Knowing About Vitamin K2
By Sam Cyrus

Vitamin K2 is an interesting fellow among vitamins. Vitamin K2, plays critical role in preventing arterial calcification, which is a risk factor in coronary artery disease, as well as other calcification conditions associated with aging.

Vitamin K2 is made in your reproductive organs. Sperm contains a protein that relies on the vitamin K2. There is a lot of vitamin K2 in your pancreas, brain, and saliva, where it builds healthy enamel and protects you from tooth decay. Vitamin K2 deficiency (good name for a band) causes fatigue and lethargy in lab animals. K2 prevents heart disease by inhibiting inflammation and calcification of the arteries.

Vitamin K2, as a fat-soluble vitamin, is essential for optimal dental, skeletal, and cardiovascular health. Vitamin K2 provides major protection from osteoporosis, cardiovascular blockages and pathological calcification. The interesting role of the vitamin K2 is : puts calcium where it belongs (in the bones and teeth) and keeps it away from the places it doesn't belong, such as the arteries, where plaques calcify. Vitamin K2 is essential for healthy development and growth in children. Its effects are subtle: though K2 makes bones dense and strong, it also prevents premature calcification of the cartilaginous parts of bones, the soft parts which allow your baby's bones to grow.

It has been shown that vitamin K2 can be supplemented in very high doses, as used in Japan. It has been found to be safe even at 45 mg or more per day - up to a thousand times greater than generally occurring in the daily diet. Even small amounts of vitamins K1 & K2, as we will see, can have a great impact on overall health.

Vitamin K2 can be made in the body from vitamin K1, which is found in green vegetables, but ideally your diet will contain ample sources of K2 itself. Get your vitamin K2 from the butter, organ meats, and fat of animals raised on grass. A reliable sign of K2 is the rich yellow color of butter from cows on grass; K2's precursor is related to beta carotene. (If you prefer a supplement, you can also buy K2-rich butter oil.  Some bacteria also make the vitamin K2, and you'll find that kind of K2 in fermented foods such as natto, a Japanese soy food).