MK-7 Vitamin K-2 100mcg 120vcap - Now Foods

MK-7 Vitamin K-2 100mcg 120vcap from Now improves symptoms of Osteopenia and Osteoporosis.

Now's MK-7 Vitamin K-2 100mcg 120vcap is important for bones and vascular walls. Maintains healthy blood circulation and promotes vascular elasticity.

MK-7 (Menaquinone 7), a form of vitamin K2, is derived from natto (fermented soybeans), a Japanese staple, and one of its richest sources. Vitamin K's importance for coagulation is well known; however, evidence is growing that it plays other roles in the body, including maintaining bone health, preventing inappropriate calcification in soft tissues, and protecting against inflammation.

These processes are facilitated by Gla proteins, which are widely distributed in tissues and are inactive unless carboxylated by vitamin K. These include an important bone protein called osteocalcin and another called matrix Gla protein (MGP). In blood clotting, vitamin K is necessary for the hepatic synthesis of prothrombin (factor II) and blood clotting factors VII, IX, and X, which convert soluble fibrin into insoluble fibrin used directly in clot formation. Without an adequate supply of vitamin K to the liver, levels of functional factors II, VII, IX, and X decrease, and blood clots more slowly. Ultimately, the entire clotting process fails, resulting in potentially catastrophic bleeding. The formation of each of these clotting factors requires vitamin K-dependent carboxylation and glutamic acid residues, forming a mature clotting factor containing gammacarboxyglutamate (Gla), which is subsequently capable of activation.

Regarding bone health, research indicates that the non-carboxylation of the Gla protein osteocalcin, which is believed to be responsible for the quality of the bone mineralization process, is correlated with low bone density and, consequently, a higher risk factor. Vitamin K2 supplementation reduced the incidence of fractures and the rate of bone mineral density loss, while increasing bone strength.

In the bloodstream, recent research has revealed that Gla proteins can inhibit blood vessel calcification and even reverse the calcification process and restore arterial flexibility, but that vitamin K2 is necessary for this process. MGP has the ability to prevent the calcification process of arteries and cartilage in living animals. A lack of MGP in humans has been shown to have significant pathological consequences. Recent research suggests that undercarboxylated forms of MGP are associated with sites of calcification in blood vessels.

The discovery that MGP is a key regulator of tissue calcification is important for diabetic patients, in whom vascular calcification is a recognized problem. An intriguing observation is that two Gla proteins (C and S), important for maintaining the balance between bleeding and clotting, also have other functions unrelated to coagulation. In its activated form, protein C has direct anti-inflammatory action.

120 vegetable capsules