Vitamin K: the prevention of “age-related diseases”

Vitamin K deficiency is often overlooked because even a typical Western diet provides sufficient vitamin K for normal blood clotting, but not necessarily for all other body processes. Many people also have an increased need for vitamin K due to factors such as gut dysbiosis, chronic inflammation, and the use of certain medications.

Vitamin K1 and K2

Vitamin K is not one substance but a group of different “naphtho- quinones” found in food and in the body in two main forms: vitamin K1 (phylloquinone) and various forms of vitamin K2 (menaquinones or MKs, such as MK-4 and MK-7).

Vitamin K1 is primarily found in plants and is the most abundant form in our diet. The richest dietary sources are green leafy vegetables such as spinach and kale.

In our bodies, vitamin K1 can be converted to vitamin K2. Gut bacteria can make several types of MKs, and our own cells can make MK-4.

Fermented foods and animal products provide preformed vitamin K2.