10 Benefits of Vitamin K

By lizzie

Reviewed: dr. vanta

Article Sources

Article Sources

• 1. DiNicolantonio, James, Jaikrit Bhutani and James O'Keefe. 'The Health Benefits of Vitamin K.' Open Heart, vol. 2, no. 1, 2015. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4600246/
• 2. Manna, Prasenjit and Jatin Kalita. 'Beneficial Role of Vitamin K Supplementation on Insulin Sensitivity, Glucose Metabolism, and the Reduced Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: A Review.' Nutrition, vol. 32, no. 7-8, 2016, p. 732-739. DOI: 10.1016/j.nut.2016.01.011
• 3. 'Vitamin K.' U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2 Feb. 2019, medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002407.htm
• 4. 'Vitamin K.' Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 2021, www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/vitamin-k/
• 5. Dofferhoff, Ton. 'Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial to Investigate Effects of Vitamin K2 in COVID-19.' U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2021, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04770740
• 6. Alisi, Ludovico, Roberta Cao, Cristina De Angelis, Arturo Cafolla, Francesca Caramia, Gaia Cartocci, Aloisa Librando and Marco Fiorelli. 'The Relationships Between Vitamin K and Cognition: A Review of Current Evidence.' Frontiers in Neurology, vol. 10, 2019, p. 239

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Vitamin K packs a powerful wellness punch. It has a positive impact on significant bodily functions, including supporting healthy bone density in post-menopausal women. Vitamin K also may have implications for those with Type 2 diabetes and possible heart health benefits. It may even have anticancer properties.

Vitamin K includes a family of compounds classified as phylloquinone (vitamin K1) and menaquinones (vitamin K2). Phylloquinone is found in healthy green veggies, and menaquinones are primarily of bacterial origin and also found in small amounts in animal products. Vitamin K is an essential vitamin and therefore is needed in adequate amounts for optimal health.

Offers Heart Health Advantages

Vitamin K plays an essential role in heart health because of its anticalcification properties. In postmenopausal women specifically, vitamin K supplements has been shown to delay the reduction of arterial elasticity when taken in combination with vitamin D. Alone, vitamin D did not have significant enough effects to be impactful for this purpose, according to some research.¹DiNicolantonio, James, Jaikrit Bhutani and James O’Keefe. ‘The Health Benefits of Vitamin K.’ Open Heart, vol. 2, no. 1, 2015. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4600246/

Vitamin K may also mitigate the risk of coronary heart disease in some individuals. Of the two forms, menaquinone has the greatest benefit for heart health. This specific component is found in chicken, cheese and fermented soybeans.¹DiNicolantonio, James, Jaikrit Bhutani and James O’Keefe. ‘The Health Benefits of Vitamin K.’ Open Heart, vol. 2, no. 1, 2015. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4600246/