Vitamin K2 (also known as Menaquinone) is recently calling the interests of many researchers and health practitioners, especially in addition to vitamin D3. There are several health benefits associated to proper vitmin K2 levels. It’s main function is the transportation of calcium to the right areas in the body. Doctors have long known that people with a lack of calcium in their bones are more likely to possess an excess of calcium in their arteries, and vice versa. The resulting lack of calcium in bone leads to osteoporosis, while the deposition of calcium in the arterial wall leads to coronary heart disease and other manifestations of cardiovascular, renal, and neurodegenerative disease. This shows there is actually is a strong connection between these two conditions (as unconnected the might seem).
Some 85 years ago, biochemist in Copenhagen discovered the 2 body’s naturally occurring vitamin K’s: vitamin K1 (phylloquinone) and vitamin K2 (menaquinone), both fat-soluble but with different properties and characteristics.
Vitamin K1:
- Fat- soluble.
- Main function is healthy blood-clotting (activating coagulation factors in the blood).
- High amounts found in green leafy vegetables.
- Low total absorption (only +- 10%).
- Stored in the liver.
Vitamin K2:
- Fat-soluble
- Main function is to transport calcium to the places it needs to be (bones) and away from places it shouldn’t be (soft tissues). Also has blood-clotting properties.
- Mainly made in your gut under influence of a bacteria present in fermented foods. MK-7 (long chain) found in natto (fermented soy) and other fermented vegetables. Low amounts MK-4 (short chain form) found in butter, eggs, cheese and organ meats.
- Almost complete absorption (+- 90%).
- Also goes to the liver but redirected to important body parts.
- Several proteins depend on K2 for activation.
This differences show that it is easy to consume enough vitamin K1 trough diet but that this vitamin is broken down pretty fast (only about 10% reaches circulation) and is not as essential as vitamin K2, which has blood-clotting properties too. It is harder to consume enough vitamin K2 through your diet (especially for vegans) but there is a much higher absorption rate than with vitamin K1.
There are proteins in the body that are dependent on vitamin K2, without it they remain inactivated. The first discovered, Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2, is such a protein. Vitamin K2 is necessary for the manufacturing of blood-clotting proteins in the liver. The next two proteins are considered the most important proteins activated by vitamin K2;
Osteocalcin
Osteocalcin is a protein activated by vitamin K. This protein is found in bone and teeth. Its main function is bone building. It also acts as a hormone in the body, causing beta cells in the pancreas to release more insulin, and at the same time directing fat cells to release the hormone adiponectin, which increases sensitivity to insulin.
Matrix Gla Protein
Matrix Gla Protein is another protein dependent on the presence of vitamin K. This protein inhibits vascular mineralization and binds with calcium ions. MGP is found in bone, cartilage, heart, and kidney and its production is increased by vitamin D.
According to Professor Cees Vermeer, one of the world’s top vitamin K2 researchers:
“The only mechanism for arteries to protect themselves from calcification is via the vitamin K-dependent protein MGP. MGP is the most powerful inhibitor of soft tissue calcification presently known, but non-supplemented healthy adults are insufficient in vitamin K to a level that 30 percent of their MGP is synthesized in an inactive form. So, protection against cardiovascular calcification is only 70 percent in the young, healthy population, and this figure decreases at increasing age.”
Here is why vitamin K2 is so important for cardiovascular health; because MGP stops calcification and could even regress arterial calcification induced by vitamin K deficiency.
Vitamin D3 and vitamin K2: the correlation
Vitamin D is naturally obtained after sunlight is synthesized through your skin. However many people don’t get enough sunshine in modern life and need to supplement vitamin D3.
Vitamin D provides improved bone development by helping you absorb calcium, but vitamin K2 directs the calcium to your skeleton, while preventing it from being deposited where you don’t want it (organs, joint spaces and arteries). Meanwhile vitamin D3 stimulates the MGP production the vitamin K is needed to activate the MGP (the Matrix Gla Protein) to actually get it functioning. Thus these 2 vitamins correlate with each other.
Vitamin K deficiency
Vitamin K deficiency can be caused by the use of antibiotics which destroy the colonic bacterial synthesis of the vitamin. Also fat mal-absorption can be the cause of a deficiency (for example with celiac disease).
In a small study done in Japan investigators found that this nutrient dramatically reduced the risk of liver cancer.
“40 women who had liver cirrhosis from viral infections, there was a marked difference in
the incidence of liver cancer, with only 2 of 21 developing cancer in the MK-4 group
compared with 9 of 19 in a control group.”
– Habu D, Shiomi S, Tamori A, et al. Role of vitamin K2 in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma in women with viral cirrhosis of the liver. JAMA. 2004 Jul 21;292(3):358-61.
In another study it showed that 61 people recovering from surgical removal of hepatocellular carcinoma (liver tumor) using 45mcg of vitamin K2 daily it enhanced the cancer-free survival rate.
In the laboratory (in vitro), vitamin K2 demonstrates inhibitory effects against myeloma and lymphoma, suggesting possible applications for individuals fighting these hematologic cancers.
Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin and therefore it needs fat to be absorbed by the body (as does vitamin D).
- Excessive intake of vitamin K leading to toxicity is uncommon and hasn’t been reported so far.
I have copied the following from Dr. Mercola’s website:
Calcium and Vitamin D Without Vitamin K2 May Be Dangerous
If you take calcium and vitamin D but are deficient in vitamin K2, you could be worse off than if you were not taking those supplements at all, as demonstrated by one meta-analysis that linked calcium supplements to heart attacks.
This meta-analysis looked at studies involving people taking calcium in isolation, without complementary nutrients like magnesium, vitamin D and vitamin K2, which help keep your body in balance.
In the absence of those other important cofactors, calcium can have adverse effects, such as building up in coronary arteries, initiating excessive clotting and causing heart attacks, which is really what this analysis detected. So if you are going to take calcium, you need to be sure you have balanced it out with vitamin D and vitamin K2.
| Food | Vitamin K2 |
| Natto (3.5 ounces) | 1,000 mcg |
| Fermented vegetables made with Kinetic Culture (2 ounces) | 400-500 mcg |
| Whole egg mayonnaise | 197 mcg |
| Gouda or Brie cheese (1 ounce) | 75 mcg |
| Miso | 10-30 mcg |
| Lamb or duck (1 cup) | 6 mcg |
| Beef liver (1 cup) | 5 mcg Bacillus subtilis |
| Dark meat turkey (1 cup) | 5 mcg |
| Chicken liver (1 cup) | 3 mcg |
Also keep in mind that fermented foods contain a wide variety of different bacteria, and only certain ones—such as Bacillus subtilis — actually make vitamin K2.
The different MK’s
There are several different forms of vitamin K2. MK-8 and MK-9 come primarily from fermented dairy products, like cheese. MK-4 and MK-7 are the two most significant forms of K2 and act very differently in your body.
MK-7, which is the form used in the featured study, is a newer agent with more practical applications because it stays in your body longer; its half-life is three days, meaning you have a much better chance of building up a consistent blood level, compared to MK-4 or vitamin K1.
Dr. Vermeer recommends between 45 mcg and 185 mcg daily for adults. You must use caution on the higher doses if you take anticoagulants, but if you are generally healthy and not on these types of medications, opt for 150 mcg a day.
Sources:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/01/11/vitamin-k1-k2.aspx
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/10/19/vitamin-d-vitamin-k2.aspx
Menaquinone-7
So we can now conclude that MK-7 is the superior form of vitamin K.
All K vitamins are similar in structure, but differ in the length of the side chain. The longer the side chain, the better the effect and efficiency. The long-chain menaquinones (especially MK-7) are the most desirable as they are nearly completely absorbed (and thus the body requires smaller doses) and stay in the blood for the longest time.
Meaning, vitamin K2 is also available for tissues outside the liver, namely bones, arteries and soft tissues.
There are manufactures out there today that have managed to synthesize a nature-identical form of MK-7.
One of those manufactures is MenaQ7. Quoted from their website: “The trans form fits perfectly into the 3D structure of the carboxylase enzyme, enabling activation of the vitamin K dependent proteins.”
Health benefits from vitamin K2:
• Directs calcium into the bones and out of the arteries = Strong bones and teeth
• Reduces arterial calcification = Improved elasticity of arteries and veins
• Improves the nervous system
• Decreases muscles cramps
• Improves insulin resistance
Conclusion:
• Vitamin K is a very important vitamin, especially when supplementing vitamin D3.
• Aspire to obtain your vitamin K through your diet when obtaining your vitamin D3 through sunlight or low dose supplementing. A filtered, good grade cod-liver oil contains small amounts of vitamin D and K.
• Definitely supplement vitamin K2 when supplementing vitamin D3 with an illness (i.e. high doses of vitamin D3).
• Definitely supplement vitamin K2 when supplementing calcium!
• Supplement vitamin K2 when suffering from cardiovascular disease.
• Opt for a MK-7 supplement (from natto).
• Take somewhere between 100mcg – 200mcg of vitamin K2 daily, depending on your illness, vitamin D3 supplementation and diet.
• Vitamin K can be beneficial for the prevention and treatment of liver cancer (and possible other cancer too).
Other sources:
http://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2008/3/Protecting-Bone-And-Arterial-Health-With-Vitamin-K2/Page-01
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