A large-scale study by Edith Cowan University’s Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute indicates that people who eat a diet rich in vitamin K1 have up to a 31 percent reduced risk of fractures and are 50 percent less likely to be hospitalized. Vitamin K1 is found in green leafy vegetables.
The researchers examined 1,400 older Australian women over 14.5 years. Published in Food & Function, their paper revealed that women who ate over 100 micrograms of vitamin K1 -equivalent to 125 gr of dark leafy vegetables- were 31 percent less likely to have any fractures compared to those who ate less.
When those with broken hips consumed the most vitamin K, they reduced their risk of hospitalization with a fracture by 49 percent.
Study lead and nutritionist Marc Sim: “Our results are independent of many established factors for fracture rates, including body mass index, calcium intake, Vitamin D status, and prevalent disease. Basic studies of vitamin K1 have identified a critical role in the carboxylation of the vitamin K1-dependant bone proteins such as osteocalcin, which is believed to improve bone toughness.”
Apart from being instrumental in making healthy bones, vitamin K is also critical for reducing bleeding by thickening the blood when we are injured. In fact, the K comes from the German word for blood clotting, koagulation.
Source: theepochtimes.com