Table 1.

Total energy and nutrient composition of three diets prescribed to a 52-year-old woman before (a) and after (b, c) a pulmonary embolism

	(a) Low calorie diet		(b) vitamin K free diet		(c) NU diet
Nutrients	Amount (units)	% of total energy	Amount (units)	% of total energy	Amount (Units)	% of total energy
Energy	1044 (kcal)		922 (kcal)		1688 (kcal)
Proteins	50 (g)	19	30 (g)	13	77 (g)	18
Animal proteins	34 (g)		17 (g)		46 (g)
Vegetable proteins	16 (g)		13 (g)		31 (g)
Fats	37 (g)	32	37 (g)	36	50 (g)	26
Animal fats	13 (g)		32 (g)		12 (g)
Vegetable fats	24 (g)		5 (g)		38 (g)
Saturated fats	11 (g)	9.5	18 (g)	17	11 (g)	6.0
Monounsaturated fats	20 (g)	17	10 (g)	10	30 (g)	16.0
Linoleic acid	3 (g)	2.5	3.0 (g)	3.0	6 (g)	3.0
Linolenic acid	1 (g)	1.0	1.0 (g)	1.0	1 (g)	0.5
Polyunsaturated fats	4 (g)	3.5	4.0 (g)	4.0	8 (g)	4.0
Cholesterol	97 (mg)		103 (mg)		236 (mg)
Carbohydrates	139 (g)	50	127 (g)	51	250 (g)	56
Soluble carbohydrates	42 (g)	15	41 (g)	17	52 (g)	11
Dietary fiber	16 (g)		14 (g)		23 (g)
Thiamine	0.6 (mg)		1.1 (mg)		1.0 (g)
Vitamin B6	1.5 (mg)		1.1 (mg)		1.9 (g)
Folate	253 (μg)		87 (μg)		264 (g)
Vitamin K	273 (μg)		23 (μg)		58 (μg)
Sodium	1880 (mg)		3415 (mg)		1460 (g)

a) Low calorie diet prescribed the patient by her family doctor before the pulmonary embolism. b) Vitamin K free diet prescribed upon discharge to the patient taking oral anticoagulants after the pulmonary embolism. c) Diet prescribed by the Nutritional Unit (NU) to the same patient: moderately low calorie with low vitamin K (planning a slow and continuous increase of vitamin K daily intake up to 150 μg per day)

Diet composition analyzed by trained dietitians using a dedicated software developed by our Nutrition Unit incorporating “Food Composition Database for Epidemiological Studies in Italy” by Gnagnarella P, Salvini S, Parpinel M. Version 1.2015 Website http://www.bda-ieo.it/