Green tea a no-no????

[Marge]

Just had another chat with head of Kaiser anti-coagulation clinic ... She says black tea OK, camomile tea OK, but NO GREEN TEA while on coumadin.

I'm not addicted to green tea, if I can't drink it, it's OK -- but I do like it from time to time.

I had been drinking an occasional cup of Twining's green tea with jasmine -- also. once in a while, some of the Moroccan tea from the Republic of Tea. The Moroccan tea is green tea with mint.

Was wondering -- is this really true? No green tea AT ALL?

How about the mint itself? (I forgot to ask her about mint.) In summer I like to put mint leaves in my iced tea. We also have several dishes that we like that use chopped up mint leaves as an ingredient. Obviously, it is just used as flavoring in the iced tea and the dishes -- I am not eating handfuls of mint!

 

[Ross]

Can you drink alcohol while on coumadin? How about can you eat green vegetables while on coumadin? Yes, you can drink green tea, but treat it like anything else that is a potential danger to your INR. Only a little bit and if your going to do it all the time, be consistent. Now by a little bit, 1 or 2 cups, not a pot of it.

From Mr. Lodwicks site:

"The dried leaves of green tea contain a large amount of vitamin K. Unless you eat the leaves, as they do in some cultures, this is usually not a cause for concern. Brewing tea results in only a small amount of vitamin K in each serving. There has been at least one case reported where a person lowered their INR by drinking about 1/2 to 1 gallon of green tea daily for about one week."

 

[KristyW]

Just had another chat with head of Kaiser anti-coagulation clinic ... She says black tea OK, camomile tea OK, but NO GREEN TEA while on coumadin.


Was wondering -- is this really true? No green tea AT ALL?

!

Marge,

This isn't true. Now it's true that if you EAT the green tea, your INR will crash, but there's so little vitamin K in the brewed tea that you're fine. It's just like when they tell you not to eat green veggies...it's ok. As a matter of fact it's desirable. Just try to be consistent on a weekly basis how much green veggies and green tea you eat/drink.

People who avoid the veggies and other vitamin K foods/drinks have more wild swings when they do have these foods. However those of us that consume goodly amounts on a regular basis really don't have those wild fluctuations. I eat a mixed spring green/spinach salad almost every day, I have broccoli at least 2x a week & cooked spinach 1-2 x/week. I drink about 6oz of V8 every morning. My INR rarely moves.

Ross has the best saying, "Dose the diet, don't diet the dose."

Hope this helps

 

[Marge]

Marge,

This isn't true. Now it's true that if you EAT the green tea, your INR will crash, but there's so little vitamin K in the brewed tea that you're fine. It's just like when they tell you not to eat green veggies...it's ok. As a matter of fact it's desirable. Just try to be consistent on a weekly basis how much green veggies and green tea you eat/drink.

People who avoid the veggies and other vitamin K foods/drinks have more wild swings when they do have these foods. However those of us that consume goodly amounts on a regular basis really don't have those wild fluctuations. I eat a mixed spring green/spinach salad almost every day, I have broccoli at least 2x a week & cooked spinach 1-2 x/week. I drink about 6oz of V8 every morning. My INR rarely moves.

Ross has the best saying, "Dose the diet, don't diet the dose."

Hope this helps

That's what I thought. That's why I thought it was wierd that the anti coagulation clinic person said "NO green tea."

I made her repeat it ... "None at all?" I asked. And I made it clear I wasn't drinking it by the gallon or even the tea-pot. She still said no.

It just seemed odd in light of the fact she had been so sensible about the green vegetable thing. She had earlier told me not to sweat the green veggies, to just eat "consistently" & they would adjust the dosage to MY diet.

My only problem is going to be that I tend to eat very seasonally -- I eat only fresh vegetables and other produce that are in season.

For instance, last night I ate asparagus, because we got some at the farmer's market. I have more asparagus for tonight, but I might not eat any other green vegetables for the rest of the week unless we see some nice looking fresh ones.

Well, I hope this works out. I didn't really have any problems staying in range when I was on coumadin last year -- once I got up to the desired INR, & I didn't change my eating patterns then, so hopefully not this time either.

 

[Karlynn]

A friend gave me some lovely dried peppermint leaves for tea. It was so good. Had a cup one night, tested my INR the next day (not thinking). I was down below 2.

If you're going to drink it, drink it all the time so your warfarin dose reflects it.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for all of the good replies. I'm in Orlando at an anticoagulation meeting. Using a hand held computer so replies are harder to make. We have shared a lot of stories about bad advice. I'll have a lot to write about nest week. Talked to a lot of the authors of articles, new info about valves, new suppliers etc.

 

[ar bee]

green tea and others...

green tea and others...

from the official fda website it seems that green tea is VERY low in Vitamin K content, however the issues seems to be elsewhere (as with a number of traditional medicines):

green tea seems to have a diuretic, "blood thinning" effect (pardon my laymen terms, I also do not know whether western science has already found an explanation for it) pretty much the same as a lot of other Chinese/Western herbs have.

That seems to be the reason why green tea is on 'the list'

well2u
ar bee

 

[Marge]

from the official fda website it seems that green tea is VERY low in Vitamin K content, however the issues seems to be elsewhere (as with a number of traditional medicines):

green tea seems to have a diuretic, "blood thinning" effect (pardon my laymen terms, I also do not know whether western science has already found an explanation for it) pretty much the same as a lot of other Chinese/Western herbs have.

That seems to be the reason why green tea is on 'the list'

well2u
ar bee

Actually, in the packet I got from the Anti Coagulation Clinic, green tea wasn't even listed! I would never have known if I hadn't actually asked the clinic head. I don't know why I thought to ask -- probably because it is "green" tea.

I don't think of it as a "traditional medicine" or as an herbal supplement; I just think of it as "tea," and I don't drink it for medicinal purposes but because I like it. Especially with Japanese or certain Chinese dishes.

As for being a diuretic: all tea is diuretic, I thought. Black as well as green. Actually I thought all caffeine (coffee, Coke, etc.) is supposed to be diuretic.

Are diuretics considered a problem with coumadin?

 

[Georgia]

I take lasix every day so if it's a problem I presume it's reflected in my coumadin dose.

I don't believe you need to worry about the infusion of most things - teas, peppermint, etc. But it's truly a different story if you're eating them. So I don't believe peppermint in iced tea is going to cause problems - more problems if you eat the peppermint leaves.

And consistency in intake is most important - if you each a lot of greens come summer you're going to see it in your inr (will go low) and need to be aware of it and test a little more often. And when you cut back in fall, it's likely to go high.

 

[Barry]

... So I don't believe peppermint in iced tea is going to cause problems - more problems if you eat the peppermint leaves.

And consistency in intake is most important - if you each a lot of greens come summer you're going to see it in your inr (will go low) and need to be aware of it and test a little more often. And when you cut back in fall, it's likely to go high.

Just a reminder of the importance of making sure that when you drink several Mint Juleps, that you be sure to drink several each and every day over Summer and be prepared for INR adjustments again in the Fall. Moo, I believe, is doing extensive research on this subject.

 

[geebee]

I visit a Japanese restaurant a couple of times a month. I eat sushi and drink green tea. Not a lot but nori and green tea are both supposedly on the no-no list. I always test my INR a few days later just to make sure and it has never been a problem. It may make a slight difference but not enough to put me out of range.

I refuse to give up the foods I love. I have had 3 OHS so I could stay around and enjoy the world. What is the point if you don't enjoy it?

Be sensible, don't binge, or, if you do, test in 2 or 3 days and adjust your coumadin accordingly. That's what the testing is all about.

 

[ar bee]

as i wrote, 'diuretic' is probably not the correct term, but certainly green tea is considered 'healthier than black (and other some other teas) mainly based on the fact that it is non fermented.
I agree with you that any so called 'healthy' tea should probably be classified in the same category as green tea.

btw: i am a greent tea fanatic ((

well2u