Vitamin K
I just updated VeganHealth.org with a page on vitamin K. Some people have claimed that you must eat animal products in order to obtain one of the two main types of vitamin K. After reviewing the research, that does not appear to be the case. Click here to read more about it.
July 9th, 2010 at 5:30 pm
You’ve discussed the menaquinones (K2) in general, and the MK-7 form of menaquinone (in natto), but what about the MK-4 form, aka menatetranone? Interestingly, the Japanese, who have natto to be beneficial for bones, use MK-4 to treat osteoporosis. It’s my understanding that it isn’t produced by fermentation, and non-vegans get only a very small amount directly from their food, and vegans get none directly from food; we have to convert all of ours. See the article that starts on page 10: http://www.vrp.com/pdf/October2006news.pdf; it has 46 references, some of which may be of interest.
July 15th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
I thought this was the most interesting study:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7596062
I didn’t find anything more recent looking at blood levels of menaquinone-7 and bone fractures.
April 1st, 2013 at 2:09 pm
You’ve discussed the menaquinones (K2) in general, and the MK-7 form of menaquinone (in natto), but what about the MK-4 form, aka menatetranone?
exactly mk-7 vs mk-4 seems crucial to explain.