Benefits Of Vitamin K is an essential nutrient for the body to be healthy. Among other things, it helps blood clotting and bone health. That is why it is essential to maintain correct levels of vitamin K, which can be ingested naturally mainly through various fruits and vegetables.
Table of Contents.
HISTORY IN Benefits Of Vitamin K
- It is an essential fat-soluble vitamin that helps to protect your heart, develop bones, optimize insulin levels, and help it to clot appropriately.
- Vitamin K is an essential component of vitamin D, and almost all people were deficient in both vitamins.
- Of the three types of vitamin K, vitamin K2 is the best form to take. Fermented foods (such as natto) are the ideal source but must be consumed with fat for your body to absorb.
- It’s essential to prevent heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, multiple types of cancer, and even Alzheimer’s disease, among others.
- If you have certain health conditions, you should ask your doctor before you start taking a vitamin K supplement.
Also read: Power Salad Health Benefits And Its Essential Nutrients
Three Types of Vitamin K – Which is Better?
The three types of vitamin K are as follows:
- Vitamin K1 or phylloquinone is found naturally in plants, especially in green vegetables; K1 goes directly to your liver and helps keep blood clotting healthy
- Vitamin K2, also called menaquinone, is made by the bacteria that line your gastrointestinal tract; K2 goes directly to the walls of the blood vessels, bones, and other tissues of your liver
- Vitamin K3 or menadione is a synthetic form that I do not recommend; it is essential to note that toxicity has occurred in infants injected with synthetic vitamin K3
The vitamin K I recommend for supplementation is vitamin K2, which is natural and non-toxic, even at 500 times the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA).
Vitamin K2 is superior, which is formed by fermenting foods. The highest food in natural K2 is natto.
Vitamin K2 Protects Your Heart
Vitamin K2 helps prevent hardening of the arteries, which is a common factor in coronary artery disease and heart failure. Research suggests that vitamin K2 may help keep calcium out of your arteries and other body tissues, where it can cause damage. The latest studies show that it is vitamin K2 and not K1, along with vitamin D, that prevents calcification in the coronary arteries, thus avoiding cardiovascular disease.
Vitamin K2 Helps Prevent Osteoporosis
Vitamin K2 is one of the most important nutritional interventions to improve bone density. It serves as the biological “glue” that helps connect calcium and other essential minerals to your bone matrix. There have been some notable research studies on the protective effects of vitamins.
K2 against osteoporosis:
- Several Japanese trials have shown that vitamin K2 completely reverses bone loss and, in some cases, even increases bone mass in people with osteoporosis.
- Combined evidence from seven Japanese trials shows that vitamin K2 supplementation produces a 60 percent reduction in vertebral fractures and an 80 percent reduction in hip and non-vertebral fractures.
- Researchers in the Netherlands showed that vitamin K2 is three times more effective than vitamin K1 in increasing osteocalcin, which controls bone development.
Your bone strength depends on more than just calcium. Bones are made up of more than a dozen minerals. If you only focus on calcium, it is likely to weaken the bones and increase the risk of osteoporosis,
Your body is more likely to be able to use calcium correctly if it is plant-based calcium. Some of the sound sources are raw milk from pasture-fed cows (who eat calcium-rich plants), green leafy vegetables, citrus fruit centers, carob trees, and wheatgrass.
Benefits Of Vitamin K Helps Prevent Cancer
Several studies have shown that vitamins K1 and K2 are effective against cancer.
Consider the following:
- Experts found that treating lung cancer patients with vitamin K2 slowed the growth of cancer cells, and previous studies showed its benefits in treating leukemia.
- In patients with a type of liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma, who took oral vitamin K1, the disease stabilized in patients; Few patients had a partial response, and seven others improved their liver function. In some patients, abnormal prothrombin is normalizing.
- In 2008, a group of German researchers discovered that vitamin K2 provides substantial protection against prostate cancer, one of the most common cancers among men in the United States. According to Dr. Vermeer, the men who took the highest amounts of K2 had about 50 percent less prostate cancer.
- Vitamin K also helps to be beneficial in fighting non-Hodgkin lymphoma, colon, stomach, nasopharyngeal, and oral cancer.
Where is vitamin K found?
Vitamin K is present in many fruits and vegetables, such as :
- Leafy green vegetables (spinach, chard, lettuce.)
- Cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts.)
- Asparagus.
- Green peas.
- Fruits such as prunes, blackberries, grapes, blackberries, and blueberries are rich in this vitamin.
- Some vegetable oils good content of vitamin K.
- It is also in Grains like soybean, Spices like curry, paprika, and aromatic herbs.
- Meat, fish, eggs, and whole grains, although in smaller quantities.
Vitamin K can also ingest through multivitamin dietary supplements. However, this should Suggest without consulting a doctor first, as it can cause hypervitaminosis.
What Benefits Of Vitamin K have
As mentioned, vitamin K is an essential nutrient for healthy bones. Studies have shown that people who eat foods rich in vitamin K have stronger bones and less chance of breaking them.
On the other hand, vitamin K also helps blood clot, which prevents a lot of blood loss when suffering an injury. About the heart, it can also reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, since it helps to have blood pressure under control.
Besides, this vitamin also has antioxidant properties, which prevent premature aging and the development of cancer and other diseases. Also, some studies point out that it balances essential insulin levels. This nutrient can even prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s, as it improves cognitive abilities and memory, and reduces the risk of cataracts.
Vitamin K deficiency
The amount of vitamin K necessary for each person depends on the age and sex of the person. In adulthood, men need 120 micrograms a day, while women have 90 micrograms enough.
In any case, having a vitamin K deficiency is not easy. By following a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, enough vitamins of this type will obtain for the body. Also, colon bacteria produce a certain amount of it.
Some symptoms of vitamin K deficiency are:
- The appearance of bruises quickly in people.
- Abundant menses.
- The primary symptom of common bleeding blood in the stool, urine, or nose
The groups with the highest risk of suffering this deficit are :
- Newborns: milk does not contain sufficient levels of vitamin K, and neonates do not have intestinal bacteria that produce it, so to avoid the risk of bleeding.
- Blood clotting inhibitor drugs or antibiotics for a long time will have deficient vitamin K.
- People who have undergone barbaric surgery will have low vitamins.
- Severe liver problems and fat absorption problems, since it is a fat-soluble vitamin.
- Vitamin K decrease in people with cystic fibrosis, celiac disease, ulcerative colitis, or short bowel syndrome.
If you suspect that you have vitamin K deficiency. It is advisable to go to the doctor for an analysis that will measure the speed of clotting. If so, the specialist will launch a treatment to treat the problem according to its cause.
