What Are The Benefits Of Vitamin K2 – Low-fat cheeses, eggs, and beef liver may not be the foods that come to mind when you think of a heart-healthy diet. But you’d probably be surprised to learn that one of the most researched nutrients in cardiovascular health in recent years has been vitamin K2, which is found in these foods.
What are the benefits of vitamin K2? While vitamin K1 plays an important role in preventing blood clots and bleeding, K2 works differently.
What Are The Benefits Of Vitamin K2
Benefits of K2 include aiding in nutrient absorption, infant and child growth, fertility, brain function, bone and dental health. Unfortunately, many people do not get enough of this type of food.
Vitamin K2 Foods, Benefits, Dosage And Deficiency
Something that makes vitamin K unique (both types: K1 and K2) is that it is not usually taken in supplement form. K2 appears to be much more beneficial when obtained naturally from foods with vitamin K.
Unlike vitamin K1, which is mainly found in plant foods like leafy greens, you get K2 from animal foods like grass-fed meats, raw/fermented cheeses, and eggs. It is also produced by the beneficial bacteria in your gut microbiome.
Although we most often hear about vitamins K1 and K2, there are actually a bunch of different compounds that fall under the category of “vitamin K.” Vitamin K1 is also known as phylloquinone, while K2 is known as menaquinone.
Compared to many other vitamins, the role and health benefits of vitamin K2 have only recently been discovered. What does vitamin K2 help with? It has many functions in the body, but the most important is helping the body use calcium and preventing calcification of the arteries, which can lead to heart disease. New research shows that a lack of this vitamin is also linked to diseases, including osteoporosis.
Foods High In Vitamin K: A Complete List
If there’s one thing we need K2 for, it’s to prevent calcium from building up in the wrong places, particularly soft tissue. A low intake of vitamin K2 can contribute to the formation of plaque in the arteries, the formation of tartar on the teeth and the hardening of tissues, which causes symptoms of arthritis, bursitis, reduced flexibility, stiffness and pain.
Some evidence also suggests that K2 has anti-inflammatory properties and may offer some protection against cancer, including a study published in the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism.
What is the difference between vitamin K2 and MK7? K2 is a group of menaquinone compounds, abbreviated as “MK”. MK7 is one type of menaquinone responsible for many of the benefits associated with vitamin K2. MK4 has been the focus of much research on vitamin K2, but other types, such as MK7 and MK8, also have unique abilities.
What is vitamin K2 used for? Here are some of the main benefits and ways to use this vitamin:
Benefits Of Vitamin K2: Should You Take Supplements?
One of the most important tasks of vitamin K2 is to control the place of accumulation of calcium in the body. Vitamin K2 benefits the skeleton, heart, teeth and nervous system by helping to regulate the use of calcium, especially in the bones, arteries and teeth.
The “calcium paradox” is a catch-all term for health professionals’ perception that calcium supplements may slightly reduce the risk of osteoporosis, but then increase the risk of heart disease. why this happens Vitamin K2 deficiency!
The relationship between vitamin D and calcium is important because vitamin D helps transport calcium from the intestines when it is digested into the blood. Unfortunately, this is where vitamin D’s work ends. Next, vitamin K2 must activate one of its dependent proteins, osteocalcin. Research shows that it then takes calcium from the blood and deposits it in the bones and teeth.
For the best overall health benefits, it’s important to get enough calcium, vitamin D3, and vitamin K. Depending on your age, health, and diet, you may need to take a vitamin D3 supplement, and possibly other supplements.
Vitamin K: Benefits, Uses, Side Effects, And More
Vitamin K2 is necessary for the function of several proteins in addition to osteocalcin, so it helps with growth and development. For example, it is involved in the maintenance of the structures of arterial walls, the bone-joint system, teeth, and the regulation of cell growth.
Vitamin K2 is one of the best vitamins for men because it offers protection against heart-related problems, including atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), which is the leading cause of death in many developed countries. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, men account for more than half of heart disease deaths each year.
Vitamin K2 is associated with inhibition of arterial calcification and arterial stiffness. Adequate intake of vitamin K2 has been shown to reduce the risk of vascular damage because it activates the matrix protein GLA (MGP), which inhibits calcium deposition on the walls.
The Rotterdam Study, a very large study conducted in the Netherlands that followed more than 4,800 adult men, found that the highest intake of vitamin K2 was associated with the lowest chance of suffering from aortic calcification. Men who consumed the most K2 were found to have a 52 percent lower risk of severe aortic calcification and a 41 percent lower risk of coronary heart disease.
Foods That Contain Vitamin K
Men in the study with the highest K2 intake also had a 51 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease and a 26 percent lower risk of dying from any cause (all-cause mortality).
A 2017 study found that this vitamin was associated with a 12 percent increase in maximal cardiac output, and that supplementation appeared to improve cardiovascular function in affected patients. It appears to do this by restoring mitochondrial function and playing a “key role in the production of mitochondrial adenosine triphosphate” (ATP).
Vitamin K has been known for decades to be important for blood clotting, but only recently have human studies revealed how it supports bone health and protects against vascular disease.
, “K2 may be a useful adjunct for osteoporosis along with vitamin D and calcium.”
Vitamin K2: The Necessary Nutrient For Longevity
Another 2015 meta-analysis supports the hypothesis that “vitamin K2 plays a role in maintaining and improving vertebral bone mineral density and preventing fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.”
K2 benefits the skeletal system by taking up calcium and helping to get it into bones and teeth to make them strong and durable. A number of animal and human studies have investigated whether vitamin K2 may be useful in preventing or treating fractures, osteoporosis, and bone loss.
Certain clinical studies have found that K2 slows the rate of bone loss in adults and even helps increase bone mass, and may reduce the risk of hip and vertebral fractures in older women.
K2 can increase the accumulation of osteocalcin in the extracellular matrix of osteoblasts inside bones, meaning it promotes bone mineralization. A 2018 review reports that there is also evidence supporting the effect of vitamin k2 on the differentiation of other mesenchymal stem cells into osteoblasts.
Benefits Of Supplementing With Vitamin D3 And K2
In addition, it helps to preserve the structure of the teeth and jaws. Many traditional cultures included K2 products in their diets because they believed it could help prevent cavities, tooth decay and plaque. This effect was observed in the 1930s by dentist Weston A. Price, who found that primitive cultures with diets rich in K2 had strong, healthy teeth even though they had never been exposed to Western dental hygiene.
It turns out that getting plenty of K2 during pregnancy is also important for fetal growth and bone health. During fetal development, limited activation of osteocalcin proteins (which require vitamin K2) equates to overgrowth of the lower third of the facial bone and jaw structure. Some experts believe that this is why so many children in today’s society need braces.
Some studies show that those who have high amounts of K2 in their diet have a lower risk of developing certain types of cancer. For example, vitamin K2 may help protect against leukemia, prostate, lung, and liver cancers.
In patients with rheumatoid arthritis, vitamin K2 supplementation has been shown to slow the loss of bone mineral density and reduce the amount of RANKL, an inflammatory compound, in the subjects’ blood.
Doctor’s Best Natural Vitamin K2 Mk 7 With Menaq7 White No Flavor, 60 Count Unflavored 60vc
Inside our bones, K2 can be used to produce the hormone osteocalcin, which has positive metabolic and hormonal effects.
Fat-soluble vitamins are important for the production of reproductive/sex hormones, including estrogen and testosterone. According to recent research, due to its hormone-balancing effects, women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and postmenopausal women may benefit from more K2 in their diet.
K2 can also help balance blood sugar and insulin sensitivity, which can reduce the risk of metabolic problems such as diabetes and obesity. Some studies suggest that K2 helps regulate glucose metabolism by modulating osteocalcin and/or pro-inflammatory pathways.
K2 can benefit the kidneys by helping to prevent calcium from building up in the wrong places, which is a major cause of kidney stones. It can also do the same to other organs, including the gallbladder.
Amazon.com: Live Conscious Vitamin K2 Mk7 With D3 Supplement
In addition, studies have linked K2 and vitamin D deficiency to a higher incidence of kidney disease.
Which foods are high in vitamin K2? Vitamin K1 is found mainly in vegetables, while K2 is found mainly in animal products or fermented foods.
K2 is a fat-soluble vitamin, so it is found in animal products that also contain fat, including saturated fat and cholesterol.
Animals help convert vitamin K1 into
Sports Research Vitamin K2 100 Mcg 60 Veggie Softgels
Vitamin d k2 benefits, benefits of vitamin d3 and k2, what are the benefits of taking vitamin d3 and k2, benefits of k2 vitamin, vitamin d3 k2 benefits, vitamin d3 plus k2 benefits, benefits of vitamin d3 k2, benefits of vitamin k2 mk7, vitamin k2 benefits side effects, what are the benefits of vitamin d3 and k2, the benefits of vitamin k2, what are the benefits of taking vitamin k2