AboutSarah A. Allen Expertise I am a nutritionist with a bachelors degree in dietetics and am currently working on my masters degree. I have four years working experience in clinical and community nutrition. I can answer most of your general questions relating to medical conditions (pregnancy, food allergies, eating disorders, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, Alzheimers, etc). **Please remember only a medical professional with access to your medical chart can give you personalized medical advice.** I can also answer questions about vegetarianism, weight loss/gain, sports nutrition, and fad diets.
Experience Work Experience: 4 years in clinical nutrition at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center, 1 year community nutrition at Eastern Illinois University
Organizations American Dietetic Association, Illinois Dietetic Association, Eastern Illinois Dietetic Association
Education/Credentials B.S. in dietetics from Eastern Illinois University; currently working on my master's degree in the same area, also at Eastern Illinois University.
Awards and Honors EIU Senior of the Year-Dietetics
Question My wife has had heart valve replacement surgery and now has 2 mechanical valves. She is trying to regulate her vitamin K intake because she takes Warfarin to control her INR (blood clotting factor). We have found an excellent American website (USDA National Nutrition Database) which gives vitamin K content for typical portions of many common foodstuffs but it is silent about offal, I presume because Americans don`t eat it. She likes to eat lambs liver and kidneys and would like to know where this would lie on a scale for vitamin K content where green leaf vegetables are at the high end and lean ham at the low end. Which common foodstuff would be similar in vitamin K concentration to offal. Many thanks for any help you can give . Regards Colin.
Answer Hi Colin! You are correct, offal is not a very popular food in the United States. (Actually, I had to look up what it is!) We do eat liver, but that's about the extent of most Americans' experience with organ meats. I was able to find some vitamin K information for you. Liver is right up there with leafy greens as a high vitamin K food. Kidneys were listed as a good source for protein, iron, phosphorous, vitamin A, thiamine, and riboflavin and seem to be more comparable in vitamin K content to steak. The good news about the liver, however, is the most important part of vitamin K with warfarin is to be consistent in the amount eaten. If your wife has a small serving of a high vitamin K food every-other-day or twice-a-week, that should be fine. What she wouldn't want to do is go for a longer-term consistency, such as once-a-week or once-a-month, because the idea is to keep the level of vitamin K in the body consistent so medications can be altered if necessary. Most people think they have to give up all foods with high levels of vitamin K forever, but that's usually not necessary. If you have questions about vitamin K consumption more specific with your wife's warfarin dosage or health condition, please speak with the doctor. I wish you both all the best!
