How vitamins K2, D3, and multiple minerals put the calcium back in your bones & not in your arteries

Will vitamin K2 (MK-7) along with vitamin D3, and a balance of minerals such as magnesium and calcium with trace amounts of the rest of the essential multiple minerals, remove excess calcium from your blood where it is calcifying your arteries and put the calcium where it belongs--in your bones?

You don’t want calcium that belongs in your bones calcifying on lesions inside your arteries or floating only in your blood stream. That’s why reading books and primary source medical articles help you understand how to talk better with your health care professionals and what types of blood tests to request when you see your own doctors.

A few months ago I highlighted page 253 in the book titled, The Cholesterol Hoax, by Sherry Rogers, M.D. where the physician explains the potent protection of vitamin K2. She reports that, “Folks who have higher levels of vitamin K2 have a 57% reduction in heart disease (Geleijnse).” The reason is that Vitamin K2 controls calcium regulation and “specifically inhibits arterial vascular calcifications” (Vermeer, Shearer, Schugers.).” The physician also notes that “Vitamin K decreases circulating cholesterol. (Kawashima).”

Of course you need vitamin D3 to absorb calcium as well, and you also need magnesium in balance. So check out these references to research studies. I found an excellent article on what vitamin K2 does for the body, especially an aging one, in the July 2008 issues of the Total Wellness newsletter. And in the January 2009 issue, it's packed with information on vitamin D3 and what it does for bones and arteries along with vitamin K2. Don't exceed a daily dose of 100 mgs. of K2 in the MK-7 form with natto.

Books such as the The Cholesterol Hoax explain in plain language backed up with information from medical journals and studies why you need to have measured by tests the intracellular minerals instead of just popping calcium supplements alone which could accelerate hardening of the arteries if you don’t have the right amount of vitamin D3 and vitamin K2 to help move the calcium into your bones.

For more information from the primary sources, see: Vermeer, C. et al. Role of K vitamins in the regulation of tissue calcification. Journal of Bone Mineral Metabolism 19: 4:201-06, 2001. Also see Kawashima, H. et al. Effects of vitamin K2 (menatetrenone) on atherosclerosis and blood, coagulation in hypercholesterolemia, rabbits, Japan Journal of Pharmacology, 75: 2:135-43, Oct. 1997.

MK-7 form of vitamin K2 is absorbed better and lasts longer in the blood. You can get the MK-7 form of vitamin K2 at Jarrow's or in combination with the menatetrone form at Life Extension ®. Read the article there on the studies of vitamin K2 in the MK-7 form.

Don’t use this vitamin with prescription anticoagulants. Ask your doctor first before you use any vitamin. Don’t use during pregnancy or breastfeeding. Talk to your healthcare practitioners before you decide whether to take this vitamin, and read books on how vitamins may affect your body.

It’s important to find out how your individual body reacts with particular vitamins and nutrients, supplements, or foods. You want to tailor your foods and nutrition to your genes, body type, and reactions. Another issue is which oils will be healthy for you.

Some Web sites state that many studies indicate that vitamin K2, especially menatetrenone, is superior to vitamin K1 in maintaining the health of the bones. For more information see the Relentless Improvement site or Carlson Labs. However, I don't use the menatetrenone form of vitamin K2 because the MK-7 form is absorbed better and lasts longer in the body.

Vitamin K2 in nature is found in egg yolks, organ meats, dairy products, and especially in cheese and other fermented dairy products such as whey curd. Vegans don't eat these. So vegans are getting the vitamin K1 form and not vitamin K2 because K1 is found in leafy green vegetables. There's a big advantage of vitamin K2 over K1. Sure, the body converts some vitamin K1 to vitamin K2, but not in that great amounts as to be beneficial to older adults or people with health issues.

Vitamin K2 is touted as being able to help keep arteries from getting calcified so quickly. But most of these studies have been done on rats. Nevertheless, I'm taking vitamin K2 in the MK-7 form because the studies are important and show the absorption into your bloodstream is efficient, more efficient than with the menatetrenone form of K2. You can read these studies at the Life Extension® site. Also, in Japan, where the fermented soybean food called natto is eaten, the MK-7 form of vitamin K2 in the natto has been studied. And the research shows lower rates of bone loss and heart disease.

You can eat natto, if you find it, but most people not used to it don't like the taste. In a soft gel, you can get your MK-7 form of vitamin K2 without tasting anything unpalatable. See the January 2009 issue of Life Extension® magazine to read about the MK-7 form of vitamin K2. It's online, or you can read it in print. I buy my MK-7 form of vitamin K2 at any of the online health food stores that carries the Jarrow brand. Or buy it from the Life Extension® Foundation. Buy this form of vitamin K2 at most health stores or online. But first make sure by asking your health care provider if your body is able to take this vitamin. When you call to order it online, you are told not to take it if you are on prescribed blood thinners.

Download the MP3 podcast on vitamin K2 with the Wide World of Health (Cary Nosler) from KSTE Radio, Sacramento. It's from "The Wide World of Health 08/31 Hr 1,Sunday, August 31, 2008 10:31 AM." On the Wide World of Health show, host Cary Nosler's audio MP3 file is a "Best Of" Airing from the radio show with guest, Dr. Leon Schurgers about Cardiovascular Disease and the uses of vitamin K. It's in the "Media files, Cary Nosler 04_15_07 Hour 1.mp3 (MP3 Format Sound)." Look at the archives of recorded podcasts you can download free from the other Cary Nosler, Wide World of Health shows with interviewed guest experts.