Vitamin K is known to help blood coagulate. It is named from the Danish researchers who discovered it. The “K” stands for “koagulation,” the Danish version of “coagulation.” Vitmain K does a lot more than previously thought. It is a potent anti-aging vitamin with many important applications throughout the body. Vitamin K accumulates in the heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, kidneys, and in the blood. Vitamin K is essential to build strong bones and helps promote heart health. Recent research has shown it to be a powerful antioxidant, stronger than vitamin E or coenzyme Q10. It has been shown to help prevent age-related degenerative diseases like osteoporosis and heart diseases.
Research has found that as we age we suffer from increased inflammation that can cause everything from heart disease to mobility impairments. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) level is increased when we age. IL-6 increases inflammation throughout the body and has been implicated in arthritis, diseases of the blood vessels, heart disease and Alzheimer s. Scientists have found that vitamin K reduces IL-6 and may have a major anti-aging role in reducing many of the age-related degenerative disease due to excess inflammation.
Hardening of the arteries is caused by calcification. When calcium enters the arteries lesions are formed that lead to their progressive degeneration. This process is associated with heart disease. Scientists has discovered that when vitamin K was introduced, it can significantly reduce the amount of calcium in the aortas of rats that had been fed a diet designed to harden their arteries. Damage to the heart valves was reduced by vitamin K. Vitamin K counteracts calcification and reduces your chances of dying from blood vessel related diseases.
Osteoporosis is caused by decalcification from the bone. Amazingly, vitamin K has been found to regulate the flow of calcium in and out of the bones and arteries. It keeps calcium out of the arteries and in the bones thereby helps to reduce Osteoporosis when we age. In a study of nurses that included 10 years of information from over 72,000 participants, the researchers found that those nurses that ingested the most vitamin K were a third less likely to suffer from hip fractures. Vitamin K had a stronger effect than synthetic estrogen. In another study it was found that vitamin K reduces calcium loss by one-third.
