Thread: vitamin K

Originally Posted by garethhe

i've broken down my diet and it appears it is deficient in vitamin K, although i'm pretty good with the other vitamins.

I doubt you are deficient - it is hard to do... not only do the bacteria in your intestines produce Vit K, but you don't need a huge about (about 100-130 mcg's day) and you are probably get more than you think from things like oils (olive oil has Vit K in it... so does canola oil and soy oil) and also from green vegetables.

If you take a multivitamin chances are that you are getting some from that too.

any suggestions on what are the best foods to eat to get more K?

Green leafy stuff... And lots of it... eg: Broccoli (one cup has about 3 x your requirements), spinach, kale (1 cup contains about 4 x your requirement) lettuce, watercress..... Ummmm... yeah... basically the 'greener' it is, the more it will have in it.

and, what does K do for you anyway?

Main thing - helps with blood clotting (it is actually what poisons like rat bait stop from working in your body - so rat baits actually cause the rat to become deficient in active Vit K and they bleed to death... interestingly, this is also how the medication warfarin works in humans! )..

It also has another main role - and that is in in the growth and strength of your bones...

thanks emma, as always you knock it out of the park.

it's good to know the bacteria in my intestine are good for something!

Emma, how on earth do you know so much about nutrition? Have you studied nutrition or dietics at university?