Vitamin K

K for Koagulation (Coagulation), Vitamin K is an essential component of our diet that helps to maintain some important and vital bodily functions.

Types of Vitamin K

Vitamin K occurs in two forms, available from different sources

  • Vitamin K1 - from green leafy sources, largely responsible for blood clotting
  • Vitamin K 2 - manufactured by human gut bacteria as also found in some fermented foods - this  Vitamin K is vital for bone and heart health.  

Functions 

  1.  Maintain bone health - Vit K along with Vit D takes available calcium in the blood and layers it in bones.
  2. Assist wound healing
  3. Help in the clotting of blood - Blood has the unique ability to clot after an injury or trauma. This prevents the body from losing this precious fluid. Vitamin K assists in informing many of the proteins that help in the process of clotting, including Prothrombin.
  4. Prevent heart disease - since it channels out calcium from the blood to bones and teeth it prevents plaque formation in blood vessels- a major cause of heart disease.

Sources 

This is a fat-soluble Vitamin so it gets absorbed better in the presence of fat in the diet.

Foods rich in this vitamin are 

-  Vegetables- green leafy vegetables- spinach. Also cabbage, broccoli, spring onions, cauliflower etc.

-  fermented dairy, yogurt, cheese

- Non-Veg sources- poultry - egg, chicken. Fish. 

- green herbs- basil, parsley

- salads - cucumber, avocado, lettuce

You should get a regular daily supply of the Vitamin from your dietary sources.

Deficiency

As we have seen since it is readily available in many different food sources and also since it is made by gut bacteria it is very rare to suffer from a deficiency of this vitamin.

Deficiency may happen in persons suffering from chronic intestinal disorders like Crohn's disease, gall bladder disease, and those who are on long term antibiotics- in this case the antibiotic destroys the good bacteria which produce the vitamin.

Infants are given a supplement via an injection of Vit K since they may be deficient.

In the rare instance of its deficiency, the symptoms would be

- bleeding disorder

- weakness of the bones

- greater risk of developing heart disease.

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