Three or four years ago, when GreenAcres –Bradley Fair held a “live-mic” show at a Breakfast with Matt featuring Dr. Ron Hunninghake, Chief Medical Officer of the Riordan Clinic, Dr. Ron, whom we think knows almost everything medical, made a great case for Vitamin K2 as the conduit for getting Vitamin D3 where it belongs in the body. We think it’s time to review this little-known Vitamin, located on our grocery shelves by the name of K2 or MK 7.
Vitamin K2 has been called the “hidden vitamin,” since not much has been written about it. Actually, however, there has been a boat-load of scientific studies conducted on the vitamin, particularly zeroing in on how necessary it is to carry calcium to the bone and away from the arteries in the heart.
A couple of years ago, Dr. Kate Rheaume-Bleue, a naturopathic physician, wrote a book called Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox. In it she builds her thesis around this important fat-soluble vitamin that plays a vital role in protecting your heart, brain and bones. The cliff notes of her book state that K2 helps move calcium into the proper areas of the body (bones and teeth) and away from soft tissues (artery walls.)
The vitamin also plays an important role in the prevention of cancer. While the optimal amounts of K2 are still being investigated, naturopaths are zeroing in on recommending at least 100 micrograms as a target reach.
Dr. Mercola, a naturopathic physician whom we often quote says: “If you take oral vitamin D, you also need to take vitamin K2. Vitamin K2 deficiency is actually what produces the symptoms of vitamin D toxicity, which includes inappropriate calcification that can lead to hardening of your arteries. If you take a calcium supplement, it’s important to maintain the proper balance between calcium, vitamin K2, vitamin D, and magnesium.
“Lack of balance between these nutrients is why calcium supplements have become associated with increased risk of heart attack and stroke. The author does a great job of breaking down the role of K2 in the body, the consequences of K2 deficiency, the history of the vitamin’s discovery, the interplay between vitamins A, D and K2, and finally, how to increase vitamin K2 in our modern diets.”
Dr. Rheaume-Bleue explains in her book, “Vitamin K2 funnels calcium into bones to strengthen mineral density and fight fractures while it prevents and even removes dangerous arterial calcification. K2 also activates matrix GLA proteins (MGPs), which remove calcium out of the soft tissues like arteries. These K2-dependent proteins are essential for moving calcium around the body, and are regulated by the body’s levels of vitamins A and D. Therefore, when K2 is deficient, not only does bone mineral density suffer, but the calcium plaque that arises in atherosclerosis is inevitable. Your arteries literally begin to turn into fully-formed bone tissue, marrow and all.”
For those with heart disease, it might be a crucial idea to look into this vitamin combo.
Dr. Rheaume-Bleue points out that one of the best ways to get K2 in your diet is to cook with grass-fed Ghee, a clarified butter product that is free of any lactose or casein (the Lebanese do this naturally, as do many on the Mediterranean diet.) If you are decidedly Paleo in your eating habits, and not including dairy, you might want to consider cooking with Ghee instead of butter. Also, look at increasing fermented foods in your diet. None of us outside of Germany and the Netherlands probably gets enough fermented food in daily menus, so supplementing with K2 is definitely something to consider.
We give you a link to a Dr. Mercola’s interview with Dr. Rheaume-Bleue to learn more. And, as always, we recommend you come into your favorite GreenAcres Market and ask any of our knowledgeable supplement team to increase your awareness of the sunshine vitamin and its K2 chaser. http://youtu.be/ET_2w9OOdtY