Maintaining bone health
VITAMIN K is often referred to as the forgotten vitamin because it is continually overlooked in favour of more well-known nutrients. This fat-soluble vitamin is essential to building strong bones, as it serves as the biological glue that helps plug calcium into your bone matrix.
Since its discovery in the 1920s, vitamin K has been classified into a few types. Vitamin K1 is a blood clotting factor commonly found in green leafy vegetables, while vitamin K2 is an altogether different type of vitamin K that plays the crucial role of calcium regulation. Vitamin K2 is further divided into subtypes depending on structure length.
Menaquinone (MK-7) is the natural form of a vitamin K2 subtype, which is found only in the Japanese delicacy natto, which is a steamed, fermented and sticky soybean dish that has a pungent flavour and smell. We lack MK-7 in our diet because most people don’t eat natto regularly, if at all. MK-7 has been creating interest as studies have shown that it helps improve bone density while preventing heart disease by effectively depositing calcium where it belongs: in the bones and teeth.
Without vitamin K2, calcium floats freely in the bloodstream and tends to deposit in the arteries (calcification), progressively making the arteries stiffer and narrower and impeding healthy blood flow to and from the heart. MK-7 activates bone-building proteins that are dormant in its absence. These proteins bind calcium to the bones and teeth and keep them from depositing in the arteries, thus preventing arterial calcification and heart disease.
A 2007 study found that vitamin K2 plays a role in maintaining bone health among post-menopausal women, confirming the benefits of consuming adequate amounts of vitamin K2 daily. Using the natural form of vitamin K2 extracted from natto, a 2015 study found that supplementation with vitamin K2 decreased arterial stiffness among post-menopausal women. Vitamin K2 supplementation is also recommended for women who are at higher risk of bone fractures. Population-based studies have shown that women in Japan who consumed more natto generally show low rates of bone fractures.
Calcium, vitamin D3 and vitamin K2 have a synergistic effect on bone health and the body. Dietary calcium is linked to many benefits, especially bone health. This is why recommended daily calcium intakes were established. Furthermore, vitamin D3 helps your body absorb calcium and vitamin K2 directs the calcium to where it is needed.
In other words, without the help of vitamin K2, the calcium that your vitamin D3 so effectively lets in may be working against you by building up in your coronary arteries rather than your bones. Thus, calcium taken together with vitamin D3 and vitamin K2 may well be the solution necessary for healthier bones while circumventing your risk of developing heart disease.
It is recommended that patients receiving anticoagulant treatment not take vitamin K2 supplements without
first consulting their doctors.
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