Vitamin K

Vitamin K Latest News

Vitamin K, often overlooked, is vital for blood clotting, bone strength, and heart health.

About Vitamin K

• It is a fat-soluble vitamin that comes in two forms. 
  • The main type is called phylloquinone (Vitamin K1), found in green leafy vegetables like collard greens, kale, and spinach. 
  • The other type, menaquinones (Vitamin K2), are found in some animal foods and fermented foods. 
  • Menaquinones can also be produced by bacteria in the human body.
• Vitamin K helps to make various proteins that are needed for blood clotting and the building of bones. 
  • Prothrombin is a vitamin K-dependent protein directly involved with blood clotting. 
  • Osteocalcin is another protein that requires vitamin K to produce healthy bone tissue.
• Vitamin K is found throughout the body, including the liver, brain, heart, pancreas, and bone. 
• It is broken down very quickly and excreted in urine or stool. 
• Because of this, it rarely reaches toxic levels in the body even with high intakes, as may sometimes occur with other fat-soluble vitamins.

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Why Do Modern Diets Often Cause Vitamin K Deficiency?

• Many people fall short of Vitamin K not because food is scarce but because daily diets lack greens and fermented foods. 
• Over-frying or overcooking vegetables also destroys much of the vitamin.
• Long-term antibiotic use, liver disease, or fat-absorption disorders can further lower Vitamin K levels since it is fat-soluble and requires dietary fat for absorption. 
• Vitamin K deficiency can contribute to significant bleeding, poor bone development, osteoporosis, and increased cardiovascular disease.

Source: ET