Vitamin K-2: A Key Player in Cardiovascular & Bone Health

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Vitamin K-2: A Key Player in Cardiovascular & Bone Health

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By Lee s*

Vitamin K-2 has been tucked away in the shadows of the vitamin world for

too long. Its significance to cardiovascular and bone health and its

apparent link to the prevention of many other diseases make it too important to

ignore.

Vitamin K - the least familiar of the alphabet vitamins - is a key player

in cardiovascular and bone health. Originally scientists thought its only

purpose was to promote proper blood clotting, but we're now learning that

vitamin K plays a number of other important roles in the body.

The first clue to the existence of vitamin K came in 1929 when Danish

scientist Henrik Dam set out to study the role of cholesterol. Several weeks

after he began feeding chickens a cholesterol-depleted diet, they developed

hemorrhages. When he could not stop the bleeding by adding purified

cholesterol to their diet, he realized that along with the cholesterol, a second

compound must have been removed from their diet.

Because of its effect on the blood's ability to clot, the newly discovered

compound was dubbed the coagulation vitamin. Since the finding was

reported in a German journal, the German spelling of " Koagulation " was used,

which

later led to the shortened version - vitamin K.

Building upon Dam's discovery, American biochemist A. Doisy

uncovered the structure and chemical nature of vitamin K. Their combined

efforts

were rewarded in 1943 when Dam and Doisy received the Nobel Prize for

medicine for their work on vitamin K.

There are two naturally occurring forms of vitamin K: phylloquinone

(vitamin K-1) and menaquinones (Vitamin K-2).

-- K-1 is found in dark green, leafy vegetables like spinach, broccoli,

kale and Swiss chard.

-- K-2 can be found in meat, egg yolks, and fermented foods like cheese

and natto (Japanese fermented soy beans). K-2 is also synthesized naturally

in the gut by microflora ('good' bacteria) fermentation.

Vitamin K-2's Role in Cardiovascular Health

Research has shown that K-2 is the vitamin K form most beneficial for

cardiovascular health.

A paper published in 2004 reported on The Rotterdam Study, which involved

4,800 people over a 10-year period. The researchers found that the

increased intake of Vitamin K-2 reduced the risk of coronary heart disease

mortality by 50%. Vitamin K-1 had no effect at all.(1)

Most heart attacks and strokes are caused when plaque builds up on the

inner walls of the arteries. Eventually a section of plaque can break open,

forming a clot which then travels to the heart resulting in a heart attack,

or to the brain resulting in a stroke.

Standard treatment for patients at risk of a heart attack or stroke is

usually aimed at thinning the blood so clots cannot form. Patients are

instructed to take an aspirin every day or they are prescribed blood thinners

like

Coumadin or Plavix. The problem with those treatments is that, if the

patient is injured, it may be difficult to stop the bleeding because the

medications interfere with the blood's ability to clot.

Vitamin K on the other hand, seems to be the body's natural mechanism for

regulating the clotting factor.

Dutch Professor Cees Vermeer found that vitamin K inhibited clotting when

blood vessels were intact - yet promoted clotting when the blood vessels

were broken. Which is exactly how the body should work.(2)

Arterial calcification is a significant risk factor for atherosclerosis,

heart attack and stroke. In the past, it was thought that this calcification

was irreversible and signaled the end stages of cardiovascular disease.

However, a 2007 study using rats found that diets rich in vitamin K actually

reduced the arterial calcification by approximately 50%.(3)

Promoting Bone Health - Preventing Osteoporosis

Japanese women tend to have far fewer osteoporosis fractures than Western

women. It is thought that their consumption of the popular Japanese food

natto, which is high in Vitamin K-2, may have a lot to do with it.

A 1995 study in Japan compared vitamin K levels in the blood of 24 women

who had osteoporotic fractures and 36 elderly women who had no fractures.

While vitamin K-1 levels were virtually identical in both groups, Vitamin K-2

levels were twice as high in the group with no fractures compared to the

group with fractures.(4)

Additionally, two very large studies also link vitamin K levels to the

risk of osteoporotic fractures:

-- In the Nurses' Health Study, researchers followed more than 72,000

women for 10 years. The women whose vitamin K intake was in the lowest fifth of

the group had a 30% higher risk of hip fracture.(5)

-- In the Framingham Heart Study, more than 800 elderly men and women were

followed for seven years. Those whose vitamin K intake was in the top

quarter of the group had a 65% lower risk of hip fracture.(6)

Other studies have demonstrated Vitamin K-2's ability to protect

osteoblasts (the cells that build new bones) from self-destructing, while

inhibiting

the formation of osteoclasts (the cells that destroy bones).(6-7)

As we age, bone destruction tends to overwhelm bone building, but Vitamin

K-2 can help slow down and even reverse that process.

Additional Benefits of Vitamin K-2

Diabetes

- A 2010 Netherlands study followed more than 38,000 people for a decade

and found that higher intake of vitamin K was associated with a lower risk

of developing type 2 diabetes. Both vitamins K-1 and K-2 resulted in lower

risk, but there was a stronger connection to the K-2. For each 10 mcg of

Vitamin K-2 that was regularly consumed, there was a 7% reduction in risk.(8)

Cancer

- German researchers studied more than 24,000 participants for 10 to 14

years. They found that those with the highest intake of Vitamin K-2 had a 62%

reduction in the risk of lung cancer and a 35% reduction in the risk of

prostate cancer. They also found that those with the highest intake of

Vitamin K-2 who did get cancer experienced a 28% lower risk of dying from it.(9)

In another recent study conducted by the Mayo Clinic, researchers reported

that the risk of developing Non-Hodgkin lymphoma was approximately 45%

lower for participants whose vitamin K intakes were in the top 25% of the

group.(10)

Need-to-Know Facts About Vitamin K-2

-- Vitamin K is fat soluble and should be taken with a meal containing fat.

-- There is no known toxicity even with high doses of vitamin K. An

allergic reaction is possible, but rare.

-- Possible food and drug interactions:

Antibiotics. The use of antibiotics can reduce the body's ability to

absorb vitamin K by affecting helpful bacteria. Long-term use may lead to a

vitamin K deficiency.

Anticonvulsants. Anticonvulsants such as Dilantin, Lyrica, Neurontin and

Topamax can interfere with the body's ability to use vitamin K.

Blood thinners. Vitamin K reduces the effectiveness of blood thinning

medications and should not be taken if you are on a medication like Coumadin

(warfarin) or Plavix.

Xenical, Alli or Olestra - The weight-loss medications Xenical and Alli

and the food additive Olestra all prevent the absorption of fat, which also

reduces the body's absorption of fat-soluble vitamins like vitamin K.

Bile acid sequestrants - Medications like Questran, Colestid and Welchol,

used to reduce cholesterol, also reduce the absorption of fat and

fat-soluble vitamins like vitamin K.

Final Thoughts...

Vitamin K-2 has been tucked away in the shadows of the vitamin world for

too long. Its significance to cardiovascular and bone health and its

apparent link to the prevention of many other diseases make it too important to

ignore.

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* Lee s is Lead Expert specializing in Fibromyalgia and

ME/CFS for HealthCentral's ChronicPainConnection

(_www.chronicpainconnection.com_

(http://www.chronicpainconnection.com) ). is co-founder of the

National Fibromyalgia Association (NFA) and was Executive Editor of

Fibromyalgia

AWARE magazine for four years.

References: Please see original article at ProHealth.com