If you think important vitamins stop at the letter E, think again. Vitamin K is an essential vitamin that can’t entirely be produced in our bodies. Only about one third of the vitamin K we need comes from within; the rest must come from your diet.
Vitamin K was first recognized in 1929 as a blood clotting agent. A Danish scientist studying chickens found that chicks that lacked a certain factor tended to hemorrhage — their blood formed clots too slowly. The missing piece was identified as vitamin K.
Worried about your bones? Vitamin K to the rescue! This vitamin helps your body build up strong bones because it helps create a protein that binds calcium, rather than let the calcium pass out of your system. If you are concerned about osteoporosis, make sure to get enough vitamin K in your diet.
Vitamin K is sometimes useful for women who have extremely heavy menstrual periods. Supplementing your diet with vitamin K can help reduce excessive bleeding, but talk to your doctor about the appropriate amount for you. Too much vitamin K (or too much of any vitamin!) can be bad for your system.
Some good sources of vitamin K include:
- Green, leafy veggies like cabbage, broccoli, turnip greens, lettuce, and spinach
- Asparagus and peas
- Green tea
- Beef, chicken, and pork liver
- Milk and eggs
Eating a healthy, balanced diet isn’t always enough to keep vitamin K in your body. Certain conditions like liver disease, gall bladder disease, and intestinal disease that interfere with fat absorption can lead to a vitamin K deficiency. Long-term use of antibiotics and cholesterol medicine can also leave you lacking in vitamin K. Talk to your doctor about the right amount of vitamin K for optimum health.
In general, the amount of vitamin K you need increases with age. An adult male may need anywhere between 75 and 120 milligrams of vitamin K daily; an adult female may need between 75 and 90 milligrams of vitamin K daily.