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The Bene f i t s of Vi t amin K2
by Dr. Thomas K. Lo, Advanced Chiropractic & Nutritional Healing Center
Full-fat cheeses, eggs, and beef liver might not be the foods that come to mind when you think about eating a heart-healthy diet. Yet in recent years, one of the most researched nutrients in the field of cardiovascular health has been vitamin K2, found in these very foods.
While vitamin K1 has the important role of preventing blood clots and bleeding disorders, K2 works differently. According to a 2019 study published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, K2 benefits include helping with nutrient assimilation, growth in infants and children, fertility, brain function, and bone and dental health. Unfortunately, many people don’t get enough K2 from their diets.
Unlike vitamin K1, mostly found in plant foods like leafy greens, you get K2 from animal-derived foods, like grass-fed meats, raw/fermented cheeses, and eggs. It’s also produced by the beneficial bacteria in your gut microbiome.
What Is Vitamin K2?
Vitamin K2 has many functions in the body, but the most important is helping the body to use calcium and preventing calcification of the arteries, which can lead to heart disease. Emerging studies show a lack of this vitamin is also associated with certain diseases, including osteoporosis.
K2 helps to prevent calcium from building up in the wrong locations, specifically in soft tissues. Low intake of this vitamin can contribute to plaque building in the arteries, tartar forming on the teeth, and hardening of tissues that causes arthritis symptoms, bursitis, reduced flexibility, stiffness, and pain.
Vitamin K2 vs. Vitamin K1
There’s some evidence that people tend to get about 10 times more vitamin K1 (or phylloquinone) from their diets than vitamin K2 (menaquinone). Vitamin K1 deficiency is very rare, while K2 deficiency is much more common.
A growing body of research now demonstrates that vitamins K1 and K2 are not only different forms of the same vitamin, but basically operate like different vitamins altogether.
Vitamin K1 is more abundant in foods but less bioactive than vitamin K2.
Vitamin K1 is very important for supporting blood clotting, but not as good at protecting the bones and teeth as K2.
Benefits & Uses Associated with K2
1. It helps regulate the use of calcium. K2 helps regulate the use of calcium and where calcium accumulates in the body. It benefits the skeleton, heart, teeth, and nervous system by helping regulate use of calcium, especially in the bones, arteries, and teeth.
The vitamin D and calcium relationship is important, as vitamin D helps transport calcium from the intestines as it digests into the bloodstream. Vitamin D’s job is done at that point. Next, vitamin K2 must activate one of its dependent proteins, osteocalcin. Research shows it then takes calcium out of the bloodstream and deposits it into bones and teeth.
Vitamin K2 is essential for the function of several proteins, in addition to osteocalcin, which is why it helps with growth and development. For example, it’s involved in the maintenance of structures of the arterial walls, osteoarticular system, teeth, and the regulation of cell growth.
2. It protects the cardiovascular system. K2 protects the cardiovascular system because it offers protection against heart-related problems, including atherosclerosis (stiffening of the arteries), which are the leading causes of death in many developed countries. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year, more than half of deaths due to heart disease are in men.
An adequate intake of vitamin K2 has been shown to lower the risk of vascular damage because it activates matrix GLA protein (MGP), which inhibits the deposits of calcium on the walls.
The Rotterdam Study followed more than 4,800 adult men and found that the highest intake of vitamin K2 was associated with the lowest chances 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.
The men in the study with the highest K2 intake also benefited from a 51 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease and a 26 percent lower risk of dying from any cause (total mortality).
A 2017 study found that K2 was associated with a 12 percent increase in maximal cardiac output and that supplementation seemed to improve cardiovascular function in diseased patients. It seems to do this by restoring mitochondrial function and playing a “key role in production of mitochondrial adenosine triphosphate” (ATP).
3. It supports bone and dental health. K2 supports bone and dental health. According to a 2017 article published in the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism, “K2 may be a useful adjunct for the treatment of osteoporosis, along with vitamin D and calcium.”
Another 2015 meta-analysis supports the hypothesis that “vitamin K2 plays a kind of a role in the maintenance and improvement of vertebral bone mineral density and the prevention of fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.”
K2 benefits the skeletal system by taking calcium and helping usher it into bones and teeth to make them solid and strong.
Certain clinical studies have found that K2 slows the rate of bone loss in adults and even helps increase bone mass; plus, it may reduce risk of hip fractures and vertebral fractures in older women.
K2 can enhance osteocalcin accumulation in the extracellular matrix of osteoblasts inside bones, meaning it promotes bone mineralization.
Additionally, it helps maintain the structure of the teeth and jaws. Many traditional cultures included K2 foods in their diets because they believed it could help prevent cavities, tooth decay, and plaque formation. This impact was observed in the 1930s by dentist Weston A. Price, who found that the primitive cultures with K2-rich diets had strong, healthy teeth, although they’d 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.
- It can slow down bone mineral density loss in patients with RA. In patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), supplementing with vitamin K2 has been shown to result in a slowdown of bone mineral density loss and to decrease the amount of RANKL, an inflammatory compound, in the blood of subjects.
5. It can be used to produce osteocalcin hormone. K2 can be used to produce osteocalcin hormone, which has positive metabolic and hormonal effects.
Fat-soluble vitamins are important to produce reproductive/sex hormones, including estrogen and testosterone. Because of its hormonal-balancing effects, women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and postmenopausal women can benefit from getting more K2 in their diets, according to recent studies.
K2 also helps promote blood sugar balance and insulin sensitivity, which can reduce the risk for metabolic problems like diabetes and obesity. Some research suggests that K2 helps regulate glucose metabolism by modulating osteocalcin and/or proinflammatory pathways.
6. It may benefit the kidneys. K2 may benefit the kidneys by helping prevent the formation of calcium accumulation in the wrong places, the underlying cause of kidney stones. It may also do the same for other organs, too, including the gallbladder.
In addition, a lack of K2 and vitamin D has been associated in studies with a higher occurrence of kidney disease.
- What Foods are High in Vitamin K2?
K2 is found in mostly animal products or fermented foods. K2 is a fat-soluble vitamin, so it’s present in animal foods that also contain fat, specifically saturated fat, and cholesterol.
The best sources of K2 are: Natto, beef liver, chicken (especially dark meat), goose liver pate, hard cheeses (i.e. Jarlsberg), soft cheeses (i.e. blue cheese), ground beef, goose meat, egg yolk, beef kidneys/organ meat, duck breast, chicken liver, whole milk, Canadian bacon/cured ham, Grass-fed butter, sour cream, and cream cheese.
For those following a vegan diet, K2 can be hard to come by. Natto, a fermented soy food is an acquired taste and is also the only vegan source of K2.
8. Deficiency Symptoms
The following are symptoms of vitamin K2 deficiency:
Blood vessel and heart-related problems, like arterial calcification and high blood pressure.
Poor bone metabolism and possibly higher risk for bone loss and hip fractures.
Kidney and gallstones.
Cavities and other dental issues tied to tooth decay.
Symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease, like bloody stool, indigestion, and diarrhea.
Poor blood sugar balance and higher risk for blood sugar issues and diabetes.
Metabolic problems.
Higher chance of having morning sickness in pregnant women.
Spider veins/varicose veins.
Among adults living in industrialized nations, deficiency in this vitamin is rare. However, newborn babies and infants are much more susceptible to deficiency due to how their digestive systems lack the ability to produce K2.
If you are struggling with health issues, call the Advanced Chiropractic & Nutritional Healing Center at 240-651-1650 for a free consultation.
Dr. Lo uses Nutritional Response Testing® to analyze the body to determine the underlying causes of ill or non-optimum health.
The office is located at 7310 Grove Road #107, Frederick, MD. Check out the website at www. doctorlo.com.
