Does freezing “kill” the Vitamin K in foods?

My husband is on Coumadin. A friend told him that freezing vegetables "kills" the vitamin K. Is this true?

The Health meets Food Team Says...

I am sorry, but your friend is incorrect. Freezing vegetables does not "kill" the Vitamin K they contain. In fact, it may increase the amount.

For instance, the reported amount of Vitamin K in 1 cup of frozen chopped broccoli is 143 mcg. This would be considered a very high amount of Vitamin K. A cup of raw chopped broccoli, by contrast, has only 93 mcg. This is because of the difference in volume that occurs during the freezing process, with frozen vegetables taking up less space.

Most vegetables are flash frozen near the fields where they are picked and often retain more of their essential nutrients, including vitamins and minerals, than when we have the fresh vegetable trucked across country to us.

If you are taking Coumadin® (warfarin), looking at the lists of ingredients that you will find in the links below can help guide you.

Every recipe has a section of Special Diet Information that can help determine if a recipe might be safe for you if you are using Coumadin or have other health issues like Celiac Disease (or sensitivity), Acid Reflux, Lactose Intolerance, or need to be on a low-sodium diet.

In addition there is an easy way to find out about the nutrition content of any food. The USDA National Nutrient Database is at this link:

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

Thanks for writing.

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