Can a Coumadin user have wheatgrass juice?

I have recently begun taking wheatgrass (1-2 oz daily) and sweetpea green (1-2oz daily) juice(s) along with carrot/celery juice (1-2 carrots + 1-2 stalks of celery). My wife takes 2-3mg of Coumadin daily. Can she join me in the benefits of these juices, perhaps in small degrees?

The Health meets Food Team Says...

Wheatgrass is an interesting item. Folks really believe that it has properties that are far beyond what the claims could possibly provide. There's no science to back up such claims, unfortunately. I have repeatedly tried to find the nutritional content of wheatgrass, and what information is available is deemed unreliable by most sources (mostly because it is not considered a food source). It does not appear in the USDA standard database, for example.

It doesn't appear to be harmful - but then again there's no research to show that it might be good for you, either.

Sweet pea green juice has even less information.

As such it's hard to give you a good solid evidence-based recommendation on these.

Carrots do have a medium amount of Vitamin K and this could be an issue if she is not consistent with her intake. Two medium carrots come in at a pretty reasonable 16 micrograms (mcg). Adding that to the celery, which also is a bit higher at 12 mcg per stalk, and the juice comes in at 40 mcg. That's about half the RDA. Here's a column I wrote on The Right Dose of Vitamin K.

Consistency is key, however, and having the juice each and every day makes this safer, but if she's going to join you in your morning glass of juice check with her physician to make sure that her INR is monitored.

Thanks for writing.