By
Kristjan Gunnarsson
There are many good sources of Vitamin K, including both plants and animals. However, the quality of the Vitamin K differs substantially between them, since plants produce mainly the K1 (phylloquinone) form while animals produce the K2 form (menaquinone).
It is important to know that Vitamin K1 is not nearly as bio available as Vitamin K2. First, it is not absorbed nearly as well, and second it is not as effective in the cells of the body at doing its primary function, which is activating certain proteins and enabling them to bind calcium.
The plant form, Vitamin K1, can be obtained through many different sources. However, the best ones are green leafy vegetables, including kale, spinach, Swiss chard, broccoli and parsley. It is possible to get all the Vitamin K you need by eating plants, but you would have to eat a significant amount, and 1000mcg of Vitamin K1 have been found necessary to maximize amounts of functional osteocalcin, which is one of the main proteins affected by Vitamin K.
The animal form, K2, is the form that human cells prefer. This is found in a Japanese dish of fermented soybeans called Natto. Other than Natto, K2 is found exclusively in animal products.
The types of animal food that are rich in K2 include meats, eggs and organs. These contain a much higher amount if the animals are grass fed, therefore it is always better to get grass fed meat if it is available and isn't more expensive than what you are comfortable with.
The best out of all the sources of vitamin K is high fat dairy. This is where us western humans get the majority of our Vitamin K from, and this is the superior animal form (K2). High fat dairy includes cheese, cream and butter, where grass fed butter or butter oil is the richest source.
There was a study done on people, comparing their consumption of high fat dairy (among other things). What the researchers found was that those who ate the most had a 69% less chance of developing heart disease than those eating the least. To put this into context, heart disease is the worlds number one killer.
If you eat a lot of gluten grains, then they may interfere with fat soluble vitamin absorption and therefore it might be best to minimize them. It is also important to eat fat in order to be able to absorb Vitamin K and other fat soluble nutrients.
One of the sources of Vitamin K that we never run out of is the bacteria in the intestine. They actually produce so much that an actual Vitamin K deficiency is extremely rare, and it is pretty much unheard of except in infants who haven't had their large intestine colonized yet. This is the reason newborns are sometimes given Vitamin K shots at birth.
There are many good sources of Vitamin K, including both plants and animals. However, the quality of the Vitamin K differs substantially between them, since plants produce mainly the K1 (phylloquinone) form while animals produce the K2 form (menaquinone).
It is important to know that Vitamin K1 is not nearly as bio available as Vitamin K2. First, it is not absorbed nearly as well, and second it is not as effective in the cells of the body at doing its primary function, which is activating certain proteins and enabling them to bind calcium.
The plant form, Vitamin K1, can be obtained through many different sources. However, the best ones are green leafy vegetables, including kale, spinach, Swiss chard, broccoli and parsley. It is possible to get all the Vitamin K you need by eating plants, but you would have to eat a significant amount, and 1000mcg of Vitamin K1 have been found necessary to maximize amounts of functional osteocalcin, which is one of the main proteins affected by Vitamin K.
The animal form, K2, is the form that human cells prefer. This is found in a Japanese dish of fermented soybeans called Natto. Other than Natto, K2 is found exclusively in animal products.
The types of animal food that are rich in K2 include meats, eggs and organs. These contain a much higher amount if the animals are grass fed, therefore it is always better to get grass fed meat if it is available and isn't more expensive than what you are comfortable with.
The best out of all the sources of vitamin K is high fat dairy. This is where us western humans get the majority of our Vitamin K from, and this is the superior animal form (K2). High fat dairy includes cheese, cream and butter, where grass fed butter or butter oil is the richest source.
There was a study done on people, comparing their consumption of high fat dairy (among other things). What the researchers found was that those who ate the most had a 69% less chance of developing heart disease than those eating the least. To put this into context, heart disease is the worlds number one killer.
If you eat a lot of gluten grains, then they may interfere with fat soluble vitamin absorption and therefore it might be best to minimize them. It is also important to eat fat in order to be able to absorb Vitamin K and other fat soluble nutrients.
One of the sources of Vitamin K that we never run out of is the bacteria in the intestine. They actually produce so much that an actual Vitamin K deficiency is extremely rare, and it is pretty much unheard of except in infants who haven't had their large intestine colonized yet. This is the reason newborns are sometimes given Vitamin K shots at birth.