Is Vitamin K the Next Big Anti-Cancer Nutrient?

Vitamin K is one of the least familiar nutrients. It was discovered by German scientists and given the name vitamin K because it’s responsible for ‘koagulation’ or blood clotting. There are two basic types of vitamin K:

1. Vitamin K1 is found in green vegetables and goes directly to your liver. It helps you maintain a healthy blood clotting system. Babies need vitamin K1 to prevent a serious bleeding disorder. Vitamin K1 also prevents blood vessels from calcifying, helps your bones retain calcium, and helps you develop the right crystalline structure, Dr. Joseph Mercola explains.
2. Vitamin K2 is produced by bacteria and goes straight to your bones, vessel walls, and tissues other than your liver. It is present in fermented foods like curd cheese and natto. While a lot of vitamin K2 is present in your gut, it is not absorbed there. Most of it is just excreted in your stool.

Vitamin K2 comes in different forms, MK4 and MK7 being the most significant. MK4 is a synthetic product which is very similar to vitamin K1. Your body is capable of converting vitamin K1 into MK4. MK4, however, has a very short half-life (about an hour), making it ineffective as a dietary supplement.

MK7, on the other hand, is an agent which stays in your body longer–having a half-life of three days.

Nowadays, this “forgotten vitamin” is getting more attention as more studies show that it may have cancer prevention properties.

Dr. Mercola recently interviewed top vitamin K researcher Dr. Cees Vermeer, who founded the world’s largest vitamin K research group in 1975.

According to Dr. Vermeer, men who get adequate amounts of vitamin K2 can reduce their risk of prostate cancer by up to 50 percent. Prostate cancer is one of the most common types of cancer among men in the U.S.

Research conducted by the German Cancer Research Center suggests that people with a high consumption of vitamin K from food may reduce their risk of developing or dying from lung and prostate cancer compared to those who consume few vitamin K-rich foods.

Other studies show that vitamin K may be beneficial in the fight against other types of cancer, including colon, leukemia, liver, lung, nasopharynx, and oral cancers.

The Vitamin K, Vitamin D, and Calcium Triumvirate

Dr. Vermeer says that vitamin K is unable to do its work by itself. For you to fully experience and optimize the benefits of vitamin K, you need to take several “partner” nutrients.

Vitamin D, an important cancer-fighting nutrient, is one. There is a synergistic effect between vitamins K and D. These two nutrients work together to increase MGP, or Matrix GLA Protein–the protein responsible for protecting your blood vessels from calcification.

You probably know that calcium is good for your bones, but what you may not know is that it can also harm your arteries by calcifying them. Taking vitamin K solves this problem because it protects your blood vessels from calcification when in the presence of high calcium levels, Dr. Mercola explains.

Vitamin K, in the form of MK7, also increases the production of osteocalcin, a vitamin K-dependent protein your bones need to use calcium.

Take note: Vitamin K is a fat-soluble nutrient, so you need to eat some fat along with it so your body can effectively absorb it. A word of caution: Taking Vitamin K2 while on anticoagulation drugs may lead to adverse side effects. Patients on blood-thinning medications and those who have a history of stroke, cardiac arrest, and are prone to blood clotting should not take Vitamin K2 without first consulting their physician.

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Tags: anti-cancer, Dr. Joseph Mercola, vitamin K1, vitamin K2