Vitamin K stuff

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Taking vitamin K

http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2000/feb00-report.html

How much vitamin K people should take is still in question. It partly depends on diet, age and what stressors are present. Vitamin K is not toxic in high doses, and unlike other fat-soluble vitamins it does not accumulate in the body.

High amounts of vitamin K will not cause your blood to overcoagulate. Coagulation proteins only have a certain number of spaces for vitamin K. Once those spaces are filled, vitamin K cannot affect coagulation proteins. Dr. Cees Vermeer of Maastricht University in the Netherlands compares it to what happens when you take vitamin C. Vitamin C is required for the hydroxylation of collagen (hydroxylation is similar to carboxylation). If you take too much vitamin C, however, you don't get too much collagen in the same way that if you take too much K you don't get too much coagulation. The processes are self-limiting.Vitamin K is one of the most exciting vitamins of this decade. By keeping calcium bone where it belongs, vitamin K may help prevent heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's disease and more. Researchers are just now focusing on its potential roles in the pancreas and brain. Vitamin K is exciting bacause it seems to act like a hormone, but shows no toxicity.

Recently it was shown that foods have less vitamin K than previously thought. Most multi-vitamins don't contain any vitamin K at all. The ones that do don't contain enough for optimal health. Considering the importance of this vitamin, it's reasonable to ask yourself if you're getting enough.

Dosage and precautions

Vitamin K is not stored in the body, and is therefore nontoxic in high amounts. Forty-five milligrams a day were used in osteoporosis studies without any ill effect. Vitamin K has been approved in Japan for the treatment of osteoporosis since 1995. Several thousand times more than what people are currently getting in their diet has been taken without any toxicity. Dosage depends on an individual's diet, age, whether they are taking drugs, and what stressors are present. Generally, 10 mg/day is recommended.

If you want to get your vitamin K level tested, request the osteocalcin test. It is much more reliable than coagulation tests. The osteocalcin test measures how much carboxylated osteocalcin you have. Since carboxylation is dependent on vitamin K, this test will give you a good idea of your vitamin K status, and whether or not you're headed for osteoporosis and possibly heart disease.

Caution: people who take blood thinners such as Coumadin or heparin should not take vitamin K without consulting their doctor.

 

 

 

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