This is my first blog of 2017. In fact I haven’t blogged in a long while. But today I have something I want to share with you: it's a new discovery that could change your health for the better and not in a small way.
Do you supplement calcium and vitamin D and still have weak
bones? Did you know that in an attempt to obviate your risk for
osteopenia/osteoporosis by taking calcium and vitamin D, you may also be
increasing your risk for atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries)? Sounds crazy
right? The fact is there is a significant connection between bone health and
heart health. Taking vitamin D and
calcium supplements actually increases the risk of heart attack and stroke
because extra calcium builds up in arteries causing them to harden. Why? You may be consuming and
absorbing plenty of calcium from food or supplements but the problem is it’s just not getting to where you need it!
And, it might be landing in the last place you want it: in your arteries!
This is where vitamin K2 comes in. The K family of vitamins activates
enzymes that modify certain proteins to all them to bind to calcium. Vitamin K1-dependent proteins are involved in blood clotting. Vitamin K2 -dependent
proteins move calcium into bones and out
of soft tissues like arteries, veins and skin. This is their job: to direct the calcium traffic! It's critical that this routing takes place.
So why is this happening and why vitamin K2 deficiency so
widespread? It has to do with the way we used to eat versus the way we eat
today. First, let’s look at where vitamin K2 comes from with a look at how
humans derive nutrients from the food they eat.
Our habit of eating animals allows humans to benefit indirectly from
sun’s energy and the soils minerals. These elements are captured by
photosynthetic plants, then consumed and metabolized by creatures that are
capable of doing so efficiently. Animals transform the nutrients in these
plants into forms that are more bio-available to humans. Since the nutrient
content of meat, eggs and dairy products is a direct result of the composition
of the animals’ diet. Once upon a time, cows grazed in the pasture.
Enter factory farming (animals kept indoors) and the switch-over from pasture grass to grain-feed. By adding vitamins A and D to the feed meant cattle,
poultry and swine could survive without sunlight – a source of vitamin D – and
without green grass, a source of nutrients from which animals can derive
vitamin A. However we and the animals suffer for it.
When we removed pasture, we inadvertently
removed vitamin K2 from the diet!
This is not to say that calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin A
are not good for us. Of course they are essential to our health. But as we have
now learned, we need the presence of vitamin K2 to make these other nutrients
do their work in the body, once consumed.
So where do we get vitamin K2 ? Back to the sunshine factor:
the connection between chlorophyll and K2 leads to a unique characteristic of
true grass-fed foods: that is, a distinct sunny yellow or orange tinge. When
selecting K2 -rich foods, in general, the more yellow or orange the fat, the
higher the K2 content. Butter oil, ghee, natto and goose fat are the best food sources of K2; meat, milk and eggs contain smaller amounts. Kefir and cheese contain moderate amounts. If you choose to take it in supplement form, be sure to look for M-7 K2 .
There are many other health benefits to taking in enough vitamin K2 . Any way you look at it, the value of this
little-known vitamin cannot be understated ! I encourage you to do further
research into this powerful vitamin and start getting your levels up, either in
food or supplement form. It could save your life!
