What does vitamin K2 do | Detailed Explanation

Maybe you have known something about vitamin ABCDE, but have you heard of vitamin K2 before? What does vitamin K2 do? Before finding the answer to this question, let’s explore what is vitamin K2 first.

What is vitamin K2?

As an important material for our health, Vitamin K can be generally categorized as K1 and K2. A growing number of epidemiologic studies, in vitro tests, animal experiments, and clinical studies have widely found that vitamin K2 has a number of important health effects for human beings. Depending on the length of the tail chain, K2 can be divided into various subcategories such as MK-4, MK-7, MK-8, and MK-10. But among them, the most important materials are MK-4 and MK-7.

What does vitamin K2 do?

First of all, we all know that the function of vitamin K2 is to activate matrix osteocalcin. After the activation of matrix osteocalcin under the action of vitamin K2, a number of calcium binding sites will be formed on the protein, and these activated calcium binding sites are able to bind with the calcium that enters the bone. After the activated sites bind to the calcium ions that enter the bone, the physiological osteogenesis process is completed, so that the human skeleton is hard, which is able to support its weight. If a person is deficient in vitamin K2, matrix osteocalcin cannot be activated, calcium cannot bind to osteocalcin, bone cannot actually form, and calcium finally is lost. The lost calcium enters many other organs in the body and is deposited in the organs, which might lead to calcification of the organs and cause many diseases. Therefore, vitamin K2 is of special importance for the fixation of calcium in the bone and for osteoporosis.

Secondly, vitamin K2 can upregulate the insulin gene, promote pancreatic beta cells, and release insulin, which can improve the body’s metabolic level and help diabetics recover.

In addition, the phenomenon of excessive calcium deposition on the walls of blood vessels is called vascular calcification, which causes arteriosclerosis and narrowing of blood vessels and is very likely to lead to myocardial infarction and cerebral stroke. Vitamin K2 has the dual function of regulating the deposition of calcium ions and removing calcium ions deposited in the wrong places. Studies have shown that arterial calcification and loss of arterial elasticity can be reversed by taking large amounts of vitamin K2.

How can you tell if you are deficient in Vitamin K2?

After talking about the question of what does vitamin K2 do, let’s see the deficiency in Vitamin K2. Scientists believe that vitamin K2 deficiency is an important cause of the very high prevalence of osteoporosis in middle-aged and elderly patients and sub-healthy individuals worldwide.

People can get a simple idea of whether they are deficient in this group of nutrients by assessing their diet and lifestyle. Have one or more of the following symptoms: Low back pain, back pain, leg cramps, fatigue, and limb weakness; Have ever hurt your bones from a minor bump or fall; Excessive use of alcohol; Have ever had no menstrual period for more than 12 consecutive months (for women, except during pregnancy); Weakness in walking and a significant decrease in weight-bearing capacity; Taking hormonal drugs for more than 3 consecutive months; Losing 3 centimeters in height compared to when you were younger; Smoking more than 20 cigarettes a day; 0 Menopause before the age of 95 (women); Increased pulse pressure difference in blood pressure, when the pulse pressure difference exceeds 45.

The ideal K2 intake, according to available research, is probably at least 200ug per day, which should ideally contain both MK-4 and MK-7. MK-4-rich foods include foie gras, free-range duck fat, grass-fed butter, free-range egg yolks, and chicken especially the reddish part on the thighs. The main MK-7-rich food is natto, with 10g of natto containing almost 100 of MK-7.

Conclusion:

Finally, we want to give a simple conclusion on the main question of what does vitamin K2 do. Through the above introductions, we know that vitamin K2 has numerous health benefits which can activate matrix osteocalcin and upregulate the insulin gene. For this reason, it is advised to use it moderately in daily life to completely gain its health benefits.