This is page 7 of an 8-page Article. Please begin at Page 1 here, to fully understand how vitamin K2 gives you strong bones & teeth.
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Occasionally I take a K2 supplement because I’m high-vegan and approaching 70. It gets tougher to convert nutrients as you age. I don’t want a broken hip or a calcified heart valve that can’t open properly. My late mom suffered from a weak heart valve muscle in her 80’s.
If I were younger, I’d continue to rely on blended & juiced leafy greens, fermented vegetables made with Kinetic Culture (#ad), and grain milks. I’d exercise more vigorously. I’d trust in body strength, and variety in diet, to do the conversions.
By the way, K2 reduces wrinkles 🙂 Dr. Kate cites studies that lead her to state:
“When it comes to skin, it seems that a K2 deficiency might be written all over your face. … This new data about what causes skin to sag show that K2 plays a major role in maintaining a smooth, supple complexion.”
Perhaps that’s the reason why everyone who juices and blends leafy greens has such a soft smooth skin? Everyone remarks on how my skin is more like a teenager’s.
I’ve received feedback from my readers since 1998 — those who are sprouting their micro-greens — how soft their skin is.
Which Supplement Is Best?
Currently there’s no way to test whether you’re getting sufficient K2 or whether you should take a supplement.
Commercial labs don’t yet offer tests to measure K2 deficiency. Dr. Kate’s website is a good place to stay updated on testing.
Dr. Kate discusses several tests in her book. A likely test will be to compare the amount of undercarboxylated (inactive) osteocalcin in a blood sample, either to the total amount of osteocalcin or to the carboxylated (active) osteocalcin in that sample.
Dr. Kate writes in her book:[48]
“Given that … vitamin K2 deficiency is common and there are no known side effects of taking vitamin K2, the average person needn’t bother with undercarboxylated osteocalcin testing. Just focus on a diet that includes grass-fed foods, fermented dairy products and natto, or take a K2 supplement if your daily diet is lacking menaquinone-rich foods.”
An optimal dose of K2 will depend on whether you’re taking A and D. If you are, then you’ll need more K2. Dr. Jack Kruse advises to take 200 mcg of K2 for every 1,000 IU of D3.[29]
The main K2 supplements are MK-4 and MK-7. Both are usually vegan. The MK-4 is either synthetic (typically made from tobacco extract) or the one I take originates from yeast. It would be too expensive to extract it from grass fed butter or egg yolk.
Clinical trials show that synthetic MK-4 works. It’s the form used in most of the animal experiments and in the Japanese osteoporosis studies.[48]
The MK-7 form remains in the bloodstream longer and reaches levels seven- to eight-fold higher.[20] This could mean 100 mcg of MK-7 gives you greater benefits than far higher potencies of MK-4.[26]
MK-4 has a short half-life of a few hours before blood levels drop. This could mean you must take it three times a day.[48]
Or it just means that tissues take up MK-4 more rapidly. There’s no known benefit to having it stay in your blood longer.[30]
MK-7 from natto has a longer half-life of a few days in the blood. Dr. Kate advises a single daily dose of 120 mcg for stable K2 protection, and 240 mcg for older women.
If you’re allergic to soya, you may want to stick to MK-4 or try Dr. Mercola’s chickpea MK-7 (#ad).
Dr. Mercola sells a 150 mcg K2 supplement (MK-7) derived from fermented chick peas. They’re not genetically modified.
Personally I alternate between a 100 mcg capsule of MK-7 by Solgar made from GM-free natto (#ad) and a 200 mcg capsule of MK-4 from Solal, a company in South Africa where I live (not on amazon). I prefer to play safe and get both forms. Solal confirmed their MK-4 source is the yeast, Yarrowia lipolytica.
Since 1995 the Ministry of Health in Japan has approved 45 mg (4,500 mcg) daily of MK-4 for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis.
Although Drs. Kate and Mercola agree that 200 mcg a day should be adequate, Adams et al. recommend a daily dose of 1 mg (1,000 mcg) each of both K1 and K2.[1] Life Extension Foundation recommends 1,000 mcg a day of K2, and 9,000 mcg of K1![26]
A caveat: “preliminary evidence indicates that doses of 1,000 mcg per day of supplemental K1 may contribute to periodontal disease,” Masterjohn warns. It could cause oxidative damage in the K1-to-K2 conversion.[30]
At the other end of the scale, the Rotterdam study saw the lowest risk of heart attack and aortic calcification in subjects who included more than 32.7 mcg a day of vitamin K2 in their diet.[10] Big difference between 33 mcg and 4,500!
K2 is more bioavailable when you take it with fat. Of course, taking any supplement with food will boost absorption.
Form gives rise to function. Your heart and liver serve different functions based on their unique form. It’s the same with cells and molecules. So we know MK-4 and MK-7 must serve different functions. But we don’t know what!
The only anecdotal evidence I can find is in an Amazon.com review of Dr. Kate’s book (#ad) by Michael A. George on August 14, 2012. He writes:
“I have yet to hear from anyone that the MK-7 supplements will dissolve the calcified plaque that forms behind the lower front teeth. In 2 days, the Thorne MK-4 supplement completely removed the krud behind my teeth. I was amazed by this. Ever since, I don’t need a teeth cleaning at the dentist. I had been taking the Jarrow MK-7 for more than a year without this dramatic effect.”
However, Dr. Mercola writes on his site of the MK-7 in fermented vegetables:[32]
“I started incorporating them [fermented veg] into my own diet and after a little over a month of daily use, was surprised to find that this minor change has dramatically decreased plaque formation on my teeth, which has been a chronic problem for me.”
So there we go, both MK-4 and Mk-7 inhibit calculus buildup on your teeth. Saliva is exceptionally high in vitamin K2, as well as phosphorus and calcium ions to remineralize your tooth enamel.
If you’re taking any medication, especially a blood thinner (anticoagulant) like warfarin (Coumadin) which blocks the body’s recycling of vitamin K1, causing a K1 deficiency, you must advise your doctor of the K2 supplement. Dr. Kate writes:[48]
“patients on oral anticoagulant therapy who take up to 50 micrograms of MK-7 per day have more complete carboxylation [activation] of osteocalcin without interfering with the effect of the blood thinner.”
Taking more than 50 mcg of K2 may interfere with your anticoagulant prescription drug.
What about vegan children? If you ARE eating Energy Soup, green smoothies, green juices, cooked leafy greens, fermented foods made with a K2-culture, and taking a vegan K2 supplement if needed, and your child still has teeth or bone abnormalities, then you need to seriously consider a non-vegan supplement.
Reportedly the best is butter oil and fermented cod liver oil (#ad) from Green Pastures. An older child is better able to convert K1 into K2, and beta-carotene into vitamin A, so may not need the supplement.
Ramiel Nagel writes in his book, Cure Tooth Decay: Heal and Prevent Cavities with Nutrition (#ad):[46] — where he recommends a lot of animal fat:
“I have found summer grass-fed butter to be highly effective in making teeth very hard, and in securing loose teeth in their sockets by strengthening the periodontal ligament … Sources for local butter from grass-fed animals are available at www.realmilk.com … The store brands that seem to contain the highest activator X [K2] content are Kerrygold from Ireland and Anchor butter from New Zealand.”
Remember, you can’t reverse a cramped dental arch. That happened in pregnancy. But cavities, or abnormally small stature in children, you can. Their teeth and bones are still growing.
How Dr. Weston A. Price Healed Tooth Decay
Dr. Price reversed tooth decay using cod liver oil (high in vitamins A & D) and butter oil (rich in vitamin K2). This not only stopped teeth from decaying, it also reversed cavities without any need for a dentist.
One 14-year-old girl healed 42 open cavities in 24 teeth by taking capsules of the two oils (cod liver and butter) three times a day for seven months. Her dentine actually remineralized, sealing what were once active cavities with a glassy finish.[30]
Wow, the oils actually helped the dentin to grow and remineralize! This is amazing. Seventy years later, current research is still focusing only on calcium-phosphate ions to remineralize dentin.[2]
The two oils also dramatically reduced the bacterial count in the mouth of Dr. Price’s patients.
Who needs a dentist when you’ve got A, D, and K2? But must you eat liver, butter, and fish oil? I don’t.
Listen to your own body-mind. You are not me 🙂 You intuitively know what’s right for you today.
If you feel vegan or vegetarian is not working for you, or if any of your clients feel it, then I strongly recommend Susan Schenck’s book, Beyond Broccoli (#ad).[49]
In Conclusion
We are a green-eating species. For 90% of our history, we were mostly gatherers, and lesser so, hunters. Leafy greens are the easiest food to gather all year round.
We are also a non-materialistic species! The last thing a nomadic hunter-gatherer needs is a load of possessions to pull her down. This passion for products and profit — whatever the cost to life on earth — is a recent aberration in human history.
We’re a loving species. We love the cuddle chemical oxytocin. We love our family and friends. And our animal companions. They love us unconditionally.
Do you feel Consciousness calling you to evolve out of the cruelty of animal slavery?
Yes, vegans are the guinea pigs. There’s never been a multi-generational vegan society.
Yet now we know about vitamin K2, we’re one step closer to freedom.