Blood clots can be prevented and treated with the help of the anticoagulant drug Eliquis. It’s important to stay away from foods like grapefruit and other medicines that could make bleeding more likely while taking this medication.

Vitamin K-rich foods like broccoli, spinach, kale, and Brussels sprouts should primarily be avoided while taking Eliquis as they can increase bleeding risk.

In this article, we’ll go over how Eliquis works and what food you should eat and stay away from while taking Eliquis (Apixaban).

Foods to Avoid While on Eliquis (Apixaban)

Eliquis has a number of advantages over other anticoagulants, including the lack of any known food interactions. On the other hand, due to its interaction with the nutrient vitamin K, which is mainly present in green leafy vegetables, the popular blood thinner warfarin has dietary restrictions.

While Eliquis isn’t known to interact with any foods, you may want to avoid or limit the following:

Ginger and Other Herbs (High Doses/Supplements)

While taking Eliquis, you may be more likely to experience blood clots due to ginger’s potential anticoagulant effects. In order to ascertain ginger’s potential contribution to blood clotting, a review of ten academic studies was conducted.

Four of the clinical studies revealed a connection between ginger and reduced platelet aggregation, which indicates that it slowed blood clotting and had blood-thinning properties. No correlation between ginger and blood clotting factors was discovered in the other studies.

While consuming ginger in small amounts, such as when cooking, is probably safe, you should probably avoid taking it in large amounts, like in the form of supplements.

Other Herbs

White willow, ginkgo biloba, and turmeric are additional herbs that may have anticoagulant properties. Before beginning treatment with Eliquis or any other anticoagulant medication, you should inform your doctor if you are taking any of these.

Foods High in Saturated Fat

Blood clots can prevent blood from flowing through your veins and arteries. A buildup of fatty plaque, known as atherosclerosis, can also cause obstructions. Saturated fat-rich diets may raise your risk of plaque accumulation, which could eventually cause a heart attack or stroke.

Animal foods like high-fat meat and whole-fat dairy products typically contain saturated fat. In some plant-based foods, however, like coconut and palm fruit, you can also find it.

It’s ok to consume some saturated fat, but try to limit it to less than 22 grams for a 2,000-calorie diet, or less than 10% of your total calorie intake.

If you have heart disease, high cholesterol, or other risk factors for heart disease, you should pay extra attention to the amount of saturated fat you consume.

Below is a list of foods high in saturated fat you may want to limit or avoid while taking Eliquis:

• Beef (especially non-lean cuts)
• Lamb
• Pork
• Poultry with the skin on
• Lard and cream
• Butter
• Cheese
• Ice Cream
• Coconut (including coconut oil)
• Palm oil and palm kernel oil
• Some baked and fried foods

Foods to Eat While Taking Eliquis

What foods should you add to your diet now that you know what to avoid while taking Eliquis (apixaban)?

Maintaining a healthy diet while taking Eliquis can improve your cardiovascular and general health. While taking Eliquis, it’s a good idea to eat a plant-based diet with a focus on the Mediterranean diet.

A healthy diet while taking Eliquis should include:

Fruits and Vegetables

Consuming fruits and vegetables will help you get more dietary fiber as well as essential vitamins and minerals like folate, vitamin C, and potassium. Antioxidants found in them help fight inflammation.

Fruits and vegetables can aid in the fight against arterial plaque buildup, thereby lowering your risk of heart attack and stroke.

Lean Protein

Consider consuming lean proteins like skinless poultry, fish, and lean beef and pork as an alternative to meat high in saturated fat.

Legumes

Veggie fiber is abundant in legumes like lentils and beans. Dietary fiber is a nutrient that can assist in lowering high LDL cholesterol levels as well as fatty plaque buildup, which can result in blockages.

Heart-healthy Fats (Omega-3 Fatty Acids)

Omega-3 fatty acids can aid in preventing blood clots by keeping blood platelets from adhering to one another.

Some of the best sources of omega-3s include:

• Oily fish like salmon, sardines, and mackerel
• Oysters
• Cod liver oil
• Walnuts
• Flaxseeds
• Chia seeds

Taking high doses of omega-3s while taking Eliquis may make you more susceptible to life-threatening bleeding. While taking Eliquis, you should refrain from taking omega-3 or other fish oil supplements unless your doctor has given the go-ahead.

What is Eliquis?

Apixaban is a drug that is made by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer under the trade name Eliquis. It is an FDA-approved prescription drug that belongs to a group of drugs known as anticoagulants and is used to stop blood clots that can lead to a heart attack or stroke. Eliquis functions by stopping some blood clotting proteins in their tracks. Blood clots, strokes, and other serious cardiovascular events are all made less likely as a result of this action.

Eliquis is used for a variety of medical conditions in adults including:

• people with an irregular heartbeat (atrial fibrillation) and at least one additional risk factor to stop a blood clot from forming in the heart.
• Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism are conditions where blood clots form in the blood vessels of the legs or the lungs. DVT and PE are treated, and PE recurrence is avoided with these procedures.

What is Eliquis Used For?

A type of irregular heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation can be treated with Eliquis in patients. Due to your heart’s irregular beats, atrial fibrillation causes blood to accumulate in its chambers, increasing the risk of blood clots.

The blood clot may lodge in a vein and result in deep vein thrombosis (DVT) if it moves to your legs. DVT symptoms typically include leg throbbing or cramping, leg swelling, warm skin around the painful area, and/or red and darkened skin close to the painful area. DVTs can occasionally go unnoticed.

A pulmonary embolism (PE), which can result from a blood clot breaking off and traveling to your lungs, is one of the risks associated with a DVT.

When a blood clot obstructs the arteries supplying blood to your lungs, it causes a pulmonary embolism. A pulmonary embolism can manifest as sudden shortness of breath, chest pain that worsens with breathing, anxiety, dizziness, an irregular heartbeat, coughing (occasionally with blood in the cough), and sweating.

Blood clots can also obstruct blood flow to your heart, which can result in a heart attack, or to your brain, which can result in a stroke.

Eliquis is additionally prescribed to post-operative patients in order to aid in the prevention of blood clots. You will probably only require a blood thinner temporarily after surgery if you have never needed one before.

How Does Eliquis Work?

Eliquis helps to prevent blood clots by:

• Inhibiting the activity of certain clotting proteins
• lowering the danger of blood clots, strokes, and other severe cardiovascular problems.

Usually, two doses of Eliquis per day are taken. When Eliquis is combined with specific other medications, such as aspirin or other blood thinners, the risk of bleeding may increase. When using this medication, it’s important to stay away from foods that could make you more likely to bleed.

Take your missed Eliquis dose as soon as you remember. Skip the missed dose and take your next dose at the scheduled time if it is almost time for your next dose. Eliquis shouldn’t be taken in two doses at once.

How to Reduce the Side Effects of Eliquis

Consider taking Eliquis with food or milk if you experience gastrointestinal side effects like nausea while taking it to lessen them.

Taking Eliquis exactly as directed will help you reduce side effects like excessive bleeding. Eliquis can cause blood clots or abnormal bleeding that can be dangerous and even fatal if taken in excess or insufficiently.

If you have trouble remembering to take your medications on a regular basis, a pill organizer may be useful. You can choose a pill organizer with AM and PM designations so you’ll always remember if you took your dose, helping you avoid unintentionally taking extra pills.

Your healthcare provider can advise you on how to modify Eliquis before and after surgery to reduce complications if you have surgery planned.

Conclusion

You can essentially eat a typical diet because there are no known food interactions with Eliquis. While taking Eliquis, make an effort to eat a heart-healthy diet to help improve your cardiovascular and general health.

Avoid taking certain supplements, such as omega-3 fish oil, ginger, and any other potentially anticoagulant herbs in high doses, while taking Eliquis (or at the very least, discuss them with your healthcare provider). If you’re taking Eliquis, you might also want to stay away from foods with a lot of saturated fat.

FAQs