Role of Vitamin K in Maintaining Bone Health

 

When it comes to building healthy bones, everyone talks about calcium and vitamin D, and that is absolutely correct. But it is also important to know that other nutrients play an important role in the development and maintenance of strong bones too, and those nutrients cannot be ignored at any cost. One such requirement that is often ignored when it comes to maintaining healthy bones is vitamin K.

In this post, we are going to discuss the importance of vitamin K in maintaining healthy bones. Plus, we’ll also see how a lack of vitamin K could impact bone health. If the fracture occurs in weak bones, trauma instruments and implants might be required to fix the condition.

How Does Vitamin K Impacts Bone Health?

Vitamin K plays a direct role in improving bone density and reducing the risk of fracture. Don’t be surprised, we’ll tell you a fact regarding this. The proteins required for the formation of bone cells and mineralization are activated by vitamin K and that’s how this vitamin is vital in the strengthening of bones and their maintenance.

There are two forms of vitamin K, K1 & K2, and both these are important. Deficiency of any of these forms could hurt bone health despite the fact that K2 has a more proactive effect than K1 on bone health.

Green leafy and cruciferous vegetables like Bok Choy, spinach, Arugula, cabbage, and broccoli have good amounts of vitamin K1 whereas, K2 is predominantly found in dairy products and fermented foods as it is produced by bacteria. Pork and poultry products are also known to provide vitamin K2 in optimum concentration.

Impact of Vitamin K Deficiency on Bone Health

Now, you must know the importance of vitamin K for bones, but the question here is what could happen if the body’s vitamin K requirement is not met. This is what we will discuss here.

Consumption of vitamin K lower than the permissible daily limit is known to increase the risk of hip fractures in women, while, the same is the case in men. Men who do not take an optimum amount of dietary vitamin K can also get fractures in their hips. Besides this, low bone density is also seen in people with a deficiency of vitamin K. Thus, it is important to include vitamin K-rich food items in your diet to avoid any such complications. 120 micrograms in men and 90 micrograms in women is the adequate daily concentration of vitamin K.

Should We Take Vitamin K Supplements?

There are many ongoing studies to confirm whether vitamin K supplements improve bone mineral density or not. Mixed results are noticed about the role of vitamin K supplements in improving bone density in the studies conducted till now. Some have shown positive effects while some have not shown any impact at all. But still, many people are consuming vitamin K supplements and it is advised to take them only after a prescription from a specialist.

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