Vitamin Ok is a busy nutrient: It’s concerned in constructing wholesome bones and helps your blood clot so accidents can heal.
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You sometimes get sufficient vitamin Ok by meals. Vitamin Ok happens primarily in plant-based meals and fermented merchandise like sauerkraut. You can even purchase vitamin Ok as a dietary complement. But until you’ve got a recognized vitamin Ok deficiency, it’s higher to get your Ok from meals.
“By eating a balanced diet, you should be able to meet your needs for Vitamin K,” says registered dietitian Julia Zumpano, RD. “It’s good to know which foods are rich in this essential vitamin that does so much for our bodies in case your diet is falling short, so you can make any adjustments needed.”
What is vitamin Ok?
Vitamin Ok is a fat-soluble (that means it dissolves in fats) vitamin that helps your physique develop and performance correctly. There are two kinds of vitamin Ok, which come from totally different sources:
- Vitamin K1, or phylloquinone (pronounced “fil-oh-kwi-nohn”): This extra widespread sort is discovered principally in plant meals, particularly inexperienced leafy greens like spinach and kale.
- Vitamin K2, or menaquinone (pronounced “men-ah-kwi-nohn”): This much less widespread sort is present in some animal meals and fermented merchandise. Gut micro organism in your physique additionally produce this sort.
What does vitamin Ok do?
Some research counsel that what vitamin Ok does to your physique could transcend bones and blood. It could assist ease morning sickness and defend cognitive (psychological) capacity. Vitamin Ok could even cut back your danger of cardiovascular disease and death. And just lately, researchers found {that a} type of vitamin Ok acts as an antioxidant that could possibly be a key in stopping Alzheimer’s disease and different situations.
More analysis is required, however we do know vitamin Ok performs an vital function in each blood clotting and bone strengthening.
1. Assists with blood clotting
One of vitamin Ok’s most vital jobs is to make 4 of the 13 proteins wanted for blood clotting. Blood clots cease your accidents or wounds from bleeding to allow them to heal. The “K” comes from the Danish and German phrase koagulation (coagulation) or clotting.
This is a superb advantage of vitamin Ok. But it additionally implies that you’ll want to watch out. People taking blood-thinning medicine, reminiscent of warfarin (Coumadin®) anticoagulant treatment, shouldn’t take vitamin Ok dietary supplements or eat massive quantities of vitamin Ok with out speaking to their healthcare supplier. Vitamin Ok can intrude with the effectiveness of these medicines.
“In most cases, it’s a matter of maintaining steady vitamin and medication levels,” says Zumpano. “A sudden change can cause dangerous bleeding or blood clots.”
2. Strengthens bones
Vitamin Ok strengthens your bones by serving to make osteocalcin, which helps forestall low bone density. But whether or not it might probably deal with or forestall bone issues stays to be seen.
Some studies point out {that a} larger day by day consumption of vitamin Ok reduces the danger of bone fractures and low bone density (osteopenia). In some nations (although not within the U.S.), healthcare suppliers even prescribe vitamin Ok dietary supplements to deal with osteoporosis.
“A lot of other factors can affect bone health, including a lack of calcium and vitamin D,” says Zumpano. “We need more rigorous studies to establish the link before we can confidently recommend vitamin K supplements.”
What meals have vitamin Ok?
Foods wealthy in vitamin Ok are primarily inexperienced leafy greens like spinach, kale, broccoli, cabbage and lettuce. Other meals with vitamin Ok embody fruits (blueberries, figs and canned pumpkin are good sources) and olive, soybean or canola oil. It’s additionally present in smaller quantities in meat, eggs and dairy merchandise like cheese, yogurt and butter
“People who eat a vegetarian diet are in luck when it comes to this essential vitamin,” notes Zumpano. “You can definitely find it in other foods, but a plate of leafy greens can’t be beat when it comes to vitamin K.”
Consider: Half a cup of collard greens, frozen or boiled, comprises 530 micrograms (mcg) — 442% of your advised day by day quantity of vitamin Ok. And a 3-ounce serving of nattō (fermented soybeans) has 850 mcg (708%).
The greatest time to take vitamin Ok is after you’ve eaten meals that comprise fats. This helps you maximize its absorption.
How a lot vitamin Ok per day do I would like?
Your advisable vitamin Ok consumption (in micrograms) is:
| Age | Recommended Dietary Allowance |
| 6 to 11 months* | 2.5 mcg |
| 12 to 23 months* | 30 mcg |
| 2 to 18 years (assigned feminine at start, AFAB) | 30 to 75 mcg |
| Over 18 years (AFAB) | 90 mcg |
| 2 to 18 (assigned male at start, AMAB) | 30 to 75 mcg |
| Over 18 years (AMAB) | 120 mcg |
| Pregnant or lactating | 75 to 90 mcg |
*Adequate Intake
Source: 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans
Vitamin Ok breaks down in a short time in your physique. Any extra leaves in your urine or poop. This means it not often reaches harmful (poisonous) ranges, even when you’ve got loads.
Do I must take vitamin Ok dietary supplements?
Most multivitamin-mineral dietary supplements comprise vitamin Ok, particularly dietary supplements for bone well being. But generally, you don’t must take dietary supplements if you happen to’re getting sufficient of what you want from meals.
If you watched chances are you’ll lack vitamin Ok, discuss together with your healthcare supplier about subsequent steps. Your signs and a blood test can affirm prognosis and information remedy.
“There’s no shortage of delicious and widely available foods that contain vitamin K,” says Zumpano. “Vitamin K helps with some of our body’s most critical functions, so we need to take it seriously. And that means eating well, so we can live well.”
