Do you have osteoporosis or weak fragile bones? Are you taking either calcium or vitamin D or both? Are you suffering from heart disease or cardiovascular problem? Do you what can happen to your body if you don’t have this little known vitamin? How many of you know about Vitamin K2, probably some of you know some doesn’t. Vitamin K2 plays extremely crucial rules in terms of cardiovascular as well as bone health. Here you will know about Vitamin K2-A crucial vitamin for benefits of heart and bone health.
Vitamin K2 belongs to vitamin K family which mean it needs fat for processing inside your body. And also your body can store it. You may probably heard role of vitamin K for the case of proteins which we need for blood clotting. Vitamin K has two groups, vitamin K1 (single molecule, Phylloquinone) and vitamin K2 (multi molecule, menaquinones). They differ from each other in terms of length and also from degree of saturation of carbon tail. Although both belong to the same group each of them provide health benefits through very different way.
Vitamin K2-A crucial vitamin for benefits of heart and bone health
Heart Health
Scientific study had shown amount of calcium deposit in artery put you in risk of cardiovascular disease, larger the amount deposited greater the risk. Calcium deposits lead to formation of hard plaque in artery as well as narrowing and hardening. Which further interrupt blood flow.Coronary artery calcification is associated with heart diseases by narrowing coronary artery. (2)
On 4180 subjects from the population-based study, Hermann et al. found that individuals suffering a stroke have significantly higher coronary artery calcification (CAC) values at baseline than the remaining individuals. Further they concluded that coronary artery calcification is an independent stroke predictor in addition to classical risk factors for those patients at low or intermediate vascular risk. (1)
But problem is here. You don’t want calcium deposition in your blood vessel but also need calcium circulation as calcium has vital roles in your health.
Matrix Gla protein(MGP) an extracellular protein plays important role which accumulates calcium and thus inhibits calcium deposition in artery. MGP has two forms active and inactive and inactive MGP requires vitamin K to carboxylate it for its activation. Deficiency or impairment of MGP or blocking carboxylation i.e. absence of vitamin K action or low vitamin K level lead to rapid and extreme calcification of the artery. Activity of MGP completely depends upon vitamin K, and thereby also can be modulated by extra vitamin K intake. Since MGP is a peripheral protein, vitamin K2 is the vitamin mostly available to carboxylate MGP.(3,4,5)
Numbers of studies had shown dietary K2 helps in preventing calcium deposition as well as lower coronary heart disease. Vitamin K2 improves arterial function, stiffness as well as its ability to contract and relax. (6,7,8)Another study on 402 participants as published in the journal of Hypertension in 2017 found that combination of low vitamin D and K was associated with increased blood pressure and a trend for greater hypertension risk.(9)
Related article 9 proven ways to lower your risk of heart disease.
Best food to lower high blood pressure or hypertension naturally.
Bone Health
An active process runs through your bones which involves osteoblasts (absorption) and osteoclasts(reabsorption). Reabsorption refers to breakdown of old tissue and absorption refers to reconstruct your structure with new tissues. And so your body need both the process absorption as well reabsorption for healthy structure. In osteoblasts a protein osteocalcin promotes the accumulation of calcium in your bones as well as teeth. And K2 activates it to be absorbed by your bones.(10)
Vitamin D promotes production of vitamin K dependent protein which requires vitamin K for activation. While vitamin D helps in absorption of calcium from food and maintains its blood levels while vitamin K helps in placing calcium in right place i.e. in your bones not in blood vessel. (11, 12)
Three years study of supplementation of vitamin K2 (MK-7) on 244 postmenopausal women had shown MK-7 improves bone strength, prevent bone loss as well as significantly decreases the loss in vertebral height.(13)
Joint supplementation of vitamins D and K might be more effective than the consumption of either alone for bone and cardiovascular health.(14)
Is there any link between osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease?
In a cross-sectional, population-based study of 2,543 men and 2,726 postmenopausal women aged 55-74 years indicates that low bone mass is associated with an increased risk of echogenic calcified atherosclerotic plaques. (15)Other studies had also shown association of bone health with cardiovascular diseases.(16,17, 18)
Calcium supplementation and risk of cardiovascular disease
You have an idea now where the calcium can go if you don’t have vitamin K2. It can deposit in your artery rather than bones in absence of vitamin K.
A 12 year follow up study on of 388 229 men and women aged 50 to 71 years suggest that high intake of supplemental calcium is associated with an excess risk of CVD death in men but not in women.(19)
Calcium supplements, with or without vitamin D, are widely used for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. But a seven year, randomized, placebo controlled trial in 36 282 community dwelling postmenopausal women had concluded Calcium supplements with or without vitamin D has increased risk of cardiovascular disease.(20)
Another study conducted on 10,555 52-62-year-old women had also shown Calcium or calcium+D supplementation appears to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. (21)
Final Word
Overall vitamin K2 is a very crucial nutrient that our body needs. It has very important roles in not only heart and bone health but also in some other critical parts of the body. Food sources of vitamin K2 are very limited. Vitamin K2 can be considered as important nutrient for bone health along with calcium magnesium vitamin D and Zinc. Study had shown dairy product enriched with D3, K1 or K2(MK-7) and calcium had significantly increases bone mineral density with more favorable changes. (22) Magnesium is needed for calcium magnesium balance as well as many other important function. Zinc has also has many healing properties. You can consider MK7 is one best form of vitamin K2. I will come shortly with coming article with other important roles of vitamin K2 on critical parts of the body along with food source. Stay tuned.
Disclaimer: Information provided here are generalized information for
educational purpose only, not intended to provide one to one health
consultation or replace practice of a qualified practitioner. Different
people may have different health condition and may have different reaction
to the same food. Hence it has been advised to consult with health care
provider before application of any of above guidelines.
Reference:
1.D. M. Hermann, J. Gronewold, N. Lehmann et al., “Coronary artery
calcification is an independent stroke predictor in the general
population,” Stroke, vol. 44, no. 4, pp. 1008–1013, 2013
2. Kohichiro Iwasaki and Takeshi Matsumoto,Relationship between coronary
calcium score and high-risk plaque/significant stenosis,World J Cardiol.
2016 Aug 26; 8(8): 481–487
3. Roger J M W Rennenberg, Leon J Schurgers, Abraham A Kroon, and Coen D A
Stehouwer Arterial calcifications, J Cell Mol Med. 2010 Sep; 14(9): 2203–
2210.
4. Margueritta S. El Asmar, Joseph J. Naoum, and Elias J. Arbid,
Vitamin K Dependent Proteins and the Role of Vitamin K2 in the Modulation
of Vascular Calcification: A Review,Oman Med J. 2014 May; 29(3): 172–177
5.Luo G, Ducy P, McKee MD, Pinero GJ, Loyer E, Behringer RR, Karsenty G.,
Spontaneous calcification of arteries and cartilage in mice lacking matrix
GLA protein,Nature. 1997 Mar 6;386(6620):78-81
6.Geleijnse JM, Vermeer C, Grobbee DE, Schurgers LJ, Knapen MH, van der
Meer IM, Hofman A, Witteman JC.,Dietary intake of menaquinone is associated
with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease: the Rotterdam Study,
J Nutr. 2004 Nov;134(11):3100-5
7.Gast GC, de Roos NM, Sluijs I, Bots ML, Beulens JW, Geleijnse JM,
Witteman JC, Grobbee DE, Peeters PH, van der Schouw YT,
Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2009 Sep;19(7):504-10
8.Menaquinone-7 supplementation improves arterial stiffness in healthy
postmenopausal women. A double-blind randomised clinical trial,
Knapen MH, Braam LA, Drummen NE, Bekers O, Hoeks AP, Vermeer C,
Thromb Haemost. 2015 May;113(5):1135-44
9.van Ballegooijen AJ, Cepelis A, Visser M, Brouwer IA, van Schoor NM,
Beulens JW,Joint Association of Low Vitamin D and Vitamin K Status With
Blood Pressure and Hypertension, Hypertension. 2017 Jun;69(6):1165-1172
10. Hauschka PV.,Osteocalcin: the vitamin K-dependent Ca2+-binding protein
of bone matrix.,Haemostasis. 1986;16(3-4):258-72
11.John A Eisman and Roger Bouillon,Vitamin D: direct effects of vitamin D
metabolites on bone: lessons from genetically modified mice, Bonekey Rep.
2014; 3: 499
12. Aloia JF, Dhaliwal R, Shieh A, Mikhail M, Fazzari M, Ragolia L, Abrams
SA.,Vitamin D supplementation increases calcium absorption without a
threshold effect,Am J Clin Nutr. 2014 Mar;99(3):624-31
13.Knapen MH, Drummen NE, Smit E, Vermeer C, Theuwissen E.,Three-year low-
dose menaquinone-7 supplementation helps decrease bone loss in healthy
postmenopausal women,Osteoporos Int. 2013 Sep;24(9):2499-507
14.Adriana J. van Ballegooijen, Stefan Pilz, Andreas Tomaschitz, Martin R.
Grübler, and Nicolas Verheyen,The Synergistic Interplay between Vitamins D
and K for Bone and Cardiovascular Health: A Narrative Review,
Int J Endocrinol. 2017; 2017: 7454376
15.Jørgensen L, Joakimsen O, Rosvold Berntsen GK, Heuch I, Jacobsen BK,
Low bone mineral density is related to echogenic carotid artery plaques: a
population-based study, Am J Epidemiol. 2004 Sep 15;160(6):549-56
16.Schulz E, Arfai K, Liu X, Sayre J, Gilsanz V., Aortic calcification and
the risk of osteoporosis and fractures,J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2004 Sep;89(9):4246-53
17.Kim SH, Kim YM, Cho MA, Rhee Y, Hur KY, Kang ES, Cha BS, Lee EJ, Lee HC,
Lim SK.,Echogenic carotid artery plaques are associated with vertebral
fractures in postmenopausal women with low bone mass, Calcif Tissue Int.
2008 Jun;82(6):411-7.
18.Debby den Uyl, Mike T Nurmohamed, Lilian HD van Tuyl, Hennie G
Raterman,and Willem F Lems,(Sub)clinical cardiovascular disease is
associated with increased bone loss and fracture risk; a systematic review
of the association between cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis,
Arthritis Res Ther. 2011; 13(1): R5
19.Xiao Q, Murphy RA, Houston DK, Harris TB, Chow WH, Park Y.,
Dietary and supplemental calcium intake and cardiovascular disease
mortality: the National Institutes of Health-AARP diet and health study,
JAMA Intern Med. 2013 Apr 22;173(8):639-46.
20.Bolland MJ, Grey A, Avenell A, Gamble GD, Reid IR.,Calcium supplements
with or without vitamin D and risk of cardiovascular events: reanalysis of
the Women's Health Initiative limited access dataset and meta-analysis,
BMJ. 2011 Apr 19;342:d2040
21.Pentti K, Tuppurainen MT, Honkanen R, Sandini L, Kröger H, Alhava E,
Saarikoski S.,Use of calcium supplements and the risk of coronary heart
disease in 52-62-year-old women: The Kuopio Osteoporosis Risk Factor and
Prevention Study,Maturitas. 2009 May 20;63(1):73-8.
22.Kanellakis S, Moschonis G, Tenta R, Schaafsma A, van den Heuvel EG,
Papaioannou N, Lyritis G, Manios Y.,Changes in parameters of bone
metabolism in postmenopausal women following a 12-month intervention
period using dairy products enriched with calcium, vitamin D, and
phylloquinone (vitamin K(1)) or menaquinone-7 (vitamin K (2)): the
Postmenopausal Health Study II.,Calcif Tissue Int. 2012 Apr;90(4):251-62
The post Vitamin K2-A crucial vitamin for benefits of heart and bone health appeared first on Holistic Health N Life.
