by Virginia Tims-Lawson
Founder, Peak Wellness Nutrition™
With a family history of heart disease, I’m extremely interested in any new scientific discovery for improving heart health. That’s because it’s not just about me…
My whole family is affected, so whenever I discover something new, I pass it on to not only my mother and my brother, but my aunts and uncles, cousins and friends… really anyone willing to listen.
It’s now been twenty years since I first learned of the Rotterdam Heart Study. With this newly released information our understanding of how to combat heart disease took a giant leap forward. It was a boon for health research!
The Rotterdam Study was a huge, well-controlled Dutch study that tracked 4,800 people over a period of seven years — long enough to get a really clear picture of results. Over this time, the study revealed 57% fewer deaths occurred among participants who took the greatest amounts of vitamin K2 than among those who took the least.
This applied only to vitamin K2 — not to K1 — and researchers concluded that vitamin K2 may provide strong cardiovascular benefits by preventing arterial calcification.
The K2/arterial health connection
The Rotterdam Study participants who took more K2 had fewer calcium deposits (plaque) in the aorta, indicating they had less atherosclerosis (hardening and narrowing of arteries). In comparison, those with lower K2 intake showed moderate to severe calcification.
And animal studies confirmed the results…
One study comparing rats receiving K2 and rats not receiving K2 found that rats receiving K2 developed “no” calcium deposits in their aorta and carotid arteries, while 100 percent of those not receiving K2 did.
Another rat study showed higher doses of K2 “decreased” arterial calcium by 50 percent.
These were extremely important findings because scientists understand that the accumulation of coronary calcium is a primary cause of atherosclerosis.
It becomes even more groundbreaking and the implications more profound when you realize that most people older than 30 or 40 already have some degree of arterial calcification — and previously there was no way to reverse it!
Atherosclerosis blocks arteries, impedes blood flow and causes cardiovascular disease, which can result in heart attack, stroke and peripheral vascular disease.
Vitamin K2 helps increase life span for those with cardio risk
Each year, around 1.5 million people have heart attacks and strokes, and more than 800,000 die. That means one of every three people who die are victims of cardiovascular disease, and about 160,000 are under age 65.
Dr. Bruce Ames, a leading authority on nutrition and aging, published a study in 2014 confirming that vitamin K can, in fact, extend life.
Out of 7,000 people at high risk for cardiovascular disease, those taking the highest amount of K2 were 36 percent less likely to die of any cause. Plus, they were also protected against cardiovascular death.
How does K2 protect your arteries?
As you get older, calcium starts showing up in places you don’t want it, including the lining of your arteries.
So what happens? As calcium is deposited, your artery walls, which are normally smooth muscle cells, become bone-like. They lose their resilience, become increasingly inflexible and lose their ability to properly regulate blood flow.
Fortunately, nature has given us matrix Gla protein, one of 16 Gla proteins activated by vitamin K — that is if you have enough of it. The matrix GLa protein keeps calcium out of your arteries.
Research shows older people tend to have less active matrix Gla protein. Therefore, scarcity of this protein is an indicator of low vitamin K. And low vitamin K triples your risk of cardiovascular disease.
Vitamin K needs increase with age, and older individuals require higher amounts of vitamin K to keep adequate levels of this important vitamin available in their bodies. That makes getting extra vitamin K2 a vitally important part of your heart health regimen.
That’s because Vitamin K2 helps keep blood flowing freely through clean, calcium-free arteries which gives you long-lasting, all-day cardiovascular protection.
Yours for Peak Health,
Virginia Tims-Lawson
Founder, Peak Wellness Nutrition™
Sources:
Cost & Consequences. Million Hearts. millionhearts.hhs.gov/learn-prevent/cost-consequences.html
Faloon, W. Protection Against Arterial Calcification, Bone Loss, Cancer, and Aging! Life Extension Magazine. lifeextension.com/magazine/2009/1/Vitamin-K-Protection-Against-Arterial-Calcification-Bone-Loss-Cancer-Aging/Page-01. Jan. 2009.
Ramirez, J. The Surprising Longevity Benefits of Vitamin K. Life Extension Magazine. lifeextension.com/magazine/2014/9/The-Surprising-Longevity-Benefits-of-Vitamin-K/Page-01. Sept. 2014.
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