Vitamin D Supreme 60 vegetarian capsulesProduct Size: 60 vegetarian capsulesServings Per Container: 60 Quantity Add to CartGetting enough vitamin K depends on how well you are digesting and assimilating your foods AND how much healthy microflora populate your intestines. Find out how to get your K today. Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin that plays a role in blood clotting. Researchers believe that vitamin K may act on a protein thought to be the strongest inhibitor of arterial calcification (Gla-Protein or MGP). In a recent animal study, high doses of vitamin K were found to prevent or reverse arterial calcification (by approximately 40%) AND improve arterial elasticity after 6 weeks of supplementation.2 Vitamin K also has antioxidant qualities, protecting against free radical damage. In fact, one study showed that the antioxidant effect of vitamin K can protect against fetal brain injury.3 There are two types of vitamin K: phylloquinone (vitamin K1), synthesized by plants and menaquinone-n or MK-n (vitamin K2), manufactured by the beneficial bacteria in your intestines.
Vitamin K1 - Kale, collards, romaine lettuce, cauliflower, spinach, broccoli and egg yolks are high in vitamin K. You can add kale or collards combined with cabbage to make your cultured vegetables. Cauliflower and broccoli are the starring vegetables in two delicious and highly recommended soups in the Body Ecology Diet book: Broccoli with Fresh Fennel Soup (page 206) and Creamy Dilled Cauliflower Soup (page 204.) Steamed to perfection and chilled, they are great in a salad of Romaine lettuce and other mixed greens and herbs. Keep in mind that cruciferous vegetables should be cooked or fermented to avoid their thyroid suppressing effect. For more information, read: Why You Need to Cook these Vegetables for Maximum Nutrition. Vitamin K2 - Animal meat and fermented foods and drinks are good sources of vitamin K2. Your body does not store vitamin K, so without regular dietary intake, you could become deficient. The recommended dietary allowance is 60 - 80 mcg/day and this dietary intake is especially important for people on warfarin or other oral anticoagulants that inhibit blod clots (these are vitamin K antagonists).
Blood type O individuals lack several clotting factors in their blood, so adequate intake of vitamin K is especially important. Another reason you may not have enough vitamin K is if your inner ecosystem is out of balance. A healthy inner ecosystem is thriving with beneficial microflora (bacteria, also called probiotics) that live in your intestines and keep your immunity strong. When your inner ecosystem is out of balance, pathogenic bacteria can overpower the good bacteria in your intestines, setting the stage for illness and disease. The healthy microflora in your inner ecosystem also aid in digestion of all the foods you eat, ensuring that you get the vitamins and minerals in them. Now that you know that Vitamin K is in all the food sources mentioned above, you also want to be certain that you are digesting those foods. Besides making Vitamin K directly, the microflora ensure that you digest it. Since vitamin K is obtained from your diet (K1 and K2) and vitamin K2 is manufactured by beneficial bacteria - and your body doesn't store vitamin K - it's important that you have plenty of beneficial bacteria and are assimilating the nutrients from your food.
You may need more dietary vitamin K if you: Adequate dietary intake and building a healthy inner ecosystem full of probiotics (healthy microflora) can help you get the vitamin K your body needs. To aid in digesting and assimilating vitamin K and to populate your intestines with the good guys that make vitamin K, probiotics are key. The best source of probiotics are fermented foods and drinks. These superfoods build your healthy inner ecosystem, boosting your immunity. While they have tremendous benefits for your inner body, they also have benefits for your appearance. To learn more, read: Want to Look Younger and Better? 8 Reasons Why Probiotics are an Essential Tool. Probiotic supplements don't even come close to comparing with probiotic-rich fermented foods, since fermented foods contain many more times the beneficial bacteria. Plus, the fact that the microflora travel down your digestive tract, escorted by food, helps ensure that they survive stomach acid and digestive enzymes in greater numbers.
Here are some great fermented foods and drinks to boost your vitamin K, build your immunity, correct digestion and keep you looking young: You can also encourage the growth of probiotics in your intestines by eating foods that are prebiotics. Learn more about prebiotics by reading: Why Prebiotics are Essential to your Heart Health & Immunte System. The combination of prebiotics and probiotics, as in fermented foods and drinks, have a combined beneficial or synbiotic effect for your health, which is why these foods and drinks are emphasized on the Body Ecology program. There are so many reasons to enjoy fermented foods and drinks. Making them a part of your everyday diet can get your beneficial microflora working for you to create plenty of vitamin K. Sick and tired of feeling sick and tired? A virus could be to blame. Learn how to get it under control before it controls you. Start here: The FREE Body Ecology Antiviral Protocol Want more articles like this?
Sign up to receive weekly articles. You'll also receive a 15% off coupon, the BE Blueprint, and tips from Donna and her team.00Bodies are weird, man. And they get even weirder as you get older. A few years ago I noticed two strange bruises on my calf. I instinctively rubbed the area with my hand, but something odd occurred: I didn't feel any of the pain that usually accompanies rubbing a bruise. Then I got distracted by something shiny and didn't give it much more thought. A month or so went by and I noticed the bruising again. It was like deja vu except it felt more annoying than mystical. I decided to investigate, and as I picked, stretched and leaned in closer to the affected area, I realized this was no bruise. It was little purple and magenta lines! I started inspecting the rest of my legs and found some more around my left and ankle, and a few sprinkled along my right thigh. How did I get myself into this mess?! Can you see them? More importantly, do you like my towel/dress?
Turns out, aside from plain old aging, spider veins can be caused by tanning, alcohol, smoking and birth control. You know, all the fun stuff. They are also caused by obesity (don't think this applies in my case, but I did date a guy who once told me to lose 10 pounds) and heredity, so if you hate your parents you can throw that one on top of the pile. But honestly, who cares how I got them? How do I get rid of them? I can't afford fancy treatments! Well, one of the root causes of spider veins is poor circulation. I hate to admit this, but I was a smoker for almost 10 years. I officially quit last New Year's Eve, and although I can't say I had my last cigarette that night, I can say that my one or two cigarettes a month has been a vast improvement. I'm not going to mom you about your smoking because you're a grown-ass adult, but smoking will seriously cramp your beauty style. If you're a serious nicotine addict, I say you take a cue from Stephen Dorff and pop an electronic cigarette in your mouth.
Another way to boost your circulation is to get off your butt and, like, move around. Instead of standing, try jogging. Running, spinning, eliptical machine riding--all good ways to boost your circulation to get the blood moving. So now that we've successfully quit smoking and become athletes, it's time to consider what we could be putting onto and into our bodies to help us promote and sustain good vein health. Creams with vitamin K are a good way to go. You can also take vitamin K as a supplement (and I will be running out to buy some as soon as I finish writing this). You should probably be taking more vitamins in general. They're good for you--they're vitamins. I also read Green For Life a few years ago (it's all about raw smoothies and they're way better than juices) and the author claimed her spider veins went away after making all of her green smoothies with kale. Kale, aside fom being the leafy green of the moment, is also very rich in vitamin K. Other foods that have a lot of vitamin K include other dark leafy greens (like spinach), spring scallions, broccoli, chilis, brussels sprouts, and cucumbers.