Vitamin K2 — A Crucial Ingredient for Heart and Bone Health
By Dr. MercolaVitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin that is well-known for its role in blood clotting. However, there are two different kinds of vitamin K, each providing its own set of health benefits. Vitamin K1 is primarily responsible for blood clotting whereas
Vitamin K2 works synergistically with calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D to impart a number of important health benefits, including but not limited to:
Osteoporosis prevention: Directing calcium to your bones, making them stronger, prevents hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) and lowering your risk of heart attack.
It prevents calcium from going to the wrong areas, such as your kidneys, where it could lead to kidney stones, or your blood vessels, where it could trigger heart disease.
It Decreases an androgen which is the male hormones, in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome.
It optimizes sexual function by increasing testosterone and fertility in men.
Vitamin K2 suppresses genes that can promote cancer while strengthening genes that promote healthy cells and enhances your ability to utilize energy when you exercise.
It prevents infectious disease such as pneumonia, and protects the body against neurological deficiencies
Higher Vitamin K2 Intake Associated With Improved Heart Health
Other Studies Also Confirm Vitamin K2 Helps Reduce Cardiovascular Events and Lowers Mortality
Other previous studies have also clearly demonstrated vitamin K2’s importance for heart health and longevity. In the Rotterdam Study, which ran for 10 years, those who consumed the greatest amounts of K2 had the lowest risk of cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular calcification, and the lowest chance of dying from cardiovascular disease.
People who consumed 45 mcg of K2 daily lived seven years longer than people getting 12 mcg per day. This was a profound discovery because such a correlation did not exist for K1 intake. In a subsequent trial called the Prospect Study, 16,000 people were followed for 10 years. Here, they found that each additional 10 mcg of K2 in the diet resulted in 9 percent fewer cardiac events.
Vitamin K2 Is Crucial for Osteoporosis Prevention
As mentioned, vitamin K2 also plays a crucial role in bone health, and may be critical for the prevention of osteoporosis (brittle bones). Osteocalcin is a protein produced by your osteoblasts (cells responsible for bone formation), and is utilized within the bone as an integral part of the bone-forming process. However, osteocalcin must be “carboxylated” before it can be effective. Vitamin K functions as a cofactor for the enzyme that catalyzes the carboxylation of osteocalcin.
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If you do not have sufficient amounts of vitamin K2, you run the risk of both brittle bones and calcification in your soft tissues. In other words, vitamin K2 is necessary to keep your bones strong and your soft tissues pliable. A number of Japanese trials have shown that vitamin K2 completely reverses bone loss and in some cases even increases bone mass in people with osteoporosis.
The pooled evidence of seven Japanese trials also show that vitamin K2 supplementation produces a 60 percent reduction in vertebral fractures and an 80 percent reduction in hip and other non-vertebral fractures. One Chinese meta-analysis of 19 randomized controlled trials found that vitamin K2 supplementation significantly improved vertebral bone density in postmenopausal women and reduced the risk of bone fractures.
Another three-year-long placebo-controlled study done in the Netherlands found that postmenopausal women taking 180 mcg of MK-7 per day increased their bone strength and saw a decrease in the rate of age-related bone mineral decline and reduced loss of bone density, compared to those taking a placebo. The following graphic, from a 2014 research paper on vitamin K2, illustrates the dual effect of vitamin K on bone and vascular health.