Solgar Vitamin K Supplement
What is Vitamin K?
Vitamin K is a fat soluble vitamin that is incredibly important to human health. It's foremost function is in aiding the process of coagulation, or blood clotting. Blood clotting is a complex process by which damaged blood vessel walls are blocked by platelets, or irregularly shaped cells without a nucleus. This blockage process slows the loss of blood – in many cases stopping it altogether – so that the damaged blood vessels can begin to repair themselves. Blood clotting is a critical function of the human body; without it, you could bleed to death from minor injuries. Vitamin K also helps to produce a protein called osteocalcin which binds to calcium in the bloodstream and helps to strengthen your bones.
How much do I need?
As with many vitamins, the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamin K increases as you get older. For infants, the RDA is 10-20 micrograms, for children and young adults it's 15-100 micrograms, and for adults it's 120 micrograms for men, and 90 micrograms for women. Fortunately, unlike most other fat soluble vitamins, vitamin K from natural sources and over the counter supplements is not known to be toxic in high doses, although allergic reactions are a possibility in rare cases. This means that consuming vitamin K rich foods or supplements that provide you with an excess of the vitamin isn't harmful, so assuring that you get the right amount to maintain a healthy lifestyle doesn't need to be an exact science. It's important to note that a specific form of vitamin K called manadione or vitamin K3, is toxic in high doses. Vitamin K3, however, has been banned from use in over the counter supplements by the FDA and is only available by prescription or an injection administered at a hospital.
Where can I find it?
Plenty of foods contain natural sources of vitamin K. Leafy vegetables such as spinach, swiss chard, kale, parsley, cabbage, brussels sprouts, and broccoli are all excellent sources. Some meats contain a lot of vitamin K as well, such as beef, pork liver, and chicken. Vitamin K can also be found in a few fruits like avocado and kiwifruit. Leafy greens are by far the best source of natural vitamin K, in fact, just two tablespoons of parsley contains about 150% of the recommended daily allowance for an adult. It's worth mentioning that because vitamin K is fat soluble, its absorption rate can be increased considerably by cooking it with fatty substances like oil or butter. The vitamin K present in spinach, for instance, can be two or even three times as usable to your body when cooked in butter. Some vitamin K is produced inside of your body as well, by certain bacteria in the large intestine. The majority, however, comes from your diet, so it's important to either include some leafy greens in your meals, or to take a supplement.
How will I know if I'm not getting enough?
Vitamin K, much like other vitamins, occurs frequently enough in most people's diet that deficiency is pretty uncommon. Deficiency is more likely to occur in infants, as their bodies have not begun to produce supplemental vitamin K internally like an adult's has. Most hospitals administer vitamin K injections to newborns, however, which is sufficient to keep their vitamin K at healthy levels until they begin to maintain it naturally through their diet and internal production. You shouldn't administer newborns vitamin K supplements yourself though, unless directed to do so by a physician. In adults, vitamin K deficiency is rare but can occur in the case of certain diseases or liver damage which make it more difficult for your body to produce or absorb vitamin K. Additionally, prolonged antibiotic treatments can destroy the bacteria in your body that produce vitamin K, making it necessary to take supplements or alter your diet accordingly. The symptoms of vitamin K deficiency are somewhat predictable considering the role that it plays in the blood clotting process. They include nosebleeds, heavy menstrual bleeding, anemia, blood in the urine, gum bleeding, hemorrhaging, and easy bruising.