If you’re here then you’ve probably Google’d about: what does vitamin k2 do for your body.
Why You Need Vitamin K2
You should get between 90 and 120 micrograms of vitamin K — but this requirement is based on the vitamin K1 needed to prevent bleeding. But in the average diet, about 90% of the vitamin K consumed is K1. Getting vitamin K2 in our diets supports:
Heart Health
Vitamin K breaks down calcium in our bodies, and this effect helps prevent hard deposits (calcium and fatty material) from forming in artery walls.
Smooth and flexible blood vessels ensure healthy circulation, reducing the risk of harmful blood clots and heart disease. This effect may come from vitamin K2 alone, however. Studies show that a person’s risk of dying from heart disease falls by 9% for every 10 micrograms consumed a day, but found no association with K1 intake.
Strong Bones
Our bodies need calcium to build and maintain bones. When it breaks down calcium in our bodies, vitamin K2 activates a protein that helps the mineral bind to our bones to do its job. However, these studies have focused on only certain cancers, like liver and prostate, so much more research is neede.
What Is It?
Vitamin K refers to a family of fat-soluble vitamins that the body needs to produce a protein called prothrombin, which promotes blood clotting and regulates bone metabolism.
Science For Healthier Food
R its role in blood clotting, but the less well-known vitamin K2 may have important roles in bone health or even heart disease. Some might know that the vitamin is important for clotting, especially if they have ever known someone on blood thinning medications like warfarin.
Beyond that, it seems like even nutrition professionals rarely talk about vitamin K, but this may be changing as we learn more about vitamin K2.
Maxtrix Gla Protein (Mgp) And Osteocalcin
Vitamin K2 activates two key proteins in the body. Osteocalcin: once activated, it carries calcium and minerals into bones and teeth.
It’s mostly responsible for the dental health and osteoporosis prevention-based benefits of vitamin Matrix-GLA: The non-bone and teeth benefits of Vitamin K2 are mainly tied to the action of the matrix-GLA protein. This protein is activated only in the presence of Vitamin K2. Non-carboxylated matrix GLA protein, which is known to form as a result of Vitamin K deficiency, is associated with cardiovascular disease.