![Vitamin K2 Deficiencies Common Even Among the Healthy [Study]](https://naturallysavvy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/cheeses.jpg "cheeses")
Even the healthiest people may be lacking in vitamin K2, according to new research out of The Netherlands.
Nutra Ingredients reports on the study which was originally published in the journal Food & Function. The researchers analyzed nearly 900 blood samples from 110 “healthy” participants, and says researchers found that participants of all ages “had high levels of under-carboxylated species of osteocalcin and matrix Gla protein, proteins specific to bone and heart health, respectively, and said to be biomarkers for vitamin K insufficiency and deficiency.”
Read more about nutrient deficiencies
The researchers found that a lack of vitamin K2 appeared to be causing the deficiencies, and the vitamin K2 deficiencies were most prevalent in children and those over the age of 40 years old. According to Nutra Ingredients, while vitamin K1 is prevalent in common foods such as lettuce and broccoli, vitamin K2 makes up only 10 percent of the consumption of vitamin K in the Western diet, and is found in meat and fermented foods such as certain cheeses.
In this study, the participants with the greatest vitamin K deficiencies who received the vitamin K2 supplements showed the greatest improvement in their overall vitamin K levels.
“Supplementation with vitamin K2 improves the status of biomarkers correlating with a normal vitamin K2 level in the body that is especially important for bone development in children and for delaying development of osteoporosis and vascular calcification in adults from age 40 onward,” Hogne Vik, CEO of NattoPharma which provided the study with the supplements, told Nutra Ingredients.
According to The World’s Healthiest Foods, some signs of a vitamin K deficiency include problematic blood clotting and bleeding, including gum bleeding, nose bleeds, and anemia as well as frequent bone fractures. However, it may not always be evident that you or your children have a vitamin K2 deficiency, so for optimal health, it appears that many more people should be adding vitamin K2 to their supplement regime.
Image: cwbuecheler
