Benefits of vitamin k for the body, and the best food sources

Adequate intake of minerals and vitamins every day helps you maintain a healthy body. One type of vitamin that is important for the body, but which is often overlooked, is vitamin K. In fact, without enough vitamin K, you will bruise or bleed more easily because it becomes difficult for your blood to clot. Not only that, check out the various other benefits of vitamin K in this article.

Various benefits of vitamin K for body health

The most important benefit of vitamin K is to support blood clotting. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), there is actually not enough scientific evidence to support other benefits of vitamin K apart from blood clotting.

However, several existing studies have shown that vitamin K can help prevent and overcome other health problems. For example:

Bone health. Several studies have shown that vitamin K helps maintain bone strength, increases bone density, and reduces the risk of fractures.
Cognitive function of the brain. Increased blood levels of vitamin K have been linked to improved cognitive function in older adults, which may help prevent senility in old age.
Heart health. Vitamin K can help keep blood pressure low by preventing the formation of minerals in the walls of blood vessels, which are a major risk factor for heart disease. In addition, adequate vitamin K intake has also been shown to reduce the risk of stroke.

What is the ideal amount of vitamin K that the body needs?

The amount of vitamin K needs of each person varies, depending on age, gender, and activity. However, according to the Nutrition Adequacy Rate (RDA) from the Indonesian Ministry of Health, in general, the ideal vitamin K requirement for adults ranges from 55–65 mcg per day.

There are no harmful side effects of taking vitamin K in excess. However, you don't really need to eat it every day. Excess vitamin K from supplements or daily food will be stored in the liver (liver) for reserves at a later date.

What happens when a person is deficient in vitamin K

Without enough vitamin K, your body cannot produce prothrombin, a special protein that functions for blood clotting and bone metabolism. If this happens, you will bruise more easily even if it's just a minor injury. Lack of vitamin K also makes you more prone to bleeding and it is difficult to heal, even if it's only a small cut. The reason is, your blood makes it difficult to clot when your body doesn't have enough prothrombin.

Not infrequently, bleeding that doesn't heal can have serious consequences, especially if the injury is severe enough.

The group of people who are more prone to vitamin K deficiency

In many cases, healthy adults rarely experience a vitamin K deficiency. This is because the body can store vitamin K from its previous dietary intake for use when it is needed.

Even so, vitamin K deficiency is often experienced by newborns and people who have problems with the absorption of certain nutrients, such as celiac disease, bacterial infections, ascariasis (intestinal worms), and acute pancreatitis.

Some of the following people are also more likely to experience vitamin K deficiency, namely:

Has anti-clotting excess blood.
Have bile duct disease.
Have liver disease such as cirrhosis and Gaucher's disease.
Frequent consumption of alcohol.
Taking drugs whose side effects inhibit the absorption of vitamin K in the body.

Get enough of your vitamin K needs, from fresh foods and supplements

Even though you don't need to consume a lot, it doesn't mean that you don't have enough of your vitamin K intake. You can get vitamin K from fresh food sources, such as green leafy vegetables (broccoli, spinach, mustard greens, leeks, cauliflower, cabbage, cucumber, asparagus, lettuce), nuts (edamame, soybeans, peanuts), vegetable oil., milk and processed products (cheese, milk, yogurt, butter), to meat and eggs.

You can also get the benefits of vitamin K from taking supplements. However, you should first consult with your doctor to find out the exact dose for you.