Meta Description: Vitamin K is an essential nutrient that helps the blood clot and is not ordinarily used as a dietary supplement. Vitamin K is a group of compounds with the most important compounds being vitamin K1 and vitamin K2.
Overview
Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin stored in very small amounts in the body that are often depleted during dietary intake. Because the body is unable to store vitamin K, it recycles itself several times for protein carboxylation, therefore decreasing the need as a daily requirement. Natural occurring forms of vitamin K are phylloquinone (vitamin K1) and menaquinones (vitamin K2) with vitamin K1 the main form of vitamin K available in the U.S.
Food sources of vitamin K1 include Kale, raw Swiss chard, green leaf lettuce, spinach and watercress, parsley,
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It is difficult to estimate the contribution of menaquinones to vitamin K due to limited research and variations in populations along with food consumption practices. A bacterium that forms in the large intestine can absorb meanquinones where bile salts are lacking; however, all forms of vitamin K are absorbed in the small intestine.
The role vitamin K plays is helping the blood clot in order to prevent excessive bleeding. Low levels of vitamin K can enhance the risk of uncontrolled bleeding. Although vitamin K deficiencies are uncommon in adults, they can be common in newborns and an injection of vitamin K is standard for infants.
Deficiency of vitamin K can lead to blood clotting, increased bleeding and osteopenia and symptoms include easy bruising, gastrointestinal bleeding, heavy menstrual bleeding and blood in the urine. At risk are those people with chronic malnutrition, alcohol dependent and anyone with health conditions such as Crohn’s or celiac disease, that limit absorption of dietary vitamins due to the disease affecting digestive tract