminate it completely from the diet. Two capsules of the Garden Blend contain approximately 10 micrograms of Vitamin K. Orchard and Vineyard Blend do not contain any measurable amounts of it. A serving of Complete contains 20 micrograms of Vitamin K. We recommend our customers to discuss these numbers and facts with their doctor or pharmacist before starting on Juice Plus+. Another link to good information on Warfarin blood thinners from WebMD. Our intent here is not to contradict any doctor’s orders, but for patients to have some facts to discuss with their doctors to make a more informed decision about Juice Plus+ and the rest of their diet.
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 19:46:47 +0000
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