You may be well aware of the benefits of vitamin c and know how vitamin d can positively affect your bodyHowever, you may not be as familiar with vitamin K, specifically vitamin K1 and vitamin K2.
“Vitamin K is typically not a frequently supplemented vitamin in our society,” Lon Ben-Asher, MS, RD, LD/N with Pritikin Longevity Center He says Eat this, not that! “Vitamin K1 is the main form that can be supplemented compared to vitamin K2, however, most people get enough from their dietary patterns. While most of our intake of vitamin K1 comes from green vegetables, dark green leaves, vitamin K2 is found in red meat, organ meats like liver and eggs.”
Related: The #1 Best Juice to Drink Every Day, Science Says
Now that you are more familiar with where you can find this vitamin, you may also be interested to know that in a new study to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Anatomy Association during the 2022 Experimental Biology (EB) meeting (via Eurek alert!), scientists discovered that vitamin K2 may protect the brain against declines in cognitive function, specifically those often seen in people with dementia and Alzheimer disease.
Noting the “very promising impact” that vitamin K2 had on the brain, Mohamed El-Sherbiny, PhD, of AlMaarefa University in Saudi Arabia, who was also the lead author of the rat study, noted that “vitamin K2 may be proposed as a promising approach to attenuate age-related disorders and preserve cognitive functions in aging people.”
As for how vitamin K2 affects the brain, Ben-Asher says, “In addition to preventing bleeding by aiding in blood clotting, it reduces apoptosis (cell death) by protecting nerves from harmful substances and compounds that could reduce the risk of dementia/Alzheimer’s.”
Beyond that, Ben-Asher notes that vitamin K2 “plays an important role in bone healthit helps to strengthen the immune system and can help prevent cardiovascular diseases”, as well as being “essential for skin health”.
At the same time, Ben-Asher points to “the most important limitation of the study,” saying “there were no suggestions in eating behaviors.” Ben-Asher explains: “It is well known in human studies that the more saturated fat and cholesterol-rich foods we consume, the more consequential and detrimental the impact will be on our brain health, specifically accelerating the aging process and worsening cognitive abilities.” people consuming more animal-based foods and/or supplementing with a large concentrated exogenous source of vitamin K2 may have that impact.”
Ben-Asher also says that “we need to be careful when recommending vitamin K supplements, as they can interact with people taking blood-thinning medications, antibiotics, and antacids.” Finally, “there is no known maximum dose that is recommended for efficacy, as well as potential danger given that it is a fat-soluble vitamin and is not easily excreted from the body, especially in large amounts.”
To learn more about keeping your brain fit, be sure to read This habit can help fight the aging of your brain, according to a new study.
Subscribe to our newsletter!
