Get a calcium boost

CALCIUM is key to maintaining a set of healthy bones. It is found in dairy products, various leafy greens, seafood, legumes and certain fruits.

Bone development occurs every day of our lives. Our bodies naturally remove ( resorption) old bones and replace ( absorption) them with new ones via a process called bone remodelling. Through this process, we attain a new set of bones every seven years.

The pace of bone remodelling differs between individuals, gradually slowing down with age. To prevent diseases such as osteoporosis, resorption and absorption must be kept at a balance with the help of calcium.

Vitamin K, a fat- soluble vitamin, is essential for building strong bones because it serves as the biological “glue” that helps plug the calcium into your bone matrix.

Vitamin K has been classified into a few types, with K1 and K2 being most discussed.

Vitamin K1 is a blood- clotting factor commonly found in green leafy vegetables while vitamin K2 plays a crucial role in calcium regulation.

Vitamin K2 is further divided into subtypes depending on the length of its structure.

Menaquinone ( MK- 7) is the natural form of K2’ s subtypes found naturally only in the Japanese delicacy natto, which is not present in many people’s diet.

Studies have shown that MK- 7 helps improve bone density by effectively depositing calcium where it belongs – in the bones and teeth.

Without K2, calcium floats freely in the bloodstream and tends to be deposited in the arteries, making them progressively stiff and narrow ( calcification), which impedes healthy blood flow to and from the heart.

MK- 7 activates bone- building proteins that are dormant in its absence. These proteins function to bind calcium to the bones and teeth and also keep calcium from being deposited in the arteries, thus preventing arterial calcification and heart disease.

If you are taking calcium and vitamin D for your bones, it is important that you also get plenty of vitamin K2.

These three nutrients have a synergistic effect that cannot be achieved when one piece of the puzzle is missing.

Vitamin D3, a natural form of vitamin D, helps your body absorb calcium, but vitamin K2 directs that calcium to your skeleton where it is needed.

Without the help of vitamin K2, the calcium that vitamin D3 effectively lets in might be working against you – by building up in your coronary arteries rather than your bones.

Thus, taking calcium together with vitamin D3 and K2 may be necessary for bone benefits while circumventing increased risk for heart disease.

It is recommended that people receiving oral anticoagulant treatment do not take vitamin K2 supplements without consulting their doctor.

This article is brought to you by Vitamode.

For more information, contact Medispec ( M) Sdn Bhd.