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Vitamin K

Vitamin K
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At a Glance

There are three types of vitamin K. Vitamin K helps with blood clotting, amino acid metabolism, cell signaling in bone tissue, and more. It is especially important right after birth, as it prevents excessive bleeding in infants. Vitamin K can be found in several whole foods including green leafy vegetables, lentils, and peas.

Overview

Vitamin K is a fat soluble vitamin. There are three types of Vitamin K; phylloquinone (vitamin K1), menaquinone (vitamin K2), and menadione (vitamin K3). Bacteria that colonize the large intestine can synthesize vitamin K2. However, the contribution of this production to vitamin K status is unclear.

Importance

Vitamin K has many functions in the body including:

  • Assisting the blood clotting process
  • Acting as a cofactor in amino acid metabolism
  • Cell signalling in bone tissue
  • Preventing excessive bleeding in infants (infants get a vitamin K shot shortly after birth).

Food Sources

Vitamin K can be found in several foods including:

Note: The fermentation of foods can increase their vitamin K content.

Deficiencies

Common symptoms and resulting conditions of vitamin K deficiency include:

  • Tendency to bleed or hemorrhage
  • Anemia.

However, your individual response could be different. If you suspect a health problem or deficiency in certain nutrients, please see your primary health care provider (doctor, naturopath, etc). They can help unravel the complexity of your physiology.

Excess/Toxicity

Common symptoms of vitamin K excess/toxicity include:

  • Interference with glutathione activity.

However, your individual response could be different. If you suspect a health problem or an excess of certain nutrients, please see your primary health care provider (doctor, naturopath, etc). They can help unravel the complexity of your physiology.

Note: Blood thinning drugs act as vitamin K antagonists to prevent excessive blood clotting. Thus, consuming too much vitamin K in the diet (or from supplements) can negate the anti-clotting effect and prevent pharmaceutical efficacy.

Recipe

For recipes rich in vitamin K, check out any of the Encyclopedia of Food entries for food items listed above.

Free Recipe Book

Precision Nutrition’s Encyclopedia of Food expands every single month as we highlight new foods and showcase beautiful food photography. If you’d like to stay up to date, simply click this link. From there, we’ll send you a FREE copy of our recipe book. We’ll also let you know when new and delicious foods are added to the site.

Click here for the free Encyclopedia of Food recipe book.

At a Glance

There are three types of vitamin K. Vitamin K helps with blood clotting, amino acid metabolism, cell signaling in bone tissue, and more. It is especially important right after birth, as it prevents excessive bleeding in infants. Vitamin K can be found in several whole foods including green leafy vegetables, lentils, and peas.