A new STUDY published in the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology 2008; 26(3):484-91 discusses the association between vitamin K-dependent protein “osteocalcin” and the incidence of low bone mass in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

The study showed that a high vitamin K status in both healthy and diseased children was correlated with markedly better bone properties whereas a low blood concentration of vitamin K was associated with significant impairment in bone quality.

Vitamin K2, menaquinone-7, has been the subject of much research over the past decade. For instance, in the Rotterdam Study , it was shown that diets high in vitamin K2 had a significantly positive effect on bone health and showed a reduction in soft tissue calcification. In the Rotterdam Study, it was found that high natural vitamin K2 consumption reduces the risk of fatal cardiovascular events by as much as 50%. Coronary calcification, once thought of as a passive process that occurred subsequent to a disease, is now accepted as a reversible condition and significant early predictor for cardiovascular disease.

Much of the US population is deficient in vitamin K. Dr. Leon Schurgers, one of the authors of the recent study stated that “Unfortunately …the Western diet is insufficient in K vitamins for bone and cardiovascular health. Supplementing the diet with natural vitamin K2 as menaquinone-7, either in food enrichment or dietary supplements, seems to be the obvious solution to promote human health.” The mean dietary intake of K vitamins are currently significantly lower than it was just 5 decades ago as a result of dietary changes.(1) This shift in diet may shed some light on the increased incidence of cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis.

Per a press release put out by PL Thomas and NattoPharma (distributor and manufacturer of natural vitamin K2, respectively) vitamin K1 (phylloquinone) is found in leafy green vegetables and vitamin K2 is found in fermented foods including cheese and in small amount in egg yolks and meat.

Vitamin K2 is also a key ingredient in PanGenex’s Calci-CLEAR AM supplement, which was developed to address soft tissue calcification. At 45 micrograms, the amount of K2 shown in the Rotterdam Study to be safe and effective, Calci-CLEAR AM is one of the only truly comprehensive nutraceutical products on the market today that provide that level of K2 menaquinone-7. For more information on Calci-CLEAR, visit www.HeartHealthyWorld.com.

Article written by Jim Mosbaugh, Vice President with PanGenex Corporation. Visit www.PanGenex.com for more information.

References:

(1) Prynne CJ, Thane CW, Prentice A, Wadsworth ME. Intake and sources of phylloquinone (vitamin k(1)) in 4-year-old British Children: comparison between 1950 and the 1990’s. Public Healthy Nutr. 2005;8(2):171-80