Vitamin K

Vitamin K got its name in 1939 when an alfalfa compound was shown to effectively stop bleeding. Because its ability to do blood clotting, or coagulation, it was designated as such for the "coagulation" capability inherent to this nutrient. The "C" sound in coagulation, of course, is pronounced as "K" sound in English and thus is was christened the K Vitamin. It is a fat-soluble vitamin acquired from our diet.

However, our body can synthesize it through microorganisms that reside in the ileum, which is where K Vitamin absorption is possible. The K Vitamin can be found in leafy green vegetables, green tea extract, broccoli, lettuce, cabbage, green beans, kale, alfalfa, nori, and wheat grass juice.

K Vitamin Benefits

As you can probably guess, the main function of K Vitamin is to implement blood clotting. External blood clotting as well as internal hemorrhaging. If the body sustains wounds of any kind, the vitamin-K compound is an integral component to stop the bleeding. Thus, it has often been used to help excessive menstrual flow as well. It is also helpful in the prevention of osteoporosis, especially in the necks and spines of the elderly.

In a study done at John Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore, patients who were given four times the RDA amount of K Vitamin found their osteocalcin levels increase dramatically. Bone density increased as well. It should be noted that it works with calcium, helping the body better absorb and utilize it in maintaining bone health.

Tips & Warning on Vitamin K

A few precautions with K Vitamin include the following:

1. High doses of Vitamin E may inhibit vitamin K function, thus increasing the risk of bleeding.
2. Be aware the Vitamin K supplements can possibly interfere with the actions of prescription medication like warfarin and aspirin that are ostensible blood thinning agents. Long-term use of warfarin, though can lead to increased capillary fragility -- this leads to hemorrhaging.
All in all, K Vitamin is a very safe vitamin. The daily dosages are 80 micrograms (mcg) for men and 65mcg for women.

How To Choose Vitamin K Supplements:

There are a couple of key things to look for when selecting a Vitamin-K supplement. Look for the absolute best ingredients. Many manufacturers deliberately choose inferior, synthetic raw material to save money.

The vitamin K supplement or multivitamin supplement must be manufactured at the most stringent facilities (called GMP compliant facilities) to eliminate the possibility of contaminants. Look for the supplement to be formulated by top notch scientists. Look for a good delivery system; look for enteric coating for it protects the K Vitamin (and the other nutrients in the stomach until it passes to the upper intestine.

The supplement must contain a broad range of nutrients to avoid single nutrient imbalances. Just taking K Vitamin by itself is counterproductive. Look for a all-in-one supplement as many vitamins, like K vitamin, need other vitamins to work on certain tasks. Vitamin K, for example, needs vitamin D and calcium to increase osteocalcin to improve bone metabolism.

The K Vitamin supplement should be produced at pharmaceutical standard GMP registered facilities. Facilities that are GMP registered comply with the most rigid standards so as to minimize the possibility of product contaminants. (These are the same standards pharmaceutical companies in the United States are required to operate under as mandated by the FDA.) Nutritional supplements are not regulated by FDA and as such fraud is rampant with many so-called supplements containing contaminants with 1 in 5 not having the ingredients as proclaimed on the label!

Vitamin K Supplement Recommendation

We have personally found a company that makes a tocotrienols natural supplement while also meeting all the above standards. The company is headquartered in New Zealand (they also have an office in the US). I mention New Zealand as unlike the U.S. they regulate the manufacture of dietary supplements. In fact, they have among the strictest regulatory requirements in the world -- even surpassing the FDA standards for prescription medications.

The supplement that we take that has vitamin K in it is this bee pollen supplement. It is pharmaceutical-grade quality whose manufacturers guarantee a minimum absorption rate of 80%. The vitamin K is actually not on the label even though the formula has been fortified with other nutrients for the bee pollen itself has the K Vitamin.

I've been taking it for a year and have been very pleased with the results.

I hope this Vitamin K web page has been useful to you.

Yours in health, hope, and harmony,
Nutritional-Supplement-Bible.com