Vitamin K's True Health Benefits

It's green, it's valuable, and it can vastly improve your quality of living. One more hint: It's not money. No, this stuff actually does grow on trees. It's called Vitamin K and although you don't hear about it as often as the standard A-through-E vitamins, researchers are discovering more and more of its invaluable functions. The truth is, Vitamin K is packed with nutrients and benefits for almost anyone who ingests it.

Vitamin K will provide you with health rather than wealth, but there's no mistaking that it's loaded with benefits. Aside from its many already proven functions, researchers now believe that Vitamin K prevents osteoporosis, the disease that weakens the bones, a function that until now seemed primarily in calcium's hands. Vitamin K + Calcium, in fact, might be your best bet in the fight against osteoporosis, some research suggests.

The fat-soluble vitamin is essential for many suffering health problems, particularly those experiencing birth complications or bleeding disorders. Vitamin K has been linked to growth and development of the new-born and has also aided those with intestinal malfunctions and those who suffer frequent nosebleeds and excessive bleeding. Vitamin K supplementation should never be used with newborns, however (unless specifically directed by a physician).

Everybody needs Vitamin K in his or her system. Deficiency in this vitamin will affect the development process of infants, leading to problems like Hemorrhagic disease, which is characterized by abnormal bleeding through the intestines or umbilical cord. In adults, these deficiencies lead to severe blood clotting, particularly in the stomach, and can lead to considerable intestinal complications. The lack of Vitamin K can seen as akin to Vitamin A through E deficiencies - all of the vitamins and minerals are necessary and essential to a healthy life.

Vitamin K is most commonly found in green leaf-like sources such as spinach, green tea, cabbage, turnip greens, and brussels sprouts. Other foods, like alfalfa, soybeans, cheddar cheese, oats, and cauliflower are also rich on the vitamin. So if you're a big salad eater, chances are that you're getting a very healthy dose of Vitamin K on a pretty regular basis.

While Vitamin K is important and beneficial to the system, it is possible to have too much. Overdoses of Vitamin K, which are extremely rare, have been linked to brain damage in infants and toddlers, and liver malfunctions in adults. Aside from the aforementioned natural sources, Vitamin K is also available in tablets and should be taken with meals - or ingested an hour after the completion of a meal.