Most people have never heard of vitamin K2. This vitamin is rare in the Western diet and hasn’t received much mainstream attention.
However, this powerful nutrient plays an essential role in many aspects of your health. In fact, some think that vitamin K2 may be the missing link between diet and several chronic diseases.
What is vitamin K?
Vitamin K was discovered in 1929 as an essential nutrient for blood coagulation, which is the scientific term for blood clotting.
The initial discovery was reported in a German scientific journal, where it was called “Koagulationsvitamin.” That’s where the K in vitamin K comes from.
It was also discovered by the dentist Weston Price, who traveled the world in the early 20th century, studying the relationship between diet and disease in different populations.
He found that the nonindustrial diets were high in an unidentified nutrient, which seemed to provide protection against tooth decay and chronic disease.
He referred to this mystery nutrient as activator X. It’s now believed to have been vitamin K2.
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NUTRITION
Vitamin K2: Everything You Need to Know
By Joe Leech, MS — Medically reviewed by Jerlyn Jones, MS MPA RDN LD CLT, Nutrition — Updated on May 11, 2022
What it is
Functions
Heart health
Bone health
Dental health
Cancer
Sources
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Most people have never heard of vitamin K2. This vitamin is rare in the Western diet and hasn’t received much mainstream attention.
However, this powerful nutrient plays an essential role in many aspects of your health. In fact, some think that vitamin K2 may be the missing link between diet and several chronic diseases.
LWA/Dann Tardif
What is vitamin K?
Vitamin K was discovered in 1929 as an essential nutrient for blood coagulation, which is the scientific term for blood clotting.
The initial discovery was reported in a German scientific journal, where it was called “Koagulationsvitamin.” That’s where the K in vitamin K comes from (1).
It was also discovered by the dentist Weston Price, who traveled the world in the early 20th century, studying the relationship between diet and disease in different populations.
He found that the nonindustrial diets were high in an unidentified nutrient, which seemed to provide protection against tooth decay and chronic disease.
He referred to this mystery nutrient as activator X. It’s now believed to have been vitamin K2 (1).
There are two main forms of vitamin K:
Vitamin K1 (phylloquinone): found in plant foods like leafy greens
Vitamin K2 (menaquinone): found in animal foods and fermented foods (2Trusted Source)
Vitamin K2 can be further divided into several different subtypes. The most important ones are MK-4 and MK-7.
How do vitamins K1 and K2 work?
Vitamin K activates proteins that play a role in blood clotting, calcium metabolism, and heart health.
One of its most important functions is to regulate calcium deposition. In other words, it promotes the calcification of bones and prevents the calcification of blood vessels and kidneys (3Trusted Source).
Some scientists have suggested that the roles of vitamins K1 and K2 are quite different, and many feel that they should be classified as separate nutrients altogether.
In controlled studies in people, researchers have also observed that vitamin K2 supplements generally improve bone and heart health, while vitamin K1 has no significant benefits (4Trusted Source).
However, more human studies are needed before the functional differences between vitamins K1 and K2 can be fully understood.
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you collect this information from another place. actually this not good way . please try to know this platform faq and work here properly. thank you .
source
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vitamin-k2
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