Discover the power of vitamin and vitamin supplements for hair care

Minutes after entering the world for the first time, newborns are given a shot of vitamin K. Delivery through the birth canal is not only very constricting for tiny babies who are used to floating in a sea of embryonic fluid, but very traumatic. Vitamin K is known for its ability to clot blood and as such, all newborns, in countries like Canada, the US and Britain, are administered an injection of this vitamin just after birth.

This is now widely practiced as a precaution to ensure the baby doesn’t hemorrhage, especially in the brain, which endures the greatest amount of pressure during the birthing process. Since vitamin K is not easily transferred between the mother and the placenta wall, a baby can sometimes be at risk for a deficiency in this nutrient. Although health professionals know vitamin K deficiency in newborns is actually quite rare, the repercussions of such a condition are in fact quite dangerous, and warrant caution. Premature babies and those who were born to mothers who were on seizure medications while pregnant or who ate poorly and did not take prenatal vitamins are at the greatest risk of a vitamin K deficiency, which can lead to excessive bleeding.

It was discovered almost by accident. In Denmark during the 1930s, researchers who were studying chicks noticed that when they were fed a fat-free diet they began to experience various bleeding problems. After much research into the problem, in 1939 scientists discovered that a feed containing an alfalfa-based substance could stop the bleeding, later the substance was named Vitamin K, the K referring to ‘Koagulation’, or coagulation as we know it, the ability for blood to clot.

In time, it was also surmised that ‘good’ bacteria within the intestinal tract is responsible for the production of this nutrient within the human body and can synthesize enough vitamin K (about 80 percent) to meet the majority of our biological needs. The remaining 20 percent is essentially required from foods, which apart from beef liver and cow’s milk, are mostly plant based.

Foods such as collard greens, apples, avocados, asparagus, green beans, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, olive oil, cauliflower, dark green lettuce, oranges, peas, potatoes, soybeans, spinach, strawberries, wheat bran, wheat germ, asparagus, kale, green tea and turnip greens are excellent sources of vitamin K.

One cup of spinach for example, contains 120 mcg of vitamin K, almost twice the daily-recommended intake established by the FDA. Chlorophyll, the substance found in plants that is responsible for their green color, is also a very good source of vitamin K. Research shows that vitamin K is destroyed in food if it is frozen however, cooking does not seem to affect the vitamins stability. It is always best therefore, to buy fresh foods whenever possible and avoid frozen products or freezing them yourself.

Vitamin K appears in three forms. Vitamin K1, phylloquinone, which is the natural vitamin found in plants and phytonadione, which is the synthetic version of this nutrient. Other forms include vitamin K2 called menaquinone and vitamin K3, called menaphthone or menadione, which is the pharmaceutical form, noted by some health professionals to cause toxicity in infants receiving it by injection after birth. For this reason a growing number of health professionals are not recommending K3. Both K1 and K3 however, are found in multivitamins or separately, usually in amounts if 5mg per tablet. Vitamin K2 is the form made by bacteria in the intestinal tract and can also be found in fermented foods such as natto or miso, both soybean products.

The primary role of Vitamin K in forms K1 and K2 is the synthesis of prothrombin, a protein in the bloodstream responsible for blood clotting, research shows that vitamin K2 is essential for the synthesis of particular proteins to bind calcium, a key factor in the blood clotting process. Vitamin K is used to reduce the risk of bleeding often associated with liver disease or in cases of heavy menstrual bleeding.

As well, both K1 and K2 are coenzymes that play a major part in regulating the mineralization of bone, a process scientifically known as carboxylation of osteocalcin, a bone protein. In studies, cases in which both high levels of undercarboxylated osteocalcin and low blood levels of vitamin K are present, report lower bone mineral density, and thus higher risk of hip fractures.

A women with higher intake levels of vitamin K will have about a 30 percent lower risk of suffering from a hip fracture than those with lower vitamin K intakes (less than 109 mcg/day).1 It was also noted that women who eat one or more servings of lettuce per day (high in vitamin K content) are 45 percent less likely to have low bone density than women who only consume less than one serving per week, suggesting dietary intake of vitamin K is directly related to hip fractures in women.

Other encouraging studies suggest that female athletes, who increase their intake of vitamin K to 10mg/day for one month, can actually increase bone formation by as much as 20 percent while also decreasing the amount of bone breakdown by 25 percent.² Researchers show that in cases of postmenopausal women, vitamin K is also responsible for increasing bone formation and slowing bone loss, an all too common situation leading to osteoporosis.

Apart from this nutrient’s ability to clot blood and form bones, it is also quite useful in cases of snakebites. It is found that snake venom contains enzymes that breakdown vitamin K and once injected into the human body, will inhibit the ability of the blood to clot. Vitamin K is given to stop the bleeding.

Vitamin K is also recognized as a treatment for kidney stones. Research shows that vegetarians, who eat a diet high in vitamin K foods, do not normally develop kidney stones. In patients who do have kidney stones however, vitamin K is very effective as a treatment. In situations of body odor, vitamin K taken in the form of chlorophyll, has proven to effectively control odor.

Some studies now suggest that vitamin K3, could inhibit chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), a cancer of the bone marrow, but again this form of vitamin K also raises concerns for potential side effects such as anemia and toxicity. Studies using vitamins K1 and K2 however, have had equally positive results, but without any potentially negative side effects. In one such study published in the September 2003 International Journal of Oncology, lung cancer patients who received vitamin K2 experienced a decrease in the growth of cancer cells.³ Further, a number of trials report similar anticancer properties in vitamin K1. In a study published in the August 2003 Alternative Medicine Review, of 30 patients with liver cancer, who were given vitamin K1, the disease stabilized in six patients, seven patients had a partial response, seven others had improved liver function and in15 patients their abnormal prothrombin levels were regulated.⁴

Vitamin K is known to have interactions with some prescription drugs. For instance, extended use of antibiotics can lead to a vitamin K deficiency because the antibiotic kills off the friendly bacteria in the intestine responsible for the formation of vitamin K. If you take long-term antibiotics therefore, supplementation may be necessary. Vitamin K decreases the effectiveness of blood thinners such as warfarin by counteracting the coagulation effects of this medication. Many other drugs should not be used at the same time as vitamin K so it is always best to consult a health professional if you are taking any type of medication. As well, x-rays, aspirin, cholesterol lowering medications and mineral oil laxatives all reduce the body’s ability to absorbed vitamin K.

The recommended amount of vitamin K differs for men and women. Men over 19 should receive 120mcg per day while females over 19 should have 90 mcg per day. Most multivitamins and bone supplements contain from 10 to 120mcg vitamin K.

References:

1. Booth SL, Tucker KL, Chen H, Hannan MT, Gagnon DR, Cupples LA, Wilson PW, Ordovas J, Schaefer EJ, Dawson-Hughes B, Kiel DP, “Dietary vitamin K intakes are associated with hip fracture but not with bone mineral density in elderly men and women”, Am J Clin Nutr, 2000 May;71(5):1201-8.
2. Craciun AM, Wolf J, Knapen MH, Brouns F, Vermeer C, “Improved bone metabolism in female elite athletes after vitamin K supplementation”, Int J Sports Med, 1998 Oct;19(7):479-84.
3. Apoptosis induction of vitamin K2 in lung carcinoma cell lines: the possibility of vitamin K2 therapy for lung cancer”, Int J Oncol, 2003 Sep;23(3):627-32.
4. “The anticancer effects of vitamin K”, Altern Med Rev.2003 Aug;8(3):303-18.