Also known as food supplement or nutritional supplement, a dietary supplement is a preparation of vitamins, minerals, fiber, amino or fatty acids that cannot otherwise be included in a normal diet or are insufficiently consumed. Most people would like to define these as foods while most like to call them drugs or a natural health drug. One of the supplements available today in the market are coumadin fish oil supplements.
Also known as warfarin, coumadin is an anticoagulant which most people refer to as blood thinner. However, this nickname would not be fully apt since this drug does not have a direct effect on either the viscosity or even the thickness of blood. This drug attacks the liver and decreases the quantity of key proteins in the blood that give it the ability to clot.
Taking Warfarin can have complications because of the fact that it can interact with other common medications and sometimes even with chemicals present in some food products. The interaction may not be beneficial because it can only either enhance or reduce the effect of anticoagulation.
Such a prescription of this drug would require constant monitoring to the degree of anticoagulation in the blood is required. This is mainly to avoid unwanted side effects such as bleeding and other dangerous risks.
The other side of the coin involves fish oil. They are derived from tissues of oily fish. They contain EPA and DHA omega 3 fatty acids which are widely known to have numerous health benefits. The story here is that fishes do not normally produce omega 3 but acquire them through consumption of microalgae that produce fatty acids.
At the risk of high levels of contaminants, the FDA has limited consumption of predatory fishes except for non predatory fishes which have lower risk for accumulating toxic substances. The benefits of fish oil are widely known in almost all medical categories such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, degenerative brain diseases, depression, psoriasis and even pregnancy.
When you’re doctor pronounces you at risk of heart strokes or some other serious thromboses otherwise known as blood clotting, the doctor may prescribe you with warfarin to avoid unwanted clotting. According to clinic research, fish oil can also reduce the risk of clotting.
Since it is FDA approved, both warfarin and fish oil products are now over the counter products that are available to almost anyone. However, consult your doctor before you resort to any supplement because some are known to contraindicate with other forms of medication. Since coumadin fish oil supplements have a way of increasing the blood thinning process, most doctors have now advised against the use of this supplement unless you consult first with your doctor to avoid any side effects and contraindications.