HEALTH BENEFITS
Vitamin K for Cardiovascular Health
Vitamin K was considered for over half century to be important for normal blood clothing, however, recent human research has unequivocally linked the role of vitamin K to vascular calcification. Vitamin K is the co-substrate for the enzyme gamma-glutamylcarboxylase and is very important for activating Matrix Gla protein (MGP), a powerful inhibitor of arterial calcification. It is necessary to prevent the deposition of calcium in the arteries, or even to block or decrease the already present arterial calcification. Vitamin K2 deficiency, in addition to ineffective transport of calcium into the bone matrix, lead to increase of calcium deposition on vessel walls, and, eventually, to cardiovascular diseases. Vascular vitamin K deficiency might increase the amount of undercarboxylated, non-functional forms of MGP and thereby lead to increase in calcium deposition, and, eventually, cardiovascular disease (CVD).
In a cross sectional analysis among almost 5000 participants of the Rotterdam Study there was reported a strong correlation between the long-term nutritional Vitamin K2 intake with regard to aortic calcification and cardiovascular death.