It seems that lots of things that are good for you are also natural blood thinners. How do you know how much is too much? I recently cut myself and bled rather too much. Now I'm afraid of eating any food or taking supplements that can thin blood.

    You're right, several supplements can increase the risk of bleeding through an anti-coagulant effect, but they rarely cause problems either alone or in combination. You're unlikely to run into any problems with them unless you're also taking blood thinning medications such as Coumadin, a drug prescribed to prevent the formation of clots that can block the flow of blood to the heart or brain and cause heart attacks and strokes.

    Supplements that have been associated with an anti-coagulant effect include St. John's wort, coenzyme Q10, dong quai, feverfew, garlic and vitamin E. If you are on Coumadin, be sure to tell your physician about any supplements you are taking. If you wish to continue with them, take them regularly so that any necessary adjustments can be made when you take your regular lab tests. Normally, doctors perform these tests monthly on all patients taking Coumadin to make sure that their blood clotting time remains in the right range.

    In addition to the supplements listed above, omega-3 fatty acids make the blood less likely to form clots, which is one of the reasons why they're so highly recommended for prevention of heart disease. You get omega-3s from eating oily fish such as salmon, sardines, and herring or taking fish oil supplements. My longstanding recommendation is to consume two to three servings of fish per week. The American Heart Association recommends eating at least two fish meals a week. Some foods, including garlic and onions, have anticoagulant effects, but here, too, neither is likely to cause bleeding problems.

    好象很多事情對于天生貧血的你還是不錯．你怎么知道多少血是太多了呢？我最近受傷了流了很多血．現在我害怕吃任何東西或是補藥都會讓我貧血．

    沒錯，有幾種補血方法都會用到一種抗血凝劑從而會增加失血的危險，但很少造成單方面也不會造成多方面的問題．即使你服用治療貧血的藥物也未必會出現任何問題，象香豆丁，一種處方藥物用來防止血栓的形成從而會阻止血流向心臟和大腦最終造成對心臟的沖擊和中風．

    一些補血方法的抗血凝劑具有一定的輔助作用，包括Ｓt．約翰的麥芽汁，Ｑ１０輔酶，dong quai, 菊科植物，大蒜，和維生素Ｅ．如果你正在服用香丁豆，一定要告訴你的內科醫生你服用的任何一種補血藥如果你希望繼續使用它們一定要按要求使用以便根據你使用藥物的情況進行必要的調整．通常情況下，醫生每個月都要對所有服用香丁豆的病人進行一次檢查來確定他們的血凝時間在一個正常的范圍．

    作為對這個補血目錄的補充，歐米加脂肪酸也能減少血栓的形成，這就是為什么大力推薦它為預防心臟病的藥物的原因．你可以吃魚類的油脂來補充歐米加三，象鮭魚，沙丁魚，青魚或是魚油都可以．我被建議長期食用魚，一周兩到三次．美國心臟病協會提倡一周最少吃兩次魚．一些食物包括大蒜，洋蔥都有抗血栓的作用，但同樣有造成貧血的問題．