For every increase of 10 micrograms in the amount of vitamin K2 consumed daily, the risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD) drops by 9 percent. This somewhat stunning statistic was noted as a result of a recent cohort study from the Netherlands evaluating the dietary vitamin K intakes of 16,057 post-menopausal women and their association with the incidence of CHD.
The scientists also measured vitamin K consumption in the two forms of vitamin K, namely K1 and K2 – and the subsequent health benefits of each, pertaining to the incidence of CHD. Vitamin K1 is primarily found in green, leafy vegetables such as broccoli and spinach and comprises about 90% of the vitamin K in the western diet, while the remaining 10% that is vitamin K2 is found mainly in fermented foods such as cheese. The Dutch scientists stated plainly that vitamin K2 consumption appears to have a significant inverse association with coronary heart disease (CHD), and they stated equally plainly that vitamin K1 does not – at least not according to this study. Due to the relative scarcity of vitamin K in the western diet in general (and of K2 in particular), one scientist noted “As the Western diet is likely deficient in K, supplementation or enrichment of long chain menaquinones [Vitamin K2] is an obvious choice.”
Gast GC, de Roos NM, Sluijs I, Bots ML, Beulens JW, Geleijnse JM, Witteman JC, Grobbee DE, Peeters PH, van der Schouw YT. A high menaquinone reduces the incidence of coronary heart disease in women. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. Published online ahead of print 28 January 2009.
For more information see Vitamin K2
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