Diet Solutions: Getting Extra Iron from Vegetables Without Extra Vitamin K
By Barbara Lock, MDSeptember 30, 2009
A reader asks:
"I take a blood-thinning medication called coumadin. My doctor has told me that I am anemic, and that I need more iron in my diet, but many vegetable sources of iron have high vitamin K, which counteracts coumadin. I eat meat, but I'd rather get my extra iron from a non-meat source. What can I eat?"
It's true: many vegetables that are high in iron such as spinach and swiss chard are also high in Vitamin K. One good vegetable solution to this problem is to eat hearts of palm (palmito). Hearts of palm contain negligible vitamin K but are high in iron. Mollusks, such as clams and oysters, also contain high iron and low vitamin K. Another option would be to cook the foods you are already eating in cast iron cookware, which imparts a little iron to food.
Here is a recipe for salad using hearts of palm.
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