Keeping calcium where it’s needed
A study in 2011 found that women who take calcium supplements to prevent osteoporosis are at a higher risk of developing atherosclerosis, heart attack and stroke.
this is because for every bone fracture calcium supplementation prevents, it precipitates two potentially fatal cardiovascular disease events. What could be the missing link in protecting our heart and maintaining strong bones at the same time?
Vitamin K is often referred to as the “forgotten vitamin” being continually overshadowed by more well-known nutrients. yet, this fat-soluble vitamin is absolutely essential to build strong bones.
since its discovery in the 1920s, vitamin K has been classified into a few types with K1 and K2 being the most discussed.
Vitamin K1 is a blood-clotting factor commonly found in green leafy vegetables while vitamin K2 plays the crucial role of calcium regulation and 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 in the Japanese delicacy – natto. It has shown in studies to help improve bone density while preventing heart diseases by effectively depositing calcium where it belongs – in the bones and teeth.
Without K2, calcium floats freely in the bloodstream and tend to deposit in the arteries, making them progressively stiff and narrow (calcification), impeding blood flow to and from the heart.
MK-7 activates bone-building proteins that are dormant in its absence, which function to bind calcium to the bones and teeth and also keep them from depositing in the arteries.
A 2007 study found that vitamin K2 plays a significant role in maintaining bone health among postmenopausal women.
using the natural form of vitamin K2 extracted from natto beans, a 2015 published study found that supplementation of vitamin K2 decreased arterial stiffness among postmenopausal women.
It is also important for women at risk of bone fracture to take vitamin K2. Population-based studies have shown that women in Japan who consumed the most natto have generally shown low rates of fracture.
If you currently take calcium and vitamin d for your bones, it’s important to also get plenty of vitamin K2.
these three nutrients have a synergistic effect that cannot be achieved when one of the three is not taken.
dietary calcium is linked to many benefits, especially bone health – this is why recommended daily intakes for calcium has been established.
Vitamin d3, a natural form of vitamin d helps your body absorb calcium but vitamin K2 directs that calcium to your skeleton where it’s needed.
you can think of vitamin d3 as the gatekeeper, controlling who gets in and vitamin K2 as the traffic cop, directing the traffic to where it needs to go.
In other words, without the help of vitamin K2, the calcium your vitamin d3 effectively lets in might be working against you by building up in your coronary arteries rather than your bones.
therefore, calcium taken together with vitamin d3 and vitamin K2 may well be the solution necessary for bone benefits while circumventing increased risk for heart disease.
For patients receiving oral anticoagulant treatment, it is recommended they do not take vitamin K2 supplements without consulting their medical doctor.
this article is courtesy of Vitamode.
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Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin which is essential to build strong bones.