My mother has gout and diabetes and is on Coumadin after 2 open heart surgeries. What can she eat that will not flare up the gout, that will help the diabetes and that is safe with Coumadin? She doesn't know what she can eat and my father doesn't know what to cook for her. I just ordered your book for Coumadin users. Thank you for any help you can give us.
She has a lot of great options for eating healthy and The Mediterranean Diet Score for Coumadin® users will help. The plans that are laid out both in the book and in our new software - The Med Diet Score limit the amount of red meat and animal protein and this can be a major issue for those with gout. There is good research now that vegetable protein is not as much of an issue. Here's our guide for those with gout.
The first step is for you and your mother to speak with her physician about the the number of calories she should be eating each day. Many physicians have a dietitians available to their patients. Such referrals are especially helpful and if possible, you and your father should go to the appointment with your mother.
Diabetics need to follow a diet based on a strict number of calories each day. Sometimes the number is to help with weight loss. At the same time it's extremely important for diabetics to eat a balanced diet. One key to this is consuming three regularly scheduled meals each day. Often doctors will recommend that their diabetic patients have a small bedtime snack as part of their diet as well.
The plans created using software on the website will have you following a Mediterranean-style diet, which our most recent evidence shows is the best diet for diabetics. Using the planner with the number of calories recommended by your doctor or dietitian is an option, and you can choose the Coumadin user option, which will structure your mother's Vitamin K intake to be consistent on a daily basis. If need be, the whole family can follow the same meal plan - there is no reason for you to cook one meal for yourself and one for your mother. A Coumadin-safe diet that minimizes animal protein will be safe and healthy for you and your father, as well.
There are also food lists on the Web site to help guide you. They range from very basic information about Vitamin K content to very detailed. Here are the links:
https://staging.mds.culinarymedicine.org/md/warfarinbrief.pdf
https://staging.mds.culinarymedicine.org/md/relativewarfarinlist.pdf
https://staging.mds.culinarymedicine.org/md/warfarincomprehensive.pdf
Thanks for writing.
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