Nutrient K2

It is not an IQ tax. It is currently the only fat-soluble nutrient that has been proven to be able to guide calcium deposition to bones while preventing ectopic calcium deposition in blood vessels, joints, kidneys and other parts. People who take calcium tablets alone may have low absorption rates and may have additional risks. Taking it in conjunction with it can often yield unexpected effects. However, it is not a universal supplement, and supplementing it incorrectly may cause problems.

I went through the trap of calcium supplementation two years ago when I accompanied my mother for her annual physical examination. She was afraid of osteoporosis, so she had been taking imported calcium tablets for three years, and drank a glass of pure milk every day. As a result, her bone density did not increase much, but it was found that there was a small calcified plaque in the carotid artery. At that time, the nutritionist glanced at her physical examination report, and the first sentence he said was "Are you only supplementing calcium but not K2?" I was quite confused at the time, so I gave her 100 μg of MK-7 subtype K2 every day as required, along with the original calcium tablets and D3. I checked again eight months later and found that the plaques had not progressed and the bone density had increased by 0.02g/cm². I could really feel the effects of this nutrient. Its principle of action is actually not complicated. It can activate osteocalcin in bones, which is equivalent to opening a dedicated entrance for bones to receive calcium. It can also activate matrix Gla protein to "grab" the free calcium on the blood vessel wall, which is equivalent to putting a firewall on blood vessels to prevent calcium deposition. This mechanism has been confirmed by a large number of clinical studies and is not a gimmick made up by merchants.

However, when I checked the information later, I found that the nutritional community has always been divided on whether K2 should be supplemented regularly. Many dietary guidelines in Europe and the United States recommend that ordinary healthy people can completely meet their needs through dietary supplements. A daily intake of 50-120 μg can be enough by eating 100g of natto, or dozens of grams of cheese or fermented full-fat dairy products. There is no need to spend extra money on supplements. This is actually true, but when it comes to the dietary structure of our Chinese people, it is a bit out of place - think about it, how many of us ordinary people can eat natto every day? Cheese is mostly eaten occasionally when eating pizza, and the K2 content in the fermented sauerkraut that is often eaten is pitifully low. In addition, many people now eat low-fat diets for a long time in order to lose fat. K2 is fat-soluble, and there is not enough fat to help, so it is difficult to absorb when eaten. If the intestinal flora is disrupted by frequent antibiotics, the little K2 that the body can synthesize itself is not enough. Therefore, many doctors in the domestic clinical nutrition department believe that most urban people are actually in a state of hidden K2 deficiency.

I also ran into a trap when I first started buying K2 for my mother. I bought a bottle that only said "contains vitamin K2" without subtypes. Later I learned that there are several types of K2. The half-life of the common MK-4 is only a few hours. You have to take it three times a day to maintain vitamin A. To maintain the effective concentration, the half-life of MK-7 can be up to three days. Just take it once a day, and the activity is higher. When choosing, just choose the one labeled with MK-7 first. Do not be greedy for too much dosage. For ordinary people, 50-100 μg a day is enough. There is no need to eat too much.

Of course, there are also people who must not take supplements blindly. For example, patients who are taking coumarin anticoagulants such as warfarin should not buy K2 supplements by themselves casually, because K2 is involved in the synthesis of coagulation factors and will directly affect the effect of anticoagulants. You must consult your attending doctor for evaluation on whether to supplement and how much to supplement. Don't make fun of your body.

When I mentioned K2 to my friends before, some people laughed at me for being brainwashed by the health care product dealer. It turned out that he had calcium oxalate kidney stones during his physical examination last year. When I asked him about it, I found out that he took 3 calcium tablets a day with D3 in order to build muscle and had never taken any K supplements. 2. The doctor said that there was too much free calcium in his blood, which was not transferred to the bones, but was deposited in the kidneys. He then took K2 supplements for three months and found that the stones did not get bigger during a review this year. That’s why he came to me and told me that he was ignorant before.

In fact, to put it bluntly, K2 is neither a magic medicine that can cure all diseases, nor is it an IQ tax hyped by businesses. If you have a balanced diet, often eat fermented dairy products, natto and other foods, and your bone density is normal, then there is no need to spend extra money on supplements; but if you take a lot of supplements Long-term calcium has no effect, or you rarely eat fermented foods, and you are at risk of osteoporosis and vascular calcification. Then you can really go to the hospital to check the serum vitamin K2 level first, and just supplement it as needed. It is better than eating a bunch of calcium tablets and finally supplementing it in the blood vessels and kidneys, right?