Cautious About Vitamin K Supplements?
Vitamin K Supplements
At present, there are 13 organic compounds classified as vitamins. Among the 13, four are fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K), and nine are water soluble (8 B vitamins and vitamin C).
Vitamins are essential nutrients for humans.
They have a multitude of roles in the sustenance, metabolism, growth and development of human life. A lack of any of these essential nutrients can lead to a deficiency disease. For example, a deficiency of vitamin C can lead to scurvy, and a deficiency of vitamin D can result in rickets. On the other hand, overdose can also lead to disease.
Among these vitamins, one of the less popular is vitamin K. One reason for this might be that vitamin K deficiency is rare for healthy adults. A healthy person can produce about 80% of the required vitamin K he or she needs from bacteria in the intestines. There is no scientific basis to determine the recommended dietary allowance for vitamin K. As a result, daily adequate intake recommendations have been formed instead for different age groups and sex. In some cases, vitamin K supplements are needed for special reasons.
Primarily, vitamin K is needed by the body for blood coagulation or clotting, as well as other important processes. Blood clotting in newborn babies is about 40% to 70% less than that of adults. One reason may be is because there are very few bacteria’s still in their intestines, where vitamin K is produced.
Human milk contains between 1 and 4 micrograms of vitamin K per liter, and formula derived milk contains an average of 100 micrograms per liter. Although rare, there is a chance of vitamin K bleeding in infants during their first week. As such, vitamin K injections in the newborn may be necessary.
Aside from its vital role in blood clotting, it is also being studied for bone health. Among its common uses is helping to build strong bones and warding off or treating osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is the progressive loss of bone density, a condition that affects millions of people around the world. Women are at much greater risk for osteoporosis than men, because they have lower bone density before the age of 40. The group with the highest rate of osteoporosis is postmenopausal women.
As mentioned, a healthy person only needs about 20% of vitamin K from dietary sources. However, as a person grows older, his or her ability to produce enough may diminish.
Vitamin K is found in green leafy vegetables, broccoli and Brussels sprouts. Still, the nutritional content of foods today is less than what it was because of poor soil, presence of chemicals, and general lack of freshness. A more efficient way of making sure one has enough of quality vitamin K is with vitamin K supplements.
What is better than taking individual vitamins (13 as mentioned) is to take a multi-vitamin-mineral supplement with other important phytonutrients. For example, taking vitamin K for osteoporosis prevention is better with vitamin D, which is another essential vitamin particularly for the elderly who might not be getting enough sun exposure to produce it naturally. Calcium, which is necessary for bone formation, works better with magnesium.
In summary, a complete all-natural multi-vitamin-mineral supplement is needed as a foundation against nutrition deficiency. Find a reputable manufacturer whose products are known for its quality and efficacy. Study the labels to make sure they have the right amounts and safe doses. With today’s information age, these are readily available online and can help you make the right choice for the betterment of your health.
Precautions about Vitamin K
Because Vitamin K aids in blood clotting, anyone on anti-coagulants should check with their doctor before supplementation.
Nutritional-Supplement-Guides Advice
For Choosing A Quality Vitamin K Supplement
1. Because Vitamin K aids calcium, which in turn needs magnesium and vitamin D to be effective, one should generally look for a comprehensive formula that contains all of these nutrients together, rather than take a stand-alone vitamin K supplement.
2. The RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) is currently set at 80 mcg for men and 65 mcg for women, and our bodies produce most of the vitamin K we need.
3. Because dietary supplements are unregulated in the U.S., both private and government parties have revealed that consumers only have a 1 in 5 chance of buying a product with the amount of ingredients stated on the label. As such, we advise that you purchase your vitamin K from pharmaceutical GMP compliant facilities, which adhere to the most stringent manufacturing standards for supplements.
Featured vitamin K Supplement – Comprehensive Product
Looking for K’s health benefits?
After years of researching and consuming various health supplements, we here at Nutritional-Supplement-Guides personally use all-in-one highly sophisticated comprehensive multi-nutrient product known as Total Balance that is produced by a New Zealand health company that is aptly named Xtend-Life Natural Products.
The alternative health product we personally use contains the full spectrum of over 75 nutrients, including vitamin K, calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D. You wont find these vitamins in a purer more potent form anywhere else, guaranteed.
Our health product of choice is manufactured by a highly credentialed scientific team that can combine these ingredients (vitamins, minerals, amino acids, specialty nutrients, enzymes, potent antioxidants, herbal extracts, and more) perfectly to give us the maximum health benefits, but also so they do not adversely interact. Moreover, this particular health product is enteric coated to protect all of these ingredients against stomach acids and to ensure maximum bio-availability where will get the true therapeutic effects of each nutrient.
In addition to the above, the company complies with strict pharmaceutical GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) compliance, which is known as the strictest in the nutritional supplement industry.
We here at Nutritional-Supplement-Guides have been using Total Balance for over a decade and all of us can personally attest to its excellent health results including increased energy levels, positive mental clarity, and an increased feeling of overall physical, spiritual, and mental well-being.
Filed under: Nutrients
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