Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Vitamin K Is Essential for Bone Health, Cardiovascular Health, and for Kidney Stone Prevention

Vitamin K is a word used for a group of kin fat-soluble substances known as naphthoquinones. This assign places to includes vitamins K1, K2, and K3. Phylloquinone, the configuration of vitamin K found in plants is named Vitamin K1, at the same time that menaquinone mainly produced by the of the intestines bacteria is termed K2, according to the volume "Staying Healthy with Nutrition" by Elson Haas, M. D. There is moreover a synthetic version of vitamin K, menadione, or vitamin K3. Good establish sources of vitamin K are obscure leafy greens, alfalfa, and kelp. Some vitamin K2 is place in animal sources, such as liver, ovum yolks, and fish liver oils, to the degree that well as in fermented food products like cheese and natto (a fermented soybean fodder). Vitamin K is well known with regard to its role in blood coagulation, -end its benefits extend beyond that to comprise a role in bone metabolism and guard against osteoporosis, prevention of heart malady and kidney stones.

Bone Health

Vitamin K plays every essential role in the formation of valid bones, including teeth. Low blood levels of vitamin K are associated by reduced bone density. According to the October 2001 reconsideration article published in the "Nutrition", vitamin K can not only increase bone mineral density in people with osteoporosis, but also reduce fracture rates. Vitamin K is that must be for the activation of osteocalcin. Osteocalcin is a protein that acts in the same manner with a structural foundation helping hold calcium in grade in the bones, according to the volume "Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine". According to the book "Prescription for Nutritional Healing", vitamin K in like manner helps the body to retain calcium means of reducing its loss in the urine, thus making more calcium available in opposition to bone-building process. An October 2007 copy of the "Nutrition in Clinical Practice" states that throughout-term use of coumarin-based anticoagulants be able to negatively effect bone density and augment fracture risk, by interfering with vitamin K form of.

Cardiovascular Health

Vitamin K deficiency has been associated with increased calcification of the main arteries and through insulin resistance. A systematic review of the the muses, the results of which were published in the October 2010 number of the "Maturitas", found two studies examining the effects of vitamin K2 intake on the incidence of CHD (Coronary Heart Disease). Both cast significant associations where higher vitamin K2 intake was associated through fewer CHD incidents. The association betwixt vitamin K1 and CHD wasn't because strong in other studies examined. A September 2010 pass in article published in the "Acta Physiologica Hungarica" form in a mould that a certain vitamin K-at the disposal of protein (matrix-Gla protein or MGP) was a biting inhibitor of the arterial calcification. Again, Vitamin K2 was originate to be more important for vascular system, than vitamin K1. An optimal vitamin K2 intake is therefore essential to significantly reduce the jeopard and rate of vascular calcification. An paragraph published in the 2001 "Journal of Cardiology" notes that the instant RDA values for vitamin K are over low to ensure full activation of MGP. More study is needed to determine optimal levels of vitamin K intake as being the prevention of CHD.

Kidney Stones

Vitamin K moreover has an important role in the check of kidney stone formation. Osteopontin is one more protein that needs to be activated through vitamin K in order to subsist functional. The findings of a study published in the August 2001 amount d of the "Chinese Medical Journal" specify that osteopontin may be an of high standing protein in the prevention of kidney bowlder formation. Another study showed that the cells of the kidney afford larger amounts of osteopontin to obviate the development of kidney stones.

Safety Considerations

Only the synthetic shape of Vitamin K (K3) is associated by any degree of toxicity. Supplemental vitamin K overdose be able to cause hemolytic anemia, in which the red kindred cells die much faster than the material substance is able to replenish them. Talk to your medical man and/ or pharmacist before taking supplemental vitamin K, or consuming vitamin K abounding foods, especially if you are alluring anticoagulants/blood thinners.

No comments: