From the late 20th century to the present, human life expectancy has soared, averaging over 80 years now. With increasing life expectancy, diseases such as Metabolic Syndrome (Obesity, High Cholesterol, Type 2 Diabetes), Chronic Kidney Disease, Cardiovascular Disease, Osteoporosis, and various Cancers have also risen.
Advancing medicine has brought effective drugs to help patients live longer, such as Statins for High Cholesterol, angiotensin blockers for High Blood Pressure, Metformin for Type 2 Diabetes, and so forth. However, chronic Metabolic Syndrome conditions still lead to chronic kidney failure, requiring some patients to undergo kidney transplants or dialysis to survive. Despite advanced and careful treatment by kidney specialists, many patients still suffer from coronary artery disease after years of dialysis or kidney transplantation, and the cause remains unclear.
Meanwhile, women after menopause begin to gradually lose calcium, leading to osteoporosis. Using estrogen hormones may slow down aging, but may increase the risk of breast cancer. Older women are advised by doctors to take additional calcium and vitamin D supplements to slow the progression of osteoporosis. However, excessive calcium intake is a double-edged sword: aside from causing kidney stones, too much calcium can lead to calcification of blood vessels, causing cardiovascular disease and increased mortality. It was previously thought that only men who consumed calcium had this problem, but recent evidence shows that women are also affected.
Fortunately, recent research has shown that a type of vitamin K, called K2, may help prevent and treat Calcium misplacement, which leads to blockages in blood vessels instead of depositing on bones, thus reducing osteoporosis.
What is K2 smoothie? Where does it come from?
For a long time, we have known that vitamin K plays an important role in blood clotting and blood coagulation. In fact, there are two types of vitamin K: vitamin K1 (Phylloquinone) accounts for 90% of the composition, which is essential for blood clotting and is abundant in green vegetables such as spinach; the remaining 10% is vitamin K2 (Menaquinone), which plays a crucial role in transporting calcium from the blood to the right target in bones and teeth instead of being distributed randomly throughout the body, causing the diseases mentioned at the beginning of this article. Vitamin K2 is synthesized in small quantities by bacteria in the gut but mostly comes from meat, dairy, egg yolks, butter, and cheese. Because vitamin K dissolves in fat, milk and cheese deprived of fat will not contain vitamin K2. The two foods with the most vitamin K2 are beef liver and Japanese fermented soybean dish called Natto. Vitamin K2 has an isoprenoid side chain from MK-4 (short chain) to MK-14 (long chain). The most common medium chain MK-7 is the easiest to absorb through the intestines.
In industrialized countries, the amount of vitamin K2 from processed foods has been decreasing since the 1950s; and to this day, almost 100% of Americans do not eat enough vitamin K2 (minimum about 32mcg per day). Japanese people who eat Natto regularly are the only group of people who do not lack K2 and they live longer, healthier lives with fewer age-related diseases than Europeans and Americans.
Effects of vitamine K2:
On bones, vitamine K2 affects osteocalcin from osteoblast bone-forming cells, helping to regulate calcium binding to hydroxyapatite minerals, making bones stronger and denser, preventing osteoporosis in old age.
In blood vessels, vitamine K2 acts on the protein MGP (Matrix GLA Protein) on blood vessel walls, preventing the accumulation of lime in blood vessels causing atherosclerosis, while also preventing the accumulation of calcium in soft tissues.
We can compare vitamine K2 to traffic police, helping to transport calcium in the blood to the right place in bones and teeth instead of wandering into blood vessel walls and soft tissues. Thanks to this, teeth and gums are also healthier with vitamin K2.
Patients with chronic kidney failure taking vitamin K2 supplements every day experience both reduced kidney failure and cardiovascular disease, perhaps because blood circulation to the kidneys is improved; the effect of MGP makes blood flow to the skin better, helping to reduce skin complications of kidney patients. Heart disease patients taking K2 supplements after two years also experience a significant decrease in calcium deposits in blood vessel walls.
In addition, vitamin K2 may also have anti-inflammatory, insulin resistance, and, although no clinical results yet, theoretically may help prevent and treat Type 2 Diabetes.
Most recently, vitamin K2 has shown the ability to prevent cancer, especially liver cancer, a not uncommon disease among elderly Vietnamese people. Vitamin K2 theoretically has the potential to combine with the gut microbiota to prevent brain degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
The easiest way in the US to ensure enough vitamin K2 every day is to take a supplement from 50mcg to 100mcg of Vitamin K2 MK-7 per day, available on the market without a prescription.
Vitamin K2 along with vitamin D3 are two indispensable supplements for maintaining health in old age. It is recommended to start taking them from the age of 50 onwards (the average age of menopause for women). Patients with osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, or chronic kidney failure should take at least 100 mcg of vitamin K2 per day to treat rather than just prevent the disease. Vitamin K2 does not reduce the effects of blood thinners on patients with heart disease or stroke.
In the coming years, we will learn more about other benefits of vitamin K2 in old age.
