In which foods does K2 occur?
In principle, vitamin K1 is contained in all green plants and most fruits of such plants. Most green vegetables contain vitamin K1 and can be used to replenish reserves if consumed consciously. The front-runner among foods containing vitamin K is kale.
Only 100 g of this vegetable contain over 800 μg vitamin K, which corresponds to 10 times the daily requirement. Behind curly kale is after a large distance with scarcely 400 μg Vitamin K1 per 100 g of chives. However, this is not very important, since it is rarely eaten in large quantities.
Other herbs that refresh the vitamin K household are watercress and fennel, both with about 250 μg per 100 g. Spinach, chickpeas, brussels sprouts and soy products rank in the middle of the vitamin K donors with 200 to 300 μg per 100 g. Broccoli, together with wheat germ and lentils, forms the bottom of the list of foods that contain significant amounts of vitamin K1. They strike only with up to 150 μg per 100 g to beeches. It is a folkish misbelief that sauerkraut contains a lot of vitamin K. By a measuring error this wrong assumption was set once into the world, although the court does not even contain 10 μg Vitamin K per 100 g. Grape seed oil, rapeseed oil or soybean oil can be used in the preparation of the dishes, all of which also contain vitamin K.
Osteoporosis
The bone structure is influenced by various factors. These include mainly calcium and vitamin D. But vitamin K is also essential for healthy bones. While calcium represents the basic material for the structure and Vitamin D promotes the admission of calcium, Vitamin K carries its work out directly at the bone.
Its function is to provide calcium from the blood and activate a protein that is essential for the building process – the so-called osteocalcin.This protein can only bind the raw material calcium in cooperation with vitamin K in order to be able to integrate it into the bone tissue and to give the scaffold support. It could be proven by different studies that Vitamin K2, in addition, Vitamin K1 represents a relevant use for the bone structure. Bone density is positively influenced by the vital vitamin and is reduced in corresponding deficiency conditions.
A reduction in bone density is accompanied by an increased risk of bone fractures, which particularly affects older people and women who are already in postmenopause, the period after the menopause. The deficiency of the female hormone estrogen, which occurs after the menopause, can lead to osteoporosis, which can be alleviated with appropriate vitamin K therapy. This effect has also been proven with the help of a scientific study: the increased intake of vitamin K2 causes the disease process to come to a standstill and, in some patients, the reconstruction of bone structures. An exclusive income of Vitamin D preparations, which are generally regarded as means against Osteoporose, cannot develop its effect without sufficient supply with Vitamin K. A balanced and healthy diet is important for good health.
