Numerous clinical trials confirm that vitamin K plays a vital role in maintaining healthy bone structure by facilitating the transfer of calcium from blood to bone. Vitamin K is also essential for the regulation of proteins in the arteries, but also for the overall health of the cardiovascular system. When our body does not have enough vitamin K, calcium in the blood can cling to the walls of the arteries and lead to arterial calcification.
Increased vitamin K needs are people of advanced age, since in this case even a slight decrease in vitamin K levels may endanger the vascular system. In addition, vitamin K deficiency can lead to increased levels of osteocalcin carboxylation, a process that has been linked to the reduction of bone mass in postmenopausal women.
People get the highest percentage of vitamin K from green vegetables, in the form of vitamin K1. The problem is that K1 is bound to vegetable fibers and only a small part of it is absorbed by the blood.
Vitamin K2 is found in meat, eggs and dairy products, and is also produced by some bacteria in our digestive system. Studies have shown that vitamin K2 has up to ten times the bioavailability from K1. For example, K1 is cleansed by the liver within eight hours, while measurable levels of K2 can be found even 72 hours after ingestion.
Recent studies have shown that MK-4 and MK-7 types of vitamin K2 are the most active and readily absorbable by the body. MK-7 has a longer duration of stay in our body, while MK-4 offers a rapid increase in vitamin K levels in the blood. Vitamin K1 found in vegetables is essential to the body, but even more important is the supply of these two types of K2. Life Extension's Super K formula provides the necessary amount of vitamin K1 and types MK-4 and MK-7 of vitamin K2 with a single soft capsule daily. The advantage of this formula is that it provides the exact amount of MK-7 that our body can use to be adequate for 24 hours.