Vitamin K _ Good for Koagulation!

Vitamin K from koagulation!!!

I will explain you!

In late 1920s and early 1930s, Danish researches discovered a substance that avoid blooding, because it is essential for forming blood clots and make it fastly whenever you injure yourself. It´s vitamin K.

Vitamin K has your family too:

ü  K₁ = phylloquinone : found in plant foods;

ü  K₂ = menaquinone : is made from bacteria in your intestines;

ü  K₃ = medadione: artificial form;

All kinds of vitamin K ends up in your liver, where it is used to make some of substances that make your blood clot.

This vitamin is good to building your bones because it helps hold on calcium in your bones and make it is getting in the right place. Then, women in menopause should take more this vitamin to avoid fractures.

The vitamin K bone protection happens in two processes;

1)    One process is related to osteoclasts that are bone cells in charge of bone demineralization. In other words, they take minerals out of the bone and make their available for other body functions. However this process should be balanced because it can cause excess bone demineralization.

 Vitamin k makes this balance and keep this process in check, because of menaquinone forms that blocks formation of too many osteoclasts.

2)    The second process is called carboxylation that is a chemical reaction in which a carboxylic acid group is introduced in a substrate.

There is a protein called osteocalcin needs to be chemically altered through the process of carboxylation. When too few of this osteocalcin proteins in our bone are carboxilated, our bones have increased risk for fracture. Then vitamin K (MK-$ menaquinone) can restore these bone proteins to their proper place in our bone structure and strengthen the composition of the bone.  

Others functions of vitamin K are:

ü  Prevents calcifications of blood vessels or heart valves;

ü  Protect against oxidative damage;

ü  Regulates inflammatory response;

ü  Supports of brain and nervous system structure;

Vitamin K is found in beef liver, raw broccoli, raw cabbage, raw cauliflower, egg, milk, baked potato, soybean oil, raw spinach, strawberries, raw tomato, wheat germ, spinach, mustard greens and romain lettuce.

Do you know more? Ask me!

Barbara Bruna

References:

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=112

PRESSMAN A. H., BUFF S. Vitamins and minerals. 2007. 3^rd ed.