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Herb & Supplement Encyclopedia: |
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Vitamin K
Supplement |
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 Scientific Names |
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 Forms |
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 Traditional Usage |
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 Overview |
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 Active Ingredients |
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 Suggested Amount |
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 Drug Interactions |
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 Contraindications |
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 Side Effects |
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 References |
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Scientific Names: |
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Forms: |
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Standardized supplements containing vitamin K including liquid multi-vitamin and mineral products, capsules and tablets and fortified foods; green food supplements. |
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Traditional Usage: |
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Overview: |
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Vitamin K, also known as Phylloquinone (K1) and Menaquinone (K2), is a fat-soluble vitamin that maintains healthy blood clotting and prevents excessive bleeding and hemorrhage. Vitamin K is more specifically necessary for the carboxylation of proteins governing the conversion of the blood clotting agent prothrombin to thrombin. The designation K is derived from the German word, Koagulationsvitamin. Vitamin K is also important for maintaining healthy bone structure and for carbohydrate storage within the body. Vitamin K was first isolated from alfalfa, but is also widespread in higher green plants including green leafy vegetables. Good dietary sources of vitamin K include alfalfa greens, wheat grass, barley grass and kelp. Newborn babies born in hospitals are routinely given an injection of vitamin K3, menadione sodium bisulphite, a synthetically manufactured form of vitamin K, within minutes following birth to prevent the development of life-threatening bleeding caused by low prothrombin levels. Vitamin K occurs in myriad different forms and is rarely given as a supplement aside from its use for newborns because it is naturally produced within the body by beneficial intestinal microflora in the form of vitamin K2. Much of the vitamin K in tissues is from bacterial origin. The microbially synthesized vitamin K is absorbed in the colon. The first time that a hemorrhagic disease in man was recognized as K-avitaminosis was in connection with the cholemic bleeding tendency. This bleeding tendency formerly constituted a great danger in operations on patients suffering from obstructive jaundice from gallstones or a tumor. This was discovered in the early part of 1938. It has since been shown and established that suitable vitamin K treatment can completely eliminate the risk of bleeding in such patients, provided, of course, that the case is not complicated by severe damage of the liver so that vitamin K cannot act. |
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Active Ingredients: |
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Suggested Amount: |
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Vitamin K is not recommended as a supplement because persons having a normal diet are thought to obtain adequate amounts from food and from beneficial intestinal microflora. Consult with a physician prior to taking vitamin K supplements. Recommendations for persons who need supplements are as follows: Men ages 15-24, 70 micrograms/day; Men ages 25+, 80 micrograms/day; Women ages 15-18, 55 micrograms/day; Women ages 19-24, 60 micrograms/day; Women ages 25+, 65 micrograms/day. The dosage administered to patients by doctors through intravenous route to prevent hemorrhage is 10 mg vitamin K3 given the day before an operation, repeated several times during the first two weeks after an operation. Good dietary sources include: raw spinach (1 cup contains 145 mcg); raw broccoli (half cup contains 60 mcg); eggs (1 egg provides 25 mcg). |
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Drug Interactions: |
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High levels of vitamin K within the body can interfere with anti-clotting medications such as warfarin (Coumadin). |
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Contraindications: |
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Vitamin K supplements are contraindicated for persons taking anti-clotting medications such as warfarin (Coumadin). |
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Side Effects: |
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High levels of vitamin K within the body can interfere with anti-clotting medications such as warfarin (Coumadin). Because passionflower hydro-alcoholic extracts, juniper and verbena supply variable quantities of vitamin K, they can also lessen the effect of oral anticoagulant therapy. |
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References: |
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Brown JP, Josse RG. 2002. 2002 clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of osteoporosis in Canada. CMAJ 2002 Nov 12; 167 (10 Suppl): S1-S34.
Hattori M, Morita N, Tsujino Y, Yamamoto M, Tanizawa T. 2001. Vitamins D and K in the treatment of osteoporosis secondary to graft-versus-host disease following bone-marrow transplantation. J Int Med Res 2001 Jul-Aug; 29(4): 381-4.
Kang YA, Bae ON, Lee MY, Chung SM, Lee JY, Chung JH. 2002. Temperature-dependent quinone cytotoxicity in platelets involves arylation. J Toxicol Environ Health A 2002 Sep 27; 65(18): 1367-78.
Klotz LO, Patak P, Ale-Agha N, Buchczyk DP, Abdelmohsen K, Gerber PA, von Montfort C, Sies H. 2002. 2-Methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone, vitamin K(3), decreases gap-junctional intercellular communication via activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor/extracellular signal-regulated kinase cascade. Cancer Res 2002 Sep 1; 62(17): 4922-8.
Zhang W, Negoro T, Satoh K, Jiang Y, Hashimoto K, Kikuchi H, Nishikawa H, Miyata T, Yamamoto Y, Nakano K, Yasumoto E, Nakayachi T, Mineno K, Satoh T, Sakagami H. 2001. Synergistic cytotoxic action of vitamin C and vitamin K3. Anticancer Res 2001 Sep-Oct; 21(5): 3439-44. |
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