Antioxidants - Fighters against free radical damage
Vitamin K - "For Klotting and Kalcium"
How to obtain Vitamin K
How to obtain vitamin K?
No fat / No K
Low fat diets are a bad idea if you want to
obtain
vitamin K - Eat vitamin
K or take K2 supplements
with fat such as olive olive
oil and butter to enable effective K absorption
Fats act as carriers of
the fat-soluble vitamins (A ,
D ,
E , and
K ) and the carotenoids - thus
enabling their absorption.
Low fat processed foods
have less naturally occurring vitamin K
- since K is removed with the fats.
Balance intake of K with the rest of the bone and heart health "Team"
K2
works in synergy with:
Vitamins A
Vitamins D
Magnesium and Calcium
Recommended Daily dose of K?
The Institute of Medicine Recommended Dose of
Vitamin K -
was recently increasedto 90
microg/d for females and 120 microg/d for males (an increase of ~ 50% from
previous recommendations). However, this dose is much lower than study doses
that increased carboxylation of OSTEOCALCIN for bone mineralization and
increased MGP to prevent calcium crystallization where it doesn't belong.
Vitamin K1 (Phylloquinone)
K1 is easily obtained in
our diet - and is important for producing clotting
factors, but did not seem to influence study results that helped CVD or cancer.
Some Foods High in Vitamin K1 (USDANutrient Base)
Details
Portion
Vitamin K1 (mcg)
Kale
Boiled, fresh, drained
½C
531
Boiled, frozen, drained
½C
573
Spinach
Boiled, fresh, chopped
½C
444
Boiled, frozen, chopped
½C
514
Brussel Sprouts
Boiled, fresh
1C
218
Boiled, frozen
1C
300
Broccoli
Boiled, fresh, drained
1C
220
Boiled, frozen, drained
1C
163
Cabbage
Boiled, fresh, drained
½C
81
Asparagus
Boiled, fresh, drained
½C (6 spears)
45
Boiled, frozen, drained
½C (6 spears)
44
Butterhead Lettuce
Raw; Incl. Boston, Bibb
¼head
42
Kiwi
Raw
medium
31
UK -2003*
68mcg/day@
US -1996
Young adults #
60-110mcg/day@
US -1996
Adults> 55 yrs old #
80-210mcg@
*EVM, 2003.
Safe Upper Levels for Vitamins and Minerals. Risk Assessment:
Vitamin K . Report of the Expert Group on Vitamins and Minerals;
London, Engl., pp. 154-161. Available from:
<http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/vitmin2003.pdf>.
# Data from
Several US studies@ Mean average intake from food
Vitamin K2 (Menaquinones)
K2 form is many times more
effective than K1
K2 effective aganst heart
disease and cancer, but not K1 - A 2004 study published in the "Journal of Nutrition" studied the effects
of vitamin K1 and K2 ingestion on heart disease. A high dietary intake of
menaquinone, mostly in the form of cheese, was correlated with a lower risk of
heart disease.
K2 content of Some Foods (in mcg)
Good K2 sources are egg yolks, liver, some aged cheeses and fermented foods
K2 Type =>
MK-4
MK-7
MK-8
MK-9
MK-10
Natto (Fermented soybean) (½oz)
142
12
Sauerkraut
Purported to be high in K2
Hard Cheese (3.5oz)
5
MK-4 produced by animal tissue, the rest are produced by bacteria during fermentation
After eating, MK-4 survives 3-4 hours, MK-7
survives several days in body
Soft cheeses contain 30% less K2 than hard cheeses
Most table data calculated from ng/g values at:
Vermeer, C., Knapen, M.H., Schurgers, LJ., 1998. Vitamin K
and metabolic bone disease. J Clin. Pathol. 51(6), 424-426.
Ikeda Y., Iki M., Morita A., Kajita E.,
Kagamimori S., Kagawa Y., Yoneshima H. (2006). Intake of fermented soybeans,
natto, is associated with reduced bone loss in postmenopausal women: Japanese
Population-Based Osteoporosis (JPOS) Study. J. Nutr. 2006 May;
136(5):1323-8.
Schurgers, L.J., Vermeer, C., 2000. Determination of
phylloquinone and menaquinones in food. Effect of food matrix on circulating
vitamin K concentrations. Haemostasis
30(6), 298-307.
"K-Sandwich"
▲ Butter a piece of whole-grain bread
(properly prepared to remove
antinutrients )
with organic butter from grass-fed cows
▲ Add some grated fermented hard
cheese, a slice of tomato and 2-3 tablespoons of sauerkraut
▲ Add white or black pepper and some Celtic Sea or Himalayan salt to taste
Who needs to supplement K?
Those with K-deficient symptoms / conditions:
• Excessive bruising and bleeding
(blood type O's have this tendency )
• Digestive system problems, especially
malabsorption -pancreatic disease, celiac disease, irritable
bowel syndrome (IBS), ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease or those who have had
intestinal bypass surgery; since vitamin K is a fat-soluble
nutrient, these conditions increase the likelihood of fat malabsorption.
• Liver disease
(interferes with K storage)
• Gallbladder problems (lack
of bile salts interferes with the break-down/absorption of all fat-soluble
vitamins)
• Older individuals
(over age 70)
Those with or who want to prevent:
• CVD
• Osteoporosis or those > 65 yrs(who are at risk of osteoporosis/hip
fractures)
• Bone spurs
• Leukemia or cancer of the lung, liver,orprostate
• Heart attack / Stroke
• Heavy menstrual flow/menstrual pain
• Hemorrhagic disease
• Kidney stones
• Nausea and vomiting during pregnancy
• Osteoporosis and Osteopenia
• Pulmonary embolism
• Rheumatoid arthritis
Supplementing K
Low-dose* Vitamin K supplementation has been shown to stabilize fluctuations in INR** of those
taking warfarin
*Low-dose = 50-150 mcg/day; **
INR is a standard measuement for the time it takes for blood to clot;
Sconce E, Khan T, Mason J, et al. Patients with unstable control have a poorer
dietary intake of vitamin K compared to patients with stable control of
anticoagulation. Thromb Haemost. 2005 May;93(5):872-5.
However, If on
cholesterol-lowering or blood-thinning medication, do
not supplement K without seeking medical supervision
Supplement K2 not K1 - K1 is usually supplied in the diet and K2 is more effective against the health
problems listed above;
MK-7 form extracted from natto is longer
acting/better absorbed than MK-4 (synthetic supplemental form supposedly identical to natural MK-4),MK-8 or MK- 9
supplements - CHOOSE MK-7 EXTRACTS
from NON-GMO SOY;
You don't need to take a K2 supplement if you can
eat ½oz of relatively cheap natto
daily - which provides ~154 mcg of K2 .
Unfortunately, most Westerners find natto unpalatable (not only slimy, it also
smells pretty bad)
K2 supplement Dosage?-
Vitamin K
expert Dr. Vermeer recommends between 45 mcg and 185 mcg daily for adults. This
author's suggested recommendation is:
Take 150 mcg K2 /day WITH FAT (to enable
its absorption).
K -Toxicity
Although allergic reaction is possible, there is
no known toxicit y associated with high
doses of
vitamin K1 or
K2 forms of
vitamin K
Food and Nutrition Board,
Institute of Medicine.
Vitamin K. Dietary
Reference Intakes for Vitamin A,
Vitamin
K, Arsenic, Boron, Chromium, Copper, Iodine, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum,
Nickel, Silicon, Vanadium, and Zinc. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press;
2001:162-196.
(National Academy Press) . It has been found to be safe even at 45 mg or
more per day - up to a thousand times greater than generally occurring in the
daily diet.
Synthetic menadione (vitamin K 3 )
and its derivatives have resulted in several health problems -
as such, it is
no longer used.
Drug / Nutrient Interactions
Drug Interactions
Anticoagulants (E.g. Warfarin/Coumarin)
- interfere with vitamin K activity, reducing available K
Cholesterol lowering bile acid sequestrants (E.g. Cholestyramine, Colestipol) - may reduce the intestinal absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D,
E, and K
Nutrient interactions
Large doses of
vitamin A and
vitamin E
(~1000 IU or more)
have been found to antagonize
vitamin
K.
Olson RE. Vitamin K . In: Shils M, Olson JA,
Shike M, Ross AC, eds. Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease. 9th ed.
Baltimore: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 1999:363-380.
Testing for K-sufficiency
The usual prothrombin test only tests for clotting activity -
and does notindicate whether enough K is present to maintain vascular matrix-GLA protein or bone
OSTEOCALCIN activity.
OSTEOCALCIN test -
measures how much uncarboxylated OSTEOCALCIN is present in the blood.High levels indicate insufficient
vitamin K
present to promote optimal bone health.
Matrix-GLA protein ( MGP)
test - High levels of undercarboxylated MGP
indicate that insufficient vitamin K is
present to protect against vascular calcification.