[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”11692″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In 2003 Lipitor, a branded name for statins became the best-selling pharmaceutical drug in history. Due to their ability to bring down cholesterol levels, statins are today’s number one recommendation for cardiovascular disease even though now there is some doubt as to whether cholesterol is in fact the root cause of the problem (inflammation and oxidation are now suspected culprits). We’ve known for some time that statins have the undesirable side affect of depleting the body’s supplies of CoQ10, which is itself a prerequisite of heart health, but now it seems that they have the effect of depriving their users of an other important heart protective nutrient, Vitamin K.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”11697″ alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_outline” border_color=”green”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]A leading cardiologist in the US, Dr Dennis Goodman, is sensationally claiming that the big Pharma companies are not promoting the use of the vitamin K2 that could be used to prevent the side effects of most Statins. Dr Goodman, who is Director of Integrative Medicine at New York University’s Langone Medical Centre, is backed up by other medical professionals who claim that because the new wonder vitamin, K2, cannot be patented, the Pharma companies are not interested in it. Are we really surprised?[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In his new book ‘Vitamin K2 : The missing Nutrient for Heart and Bone Health’ Dr. Goodman proposes that Vitamin K2 is every bit as important as Vitamin D for both of these issues. He says “For 20 years I was putting stents in; running around day and night at the hospital. When I got called to the emergency room for someone having a heart attack, I was like a fireman putting out a fire in a house. Sometimes, you were very lucky and could save the house from burning down, and sometimes not. What I started to realize is that prevention is really the key for us to making the maximum impact. 80% of these chronic diseases including atherosclerosis, heart attacks and strokes, diabetes, and obesity are preventable”.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]So because K2 effectively ensures that calcium is not deposited in the soft tissues of the body such as the arteries but is rather directed to the bones it is preventative of both osteoporosis and heart disease. A study of 4,800 people in the Netherlands, known as the Rotterdam Study, by Professor Johanna M. Geleijnse showed that high levels of Vitamin K2 lowered the risk of coronary artery disease by as much as 57%. It also lowered calcium build up in the arteries by 52% and slashed the risk of death from any cause by 26%. This also highlights the possible negative side effects of taking calcium supplements without taking a K2 supplement as well, especially where there’s already a risk of atherosclerosis. So if you’re taking calcium for bone health or if you’re on statins for your heart a K2 supplement is highly recommended because, in either case, proper management of your calcium stores is vital.

Besides a Vitamin K2-poor diet, certain drugs may affect your Vitamin K2 status. Dr Goodman cites a recent article in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology,which suggests statin drugs may increase calcification in the arteries.
“For me, that is so huge because if that’s true, everybody that is put on a statin, you want to make sure they’re also taking vitamin K2,” Dr Goodman says.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”11688″ img_size=”full” style=”vc_box_outline” border_color=”green”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”11690″ img_size=”full” style=”vc_box_outline” border_color=”green”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]Things that can compromise your K2 status include poor dietary intake, antibiotic use, gastrointestinal infections and age related poor absorption. Organ meats and egg yolks are good sources as are fermented dairy products, matcha tea and natto (a slimy Japanese fermented soya bean delicacy not commonly encountered in the Irish diet but sometimes used as the source for supplemental K2).

K2 is the most effective version of vitamin K and when choosing a supplement look for one in the the form of Menaquinone (also known as MK-7) the most beneficial form of K2. Around 200mcg daily is regarded as a therapeutic dosage. It can be taken in capsule form (we often recommend Nature’s Plus Garden Range K2 which is an easily absorbed, food source formulation) or, from very recently, in oral spray form from Better You.

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