Vitamin K2: Is a supplement a good idea?

876. There's no vitamin F or G. After E, we jump straight to K, and that quirk is a hint that this nutrient is more complicated than it looks. Vitamin K isn't one thing. It's a whole family of compounds -- K1, K2, MK-4, MK-7 -- that come from different sources and do completely different jobs, from blood clotting to steering calcium into your bones instead of your artery walls.

In this episode, Monica untangles the confusing terminology and gets to the question listeners keep asking: does a vitamin K2 supplement actually protect your bones? She digs into what the research really shows, including a widely cited meta-analysis that lumped together two very different kinds of studies, why the prescription-strength results don't tell you much about the low-dose supplement in your cabinet, and whether the food and gut bacteria you already have might be doing the job on their own. Plus, the truth about taking vitamin K with your vitamin D.

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Related episode

713 - Can vitamin K2 prevent osteoporosis?

References

Efficacy of vitamin K2 in the prevention and treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials - PubMed