The ''all-purpose'' vitamin K2

Perhaps the discovery of Vitamin K2 was as dramatic as the discovery of vitamin D. Ironically, although vitamin K2 may seem like a new nutrient, it was actually first described by a prominent American dentist and scientist about 80 years ago, but technological limitations and misnomers at the time meant that we missed it. For many of us, vitamin K2 is a new term, or even unheard of, but in the world of nutrition research, vitamin K2 is booming, with a lot of research going on about it. There is no doubt that the benefits of vitamin K2 are profound and may even greatly outweigh those of vitamin D.

Prevent and treat osteoporosis
Vitamin K2 has many benefits. Its benefits were previously thought to focus on bone and tooth health, as mentioned in the previous introduction.

If the body does not have enough vitamin K2, a large amount of calcium will be blocked in the blood. When there is too much calcium in the blood, atherosclerosis or calcification of the blood vessels will occur. When there is too little calcium in the bones, osteoporosis will occur.

Prevent vascular calcification and prevent coronary heart disease

Vitamin K2 can prevent atherosclerosis and keep blood vessels healthy by enhancing bone calcium absorption and thereby effectively reducing blood calcium concentration. K2 protects against coronary heart disease, mainly due to the role of vitamin K2 in calcium metabolism. Vitamin K2 has been found to help move excess calcium out of the blood vessels and into the bones and teeth where it belongs. High cholesterol levels have previously been linked to coronary heart disease, but new research has found that calcium deposits in the blood vessels are a more important cause of coronary heart disease. At present, the popular coronary heart disease detection method in western developed countries, EBCT scan, is to accurately detect the amount of cardiovascular calcium deposition by using the above theory, so as to judge the degree of cardiovascular blockage

Prevention of cancer
Many studies have found that a lack of vitamin K2 increases the risk of cancer.

In the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, 24,000 people aged 35 to 64 took part in the trial, all of whom were cancer-free. The trial tracked participants' average cancer incidence and death rates for 10 years. Part of the study tracked participants' dietary intake of vitamins K1 and K2 over the years, compared with their morbidity and mortality rates. It turned out that vitamin K2, but not vitamin K1, was inversely associated with cancer and the risk of dying from it. The benefit of taking vitamin K2 is that it can significantly reduce lung and prostate cancer.
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota found that people with a higher intake of vitamin K also had a lower risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
In addition, researchers in Japan have found that vitamin K2 plays an important role in preventing viral cirrhosis from turning into liver cancer.

Skin care
Studies have found a strong link between excessive skin wrinkling and a lack of vitamin K2. In fact, you can predict a postmenopausal woman's risk of osteoporosis based on the severity of her facial wrinkles. It has been speculated that one reason Japanese women have fewer wrinkles and sagging skin than their Western counterparts may be due to higher levels of the vitamin K2 in their blood. Vitamin K2 helps maintain the integrity of the tiny capillaries that nourish the skin and plays a vital role in maintaining the health of blood vessels in the skin. With insufficient levels of vitamin K2, veins are more likely to bulge and dilate, which explains why vitamin K2 deficiency has been linked to varicose veins.

Ameliorate diabetes
You may wonder why vitamin K2 can help prevent and manage diabetes. Turns out, our bones help control diabetes. Bones produce a hormone, called osteocalcin, to help build denser bones, but osteocalcin has also been shown to improve insulin secretion and sensitivity, which is an important related factor in the development of type 2 diabetes. Because osteocalcin is a vitamin K2-dependent protein, researchers are looking for clues as to whether widespread vitamin K2 deficiency is a potential risk factor for the rising incidence of type 2 diabetes.

Maintain dental health
Maintaining lifelong dental health is undoubtedly one of the best anti-aging strategies. Millions of elderly people are unable to chew enough food and absorb enough nutrients due to poor teeth, resulting in serious negative effects on their health. Keeping fit should first provide our body with enough healthy nutrients, and it all starts with the teeth in the mouth.

Vitamin K2 is key to building strong teeth. It helps the dentin produce osteocalcin, whose role is to help deposit calcium and other minerals into the enamel. This may explain why the salivary glands and saliva have the second highest concentration of vitamin K2 in the body (after the pancreas).

In short, the application of vitamin K2 in many health fields is slowly being revealed, and new drugs and foods based on it are coming into people's lives.