Demands for vitamin K2 RDI as study reveals potential for lowering coronary heart disease

29 May 2020 --- Vitamin K2 has shown potential for lowering coronary heart disease (CHD) risk, while there is no association between intake of vitamin K1 and CHD. That is according to a recent observational cohort study published in the British Medical Journal, which examined the association between intakes of vitamins K1 and K2 and incidence of CHD. NattoPharma highlights this research’s importance in distinguishing between various forms of the vitamin.

“The paper is significant because it adds to the growing body of evidence substantiating vitamin K2 as a cardiovascular-support nutrient,” according to NattoPharma Chief Medical Officer Dr. Hogne Vik. He adds that it also helps to clarify the misconception that all forms of vitamin K are equivalent, confirming the need for a K2-specific recommended daily intake (RDI). 

“Recognition of vitamin K2’s benefits as a strong and significant elucidated inhibitor of vascular and soft tissue calcification is one of the core reasons a separate RDI should be established,” he adds. 

The 11-year Norwegian prospective cohort revealed a link between K2 intakes and a lower risk of subsequent CHD events, building the evidence that K2’s impact on calcification can greatly improve health outcomes. The researchers concluded a higher intake of vitamin K2 was associated with lower risk of CHD.

Researchers followed participants (2,987 Norwegian men and women aged 46 to 49) in the community-based Hordaland Health Study from 1997 to 1999 through 2009 to evaluate associations between intake of vitamin K and incident (new onset) CHD. 

According to “Association of dietary vitamin K and risk of coronary heart disease in middle-age adults: the Hordaland Health Study Cohort,” the role of vitamin K in the regulation of vascular calcification is established, and that patients with both medial and intimal calcification have a higher cardiovascular risk when compared with similar patients without calcification. 

Therefore, an inverse association between vitamin K intake and coronary heart disease (CHD) could be expected. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the association between intake of both K1 and K2 and subsequent CHD events among community-living middle-aged adults in Norway. 

Bolstering vitamin K2 research
According to Dr. Vik, NattoPharma has driven the research confirming vitamin K2’s important health benefits, showing in human studies with healthy and patient participants that the progression of hardening of the arteries can be halted and even regressed with daily supplementation of MenaQ7 Vitamin K2. He adds that the Norwegian study builds on the body of evidence linking vitamin K status to health concerns such as peripheral arterial disease (PAD), coronary calcification, dementia, vascular stiffness in chronic kidney disease patients (CKD) and more. 

“The common link is calcification and the need for adequate vitamin K2 intakes to inhibit this in our circulatory system and tissues. Due to its very molecular structure, vitamin K2 can move beyond the liver to support other systems of the body, such as the bones and vasculature, where K1 cannot. There remains a great deal of confusion that K1 supports both bone and heart health, and this paper helps to identify the difference between the two in that K1 is not linked to cardiovascular health, whereas K2 is linked to both.

“These results mirror what we have seen in epidemiological studies, where populations who consume a lot of dietary vitamin K2 have healthier hearts and more flexible arteries,” Dr. Vik concludes. 

In April, vitamin K status in patients with COVID-19 was linked to improved health outcomes, compared to patients with poor vitamin K status. The research, which was published in the journal Preprints, suggested a connection between low levels of vitamin K and the accelerated breakdown of tissue fibers, including elastin, which is involved with pulmonary disease. Patients with severe COVID-19 are more likely to have comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases (CVD), which are also associated with reduced vitamin K status.

Moreover, vitamins D3 and K2 have separately been widely recognized for their importance in balancing calcium for better bone and cardiovascular health. However, according to research compiled earlier this month by Kappa Bioscience, manufacturer of K2 MK-7, vitamins D3 and K2 each function more effectively in the presence of one other. 

Edited by Elizabeth Green