The Nutritional Power of Plums: A Vitamin-Rich Delight

Plums are more than just a tasty fruit; they are a powerhouse of essential vitamins that support overall health and well-being. Among the many nutrients they offer, vitamin C takes center stage. Known for its antioxidant properties, vitamin C is crucial for bolstering the immune system, protecting cells from oxidative damage, and promoting radiant skin by enhancing collagen production. Additionally, this vitamin aids in the absorption of iron from plant-based foods, making plums especially beneficial for vegetarians and individuals prone to iron deficiency. Remarkably, a single plum can provide up to 10% of the daily recommended intake of vitamin C, depending on the variety and size.

Another standout nutrient in plums is vitamin K, which plays a pivotal role in blood clotting and bone health. Adequate vitamin K levels can prevent excessive bleeding, reduce the risk of fractures, and support long-term cardiovascular health by preventing arterial calcification. A medium-sized plum contains approximately 5-10% of the daily vitamin K requirement, making it a valuable addition to any diet aimed at strengthening bones and maintaining healthy blood flow.

Plums are also a rich source of vitamin A, primarily in the form of beta-carotene. This precursor to vitamin A is vital for eye health, particularly in reducing the risk of age-related macular degeneration and night blindness. It also supports immune defense and facilitates cell growth and repair. Once consumed, the body converts the beta-carotene in plums into vitamin A, ensuring a steady supply of this essential nutrient.

In addition to these key vitamins, plums contain smaller amounts of B vitamins like vitamin B6 and folate. These nutrients are instrumental in energy metabolism, brain health, and the production of red blood cells. Folate, in particular, is vital for pregnant women, as it supports fetal development and reduces the risk of neural tube defects.

With their robust vitamin profile and myriad health benefits, plums are a delicious and nutritious way to enhance a balanced diet, making them a smart choice for people of all ages.
The Nutritional Power of Plums: A Vitamin-Rich Delight

Vitamin K and posttranslational modification

Posttranslational modifications (PTMs) encompass changes to the side chains of amino acids in certain proteins that occur after their synthesis. These diverse modifications, numbering over 400, profoundly influence various aspects of protein functions.

Vitamin K assumes a vital role in the synthesis of several proteins that are indispensable for blood clotting and bone development. It is also referred to as anti-hemorrhagic factor or phylloquinone.

During the process of blood coagulation, vitamin K plays a pivotal role in the synthesis of prothrombin and factors VII, IX, and X. It actively participates in the posttranslational modifications of these proteins, specifically by facilitating the γ-carboxylation of glutamate residues.

Vitamin K seems to serve as both a precursor and a potential enzyme in the formation of prothrombin, a product of liver metabolism.

Another protein, osteocalcin, relies on vitamin K for the production of healthy bone tissue. Vitamin K exerts its anabolic effect on bone turnover through several mechanisms, including the promotion of osteoblast differentiation, upregulation of specific genes in osteoblasts, and activation of bone-associated vitamin K-dependent proteins, which play crucial roles in the mineralization of the extracellular bone matrix.

Foods rich in this vitamin are primarily composed of vitamin K1 (with K2 accounting for only 10%). These vitamin-rich foods can be found in abundant quantities in green vegetables that are rich in chlorophyll, such as spinach, broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, lettuce, and parsley.
Vitamin K and posttranslational modification

Hypervitaminosis K

Hypervitaminosis can be defined as a condition of abnormally high storage levels of vitamins, which can lead to toxic symptoms (toxicity). Hypervitaminosis may be acute and chronic with very specific and general clinical symptoms. Acute hypervitaminosis is the result of one time intake of very high dose of one or multiple vitamin preparations/supplements.

Vitamin K is important for blood clotting and bone health. It may also prevent dangerous buildup of calcium in tissues, organs, and blood vessels of people with or at risk of certain conditions like kidney disease, heart disease, and diabetes.

Vitamin K1 (phylloquinone) is dietary vitamin K. Sources include green leafy vegetables (especially collards, spinach, and salad greens), soy beans, and vegetable oils. Vitamin K2 refers to a group of compounds (menaquinones) synthesized by bacteria in the intestinal tract; the amount synthesized does not satisfy the vitamin K requirement.

Excessive intake of vitamin K rarely occurs. Excess doses (>1,000 times the requirement) can promote thrombogenesis and hemolysis. Vitamin K toxicity is rare but is most common in formula-fed infants. High doses of vitamin K can worsen the clotting problems caused by severe liver disease.

Vitamin K toxicity can occur only with type K3 that leads to haemolytic anemia by inhibiting the glutathione function that may lead to accumulation of reactive oxygen species. This may cause rupture of red blood cells membrane due to oxidative stress and thus lead to haemolytic anemia, jaundice and liver damage.
Hypervitaminosis K

Vitamin K2 synthesized by intestinal bacteria

Vitamin K occurs naturally in two forms.
*Phylloquinone or vitamin K1 (2-methyl-3-phytyl-1,4-naphtoquinone) is synthesized by plants.
*Menaquinones or vitamin K2 (multi-isoprenyl-quinones, several species) are primarily produced by bacteria.

Bacteria synthesize a range of vitamin K forms (but not vitamin K1) using repeating isoprene (5-carbon) units in the side chain of the molecule (vide infra). These forms of vitamin K are designated menaquinone-n (MK-n), where n stands for the number of 5-carbon units in the structure. Menaquinones (MK-n) are collectively referred to as vitamin K2.

Many bacteria that populate the microbial ecosystem of the human intestine synthesize menaquinones, which they utilize as redox reagents in electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation.

Vitamin K is taken in the diet or synthesized by the intestinal bacteria. Its absorption takes place along with fat (chylomicrons) and is dependent on bile salt. Vitamin K is transported along with LDL and is stored mainly in liver and, to a lesser extent, in other tissues.

Menaquinones play important roles in electron transport, oxidative phosphorylation, active transport, and endospore formation in bacteria. In addition to these functions, the variations in the inherent structures of menaquinones and their uneven distributions among bacteria are considered important in bacterial taxonomy.
Vitamin K2 synthesized by intestinal bacteria

Malabsorption syndromes can cause vitamin K deficiencies

Vitamin E deficiency is rare. In the United States, deficiency is limited primarily to people with an inborn deficiency of alpha-TTP and to those who have fat malabsorption syndromes, and hence cannot absorb fat-soluble vitamins.

Malabsorption syndromes that prevent the proper absorption of nutrients can cause vitamin K deficiencies. Malabsorption is the inability to absorb dietary food. Mucosal barrier to absorption: disease of small intestine. Malabsorption constitutes the pathological interference with the normal physiological sequence of digestion (intraluminal process), absorption (mucosal process) and transport (postmucosal events) of nutrients.

Vitamin K deficiency is seen in patients with malabsorption syndromes such as pancreatitis, short bowel syndrome, sprue, or small bowel states of bacterial overgrowth such as sometimes accompany use of broad-spectrum antibiotics. It also can be seen in patients with extremely poor dietary intake of green leafy vegetables.

Vitamin K is fat-soluble and therefore requires bile salts for absorption from the jejunum. Biliary obstruction, malabsorption syndromes, gastrointestinal obstruction, or rapid gastrointestinal transit can result in vitamin K deficiency because of inadequate absorption.
Malabsorption syndromes can cause vitamin K deficiencies

Forms of Vitamin K

Vitamin K actually comes in three different forms:
First, there’s vitamin K1, or phylloquinone. Phylloquinone is ubiquitously distributed in plants, green leafy, vegetables oils, and algae and is the main source of vitamin K in the human body. This group of lipophilic vitamins, mostly required for blood coagulation, also plays important roles in bone metabolism, calcification and vascular health.

Next, there’s Vitamin K2, also called menaquinone. This the form friendly bacteria in the intestines make. Vitamin K2 helps the body turn on biological switches that activate three critical preteens: osteocalcin, calcitonin, and matrix G1a. Osteocalcin, calcitonin, and matrix G1a are calcium-binding proteins that are essential in guiding into the bone.

The September 2003 International Journal of Oncology revealed that treating lung cancer patients with vitamin K2 slowed the growth of cancer cells. Among food sources of vitamin K2 are green vegetables, parsley, cilantro, watercress, culinary herbs and green drinks”.

The last form would be called vitamin K3. This is the artificial form, also called menadione. All vitamin K ends up in liver, where it’s used to make some of the substance that make blood clot.
Forms of Vitamin K

Deficiency of salicylates and vitamin K

A diet with high intakes of salicylates can reduce vitamin K epoxide reductase, resulting in vitamin K deficiency. It will impact magnesium levels, which increased adrenaline flow.

The increased adrenalin flow then results in a variety of hyper excitability disorders including ADHD or Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Herbs and spices are particularly high in salicylates. Among the herbs, the highest levels are found in dill, mace, oregano, rosemary, tarragon and thyme, while among the spices most salicylate is to be found in aniseed, cumin, curry powder, paprika, and turmeric.

Salicylates are also present in flavorings, perfumes, scented toiletries, eucalyptus and some medication (such as aspirin).

Aspirin is a salicylate. Blocking vitamin K is why aspirin can "thin" the blood - it basically keeps blood from coagulating. This is why too much aspirin can cause stomach and intestinal bleeding. Antibiotics can cause bleeding problems from vitamin K deficiencies.
Deficiency of salicylates and vitamin K 

Vitamins synthesis by intestinal bacteria

Although, by definition, vitamins required by man cannot be synthesized within the tissues, it is important to note that bacteria within the gut can synthesis many of the vitamins required by man. The human intestinal bacteria can synthesize vitamin K, a member of the naphtoquinone family.

Vitamin K2 also called menaquinone also is a product of metabolism of most bacteria including the normal intestinal bacteria of most higher animal species. The vitamin K bacterial reactions occur, in part, in the ileum, where the menaquinone is absorbed.

Among bacteria involve in synthesizing vitamin K are: Bacteroides spp., Eg. Lenta, Propionibacterium spp., Veillonella spp., staphylococci, enterococci enterobacteria.

Most of the vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin) required by humans comes indirectly from the meat and milk of ruminants. The synthesis of B12 is ruminant is exclusively bacterial origin. It appears most of the bacterially formed B12 I human occurs in the large bowel. It was demonstrated that E. coli, Bifidobacterium spp., Veillonella spp., Fusobacterium spp., Eurobacterium spp., and Clostridium spp., among the bacteria that synthesized B12 in the small intestine.

Folic acid and thiamine B complex vitamins are also synthesized by bacteria in the intestinal tract. Other vitamins synthesized by intestinal bacteria are:
*Biotin
*Folic acid (B2)
*Pantothenic acid (B5)
*Niacin (B3)
*(Pyridoxine) B6
Vitamins synthesis by intestinal bacteria

Symptoms of vitamin K deficiency

Deficiency of vitamin K, an element necessary for formation of prothrombin and other clotting factors in the liver, produces abnormal bleeding.

Vitamin K deficiency in the general population, but the risk is significantly greater in infants especially premature infants and those who are exclusively breast fed.

The cardinal sign of vitamin K deficiency is an abnormal bleeding tendency, accompanied by prolonged prothrombin time these signs disappear with vitamin K administration. Without treatment, bleeding may be severe and possibly fatal.

The symptoms of vitamin K deficiency included significant hemorrhage following mild trauma, ecchymosis, petechiae, hematomas, oozing of blood, loss of blood in stool or urine, nose bleed, hematuria, menorrhagia, epistaxis, heavy menstrual flow and mucosal bleeds.

Hemorrhagic disease of the newborn, characterized by a tendency to bleed, is the principal form of vitamin K deficiency.
Symptoms of vitamin K deficiency

Phylloquinone

The major dietary source of vitamin K, the form found in green plants, is generally called vitamin K1 but it is preferably called phylloquinone. It was discovered in higher plants nearly 75 years ago by Henrik Dam but was recognized only a little over a decade ago as an electron carrier between the primary acceptor and inter-polypeptide iron-sulfur center FeS-X in photosystem.

Green leafy vegetables especially spinach (380 ug/100 g), cabbage (145 ug/100 g), broccoli (180 ug/100 g) and Brussels sprouts (177 ug/100 g) supply substantial amounts of phylloquinone.

Certain vegetables oils (soybean, cotton seed, canola and olive) also are good sources. The phylloquinone content of oils varies considerably, with soybean oil (190 ug/100 g) and canola oil (130 ug/100 g) quite high and corn oil (3 ug/100 g) a very poor source.

Exposure to light degrades vitamin K, so the phylloquinone content of oils varies not only with brand and batch but also with storage time if the oil are bottled in transparent container. Therefore, vegetable oils may not be a reliable source of vitamin K.

Phylloquinone was reported in green, brown and read algae and also in the blue-green alga Nostoc. In the brown, red and blue-green algae there was more phylloquinone present compared with plastoquinone than there was in the higher plants. In fruit and in petals phylloquinone was present in detectable quantities.
Phylloquinone

Food sources of vitamin K group

Vitamin K is part of a family of chemical, all fat-soluble naphthoquinones. They are including phylloquinone (K1), menaquinones (K2) and menadione (K3).

The first is vitamin K1 (phylloquinone or phytonadione), which comes from plants and makes up human dietary vitamin K. Phylloquinone is the predominant dietary form of vitamin K and is present in foods of plant origin.

These include green leafy as the major quantitative source and contribute approximately 60% of total phylloquinone.

Certain plant oils and margarine, spreads and salad dressings derived from these plant oils are also important dietary sources of phylloquinone.

The second is vitamin K2 (menaquinones), which is produced by bacteria present in the large intestine. It is found in butter, cow liver, chicken, egg yolks, fermented soybean products, and some cheese.

The fats of grass-fed animals are especially good sources of vitamin K2. For vegetarians who would shun animal fats, natto, the Japanese fermented food, is a good source of vitamin K2.

Third, there is vitamin K3 (menadione), is neither found naturally in food nor made by intestine bacteria. It is synthetic, man-made substance.
Food sources of vitamin K group

Properties of vitamin K

Vitamin K comprises derivatives of 1,4-naphthiquinone. Naturally occurring forms are equipped with structures possessing the unsaturated isoprenoid side chain linked to naphthoquinones at crabon-3.

Vitamin K also fat soluble. It is essential for the synthesis of prothrombin a compound involved in the clotting of blood.

Vitamin K is mostly needed to help to stop bleeding, but it has some other jobs as well.

It is a cofactor specific to the formation of –carboxyglutamyl residues from specific glutamate residues in certain proteins.

The most important is the crucial role vitamin K, plays building bones. Vitamin K is needed to help hold onto the calcium in bones and make sure it’s getting to the right place.

It actually comes in three different forms: First, there’s vitamin K1, or phylloquinone. This is the form of vitamin K found in plant foods.

Vitamin K1 is quite stable to oxidation and most food processing and food preparation procedures. It is unstable to light and alkaline conditions.

Next, there’s Vitamin K2, also called menaquinone. This the form friendly bacteria in the intestines make. 

The last form would be called vitamin K3. It is also called menadione. Menadione is the only formed isolated from Staphylococcus aureus and also chemically synthesized. It is a synthetic compound that can be converted into K2 in the gastrointestinal tract.

All  vitamin K ends up in liver, where it’s used to make some of the substance that make blood clot.
Properties of vitamin K

Metabolism of vitamin K

There are two principal forms of vitamin K: vitamin K1 (phylloquinone) is found in plant foods and vitamin K2 (menaquinone) is derived from animal and bacterial sources.

Vitamin K1, K2 and K3 (menadione) are essential nutrients associated with blood clotting and bone metabolism.

Vitamin K1 is fat soluble and requires bile salts for absorption in the upper gastrointestinal tract.

Vitamin K seems to play an indispensible role in the formation of normal amounts of prothrombin by the liver.

Prothrombin, in turn is a constituent of the blood essential to normal blood clotting. Deficiency in prothrombin results in an appreciable prolongation of the clotting time of the blood.

Vitamin K acts a factor in the final synthesis of proteins with modified amino acid residue.

This modified glutamic acid residue is found in the blood and along vessel walls, along with platelet-derived phospholipid, where it binds and facilitates the action of calcium, and is an integral part of the clotting process.

Many drugs impair vitamin K metabolism. Broad spectrum antibiotics destroy the colonic bacteria that produce vitamin K and can increase risk of deficiency.

Drugs which impair fat absorption aloes can reduce absorption of vitamin K.
Metabolism of vitamin K

Role of Vitamin K in blood clotting

Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin. The K is derived from German word koagulation. When the person gets a cut, whether small or large and starts to bleed, a series of reactions forms a clot that stops the flow of blood.

This cascade of reactions involves the production of a series of proteins, and ultimately the protein fibrin.

For blood to clot, fibrinogen, a soluble protein, must be converted to fibrin, an insoluble fiber network.

In this process a peptide is removed by proteolysis. Vitamin K is necessary for the maintenance normal levels of not only prothrombin (factor II) but also blood clotting factors VII, IX and X.

All these four blood clotting factors are synthesized in the liver as inactive precursors and the conversion to their active forms requires vitamin K.

Vitamin K converts the precursor protein preprothrombin to prothrombin by adding carbon dioxide to glutamic acid (an amino acid) in the protein.

This change imparts a calcium-binding capacity, which allows prothrombin to be changed to thrombin.
Role of Vitamin K in blood clotting

Food sources of vitamin K

Vitamin K is made in the gastrointestinal tract by the billions of bacteria that normally reside there. Once synthesized, vitamin K is absorbed and stored in the liver.

However, the body cannot make enough vitamin K to meet all of its needs. The best dietary sources of vitamin K are green leafy vegetables such as spinach, turnip greens, green cabbage, tomatoes and broccoli.

Other foods such as milk, eggs, wheat cereals, and some fruits and vegetable contain small amount of vitamin K.

Vegetables such as iceberg lettuce and green beans provide smaller amounts of vitamin K. Only one rich animal food source of vitamin K exists: liver.

Deficiency of vitamin K prolongs clotting rime and may result in excessive bleeding after injury. Babies do not have reserves of vitamin K art birth therefore routine practice to give vitamin K to the expectant mother to prevent excessive bleeding at child birth.

The vitamin K requirements for men is 120 micrograms a day; women require 90 micrograms.

Food sources of vitamin K

Causes of vitamin K deficiency

Human intake of vitamin K comes from two main sources - our diets and synthesis from intestinal bacteria.

Vitamin K deficiency is rare among humans and most other animal species. This is due to the wide occurrence of vitamin K in plant and animal foods and to the significant microbial synthesis of the vitamin that occurs in the intestines. Vitamin K deficiencies can be caused by a variety of factors. These include:

*Not consuming enough vitamin K from one's diet can contribute to a deficiency. Dietary vitamin K is highest in leafy green vegetables such as lettuce, kale, broccoli and collard greens.

*A diet with high intakes of salicylates can block vitamin K. Salicylates are found in foods such as nuts, fruits, spices and mints. Aspirin is a salicylate. Blocking vitamin K is why aspirin can "thin" the blood - it basically keeps blood from coagulating. This is why too much aspirin can cause stomach and intestinal bleeding.

*Antibiotics can cause bleeding problems from vitamin K deficiencies. Antibiotics drugs can virtually sterilize the lumen of the intestine, thus removing an important source of vitamin K. Prior to surgery, a patient’s vitamin K status is often tested to assess the risk hemorrhaging because antibiotics are frequently part of the treatment regimen.

*Candida (systemic yeast) infections have been linked to vitamin K deficiencies. An overgrowth of Candida albicans or other kinds of yeast can crowd out the helpful bacteria in the digestive tract that make vitamin K. People who eat a lot of sugary foods, an unusually high proportion of alkaline foods and/or take antibiotics tend to be at high risk for Candida infections.

*Lipid malabsorption. Whenever lipid absorption falters, as occurs when bile production falls, vitamin K absorption diminished. Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, biliary stasis, liver disease, cystic fibrosis, celiac disease and Ascaric infection can interfere with the centric absorption of vitamin K.

*Certain types of drugs can impair vitamin K function. Anticoagulants like Warfarin block the action of vitamin K. In turn, vitamin K blocks the action of anticoagulants. That could block blood vessels leading to the heart or brain.

*Megadoses of vitamins A and E counteract the actions of vitamin K. Vitamin A appears to hamper intestinal absorption of vitamin K and excess vitamin E seems to decrease the vitamin K dependent clotting factor, thus promoting bleeding.

*The bacteria that synthesize vitamin K thrive in an acidic digestive environment. Antacids, if taken in sufficient quantity, may cause a vitamin K deficiency, as well as irritable bowel syndrome and various nutritional deficiencies, because they neutralize the hydrochloric acid in a person's stomach. Hydrochloric acid is needed to digest food and create the acidic environment in which the beneficial bacteria thrive.

*Some drugs disrupt vitamin K’s synthesis and action in the body: antibiotics kill the vitamin K-producing bacteria in the intestine, and anticoagulant drugs interfere with vitamin K metabolism and activity. When vitamin K deficiency does occur, it can be fatal.

Causes of vitamin K deficiency

Types of vitamin K

Vitamin K is needed for γ-carboxylase activity which is essential for the formation of active clotting proteins. Vitamin K is also required for the synthesis of other proteins found in plasma, bone and kidney.

Vitamin K was discovered in 1935 by Henrik Dam as a fat soluble compound that prevented hemorrhagic disease in chicken.

There are two different forms of vitamin K:
*Vitamin K1
*Vitamin K2

Phylloquinone (vitamin K1), is the only form found in plans and is the primary dietary source of vitamin K.

Vitamin K1 is freely available in green vegetables particularly in alfalfa, cereals and animal food.

The vitamin also called Mephyton. Thus vitamin K1 is 2 methyl, 3 phytyl-1,4 naphthoquinone. It is a light yellow oil.

This form of vitamin also found in vitamin K supplements and is often given to infants to prevent bleeding.

Menaquinone or vitamin K2, is a product of bacteria metabolism and makes only a minor contribution to vitamin K intake. Its absorption appears to be limited.

Another one is vitamin K3. It is 2-methyl, 1-4 naphthoquinone without any side chain or OH group. Also known as menadione, is synthetic analogue of vitamin K. This form of vitamin is neither found naturally in food nor made by intestinal bacteria but is produced commercially.

Types of vitamin K

Vitamin K

Vitamin K
Vitamin K also fat soluble. It is essential for the synthesis of prothrombin a compound involved in the clotting of blood.

Vitamin K is mostly needed to help to stop bleeding, but it has some other jobs as well.

The most important is the crucial role vitamin K, plays building bones. Vitamin K is needed to help hold onto the calcium in bones and make sure it’s getting to the right place.

It actually comes in three different forms:
First, there’s vitamin K1, or phylloquinone. This is the form of vitamin K found in plant foods.

Next, there’s Vitamin K2, also called menaquinone. This the form friendly bacteria in the intestines make.

The last form would be called vitamin K3. This is the artificial form, also called menadione. All your vitamin K ends up in liver, where it’s used to make some of the substance that make blood clot.

Cabbage, spinach, cauliflower, and liver are good source of vitamin K, although moderate amounts are found in many other vegetables, as well as in cereals.

The significant symptom of vitamin K deficiency in humans and in animals is the loss of the ability of the blood to clot which is, of course, a dangerous condition that can result in death whenever bleeding from cuts occurs.

It is believed that humans ordinarily receive adequate amounts of vitamin K in the diet.

As a rule, vitamin K deficiency is rare – almost everyone gets more than enough from their own bacteria and from their food.

Sometime newborn babies don’t have enough vitamin K because they don’t yet have any bacteria to make it in their intestine.

To make up for them, most newborns are given an injection of a tiny amount of vitamin K soon after birth.

When adults get vitamin K deficiency, it’s generally because they eat very few green vegetables or because they have been taking oral antibiotics for a long time.

The antibiotics kill off the intestine bacteria that make vitamin K. Sometimes vitamin K deficiency is caused by liver disease or a problem digesting fat.

The major symptom of vitamin K deficiency is that blood clot very slow, so it will bleed for along time even from minor injuries.

Vitamin K deficiency causes bug black and blue marks from very slight bruises or even for no reason, nosebleeds, blood in your urine and intestinal bleeding.
Vitamin K

Vitamin K

Vitamin K
Vitamin K is needed for the production of prothrombin which is necessary for blood clotting. It is also essential for bone formation and repair; it is necessary for the synthesis of osteocalcin, the protein in bone tissue on which calcium crystallizes. Consequently, it may help prevent osteoporosis.

Vitamin k plays important role in the intestine and aids in converting glucose into glycogen for storage in the liver, promoting healthy liver function. It may increase resistance to infection in children and help prevent cancers that target the inner linings of the organs. It aids in promoting longevity. A deficiency of this vitamin can cause abnormal and/or internal bleeding.

These are three forms of vitamin K. The first is vitamin K1 (phylloquinone or phytonadione), which comes from plants and makes up your dietary vitamin K. The second is vitamin K2, a family of substances called bacteria and also found in butter, cow liver, chicken, egg yolks, fermented soybean products, and some cheese. Third, there is vitamin K3 (menadione), which is synthetic, man made substance.

Vitamin K deficiency can be caused by any of the following:

• A poor diet
• Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis
• Liver disease that interferes vitamin K storage
• The use of antibiotics, cholesterol-lowering drugs, mineral oil, aspirin and blood thinners
  

Low blood levels of vitamin K are associated with insulin release and glucose regulation problems, and may lead to low bone density in women. Supplementing the diet with this vitamin enhances then bone building process by attracting calcium to the bone. Supplemental vitamin K also reduces the amount of calcium in the urine and frees up more calcium to be used by the bone-building process.
Vitamin K

Vitamin K and Its Role in Our Body

Vitamin K and Its Role in Our Body
Vitamin K denotes a group of lipophilic, hydrophobic vitamins that are needed for the posttranslational modification of certain proteins. Chemically they are 2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives.

Vitamin K is fat soluble. It is essential for the synthesis of prothrombin, a compound involved in the clotting of blood. Cabbage, spinach, cauliflower, and liver are especially good sources of vitamin K, although moderate amounts are found in many other vegetables, as well, as in cereals.

Although vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin, the body stores very little of it and its stores are rapidly depleted without regular dietary intake. Perhaps, because of its limited ability to store vitamin K, the body recycles it through a process called the vitamin K cycle. The vitamin K cycle allows a small amount of vitamin K to function in the gamma-carboxylation of proteins many times, decreasing the dietary requirement.

The significant symptom of vitamin K deficiency in humans and in animals is the loss of the ability of the blood to clot which is, of course, a dangerous condition that can result in death whenever bleeding from cuts occurs. It is believed that humans ordinarily receive adequate amounts of vitamin K in the diet.
Vitamin K and Its Role in Our Body