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Vitamins D and K Work as a TeamWhen it comes to calcium metabolism, vitamins D and K work together. Both play important roles.
The Role of Vitamin D
One of the main functions of vitamin D is to maintain adequate calcium levels in the blood.
There are two ways in which vitamin D can achieve this:
Improving calcium absorption: Vitamin D enhances the absorption of calcium from the food you eat.
Taking calcium from bone: When you don’t consume enough calcium, vitamin D maintains its blood levels by drawing on the body’s main calcium supply — your bones.
Maintaining adequate blood levels of calcium is essential. While calcium is best known for its role in bone health, it has many other vital functions in the body.
During periods of insufficient calcium intake, your body has no other choice but to use the calcium reserves in your bones, even though that may cause bone loss and osteoporosis over time.
The Role of Vitamin K
As mentioned above, vitamin D ensures that your blood levels of calcium are high enough to meet your body’s demands.
However, vitamin D does not fully control where the calcium in your body ends up. That’s where vitamin K steps in.
Vitamin K regulates calcium in your body in at least two ways:
Promotes calcification of bone: Vitamin K activates osteocalcin, a protein that promotes the accumulation of calcium in your bones and teeth.
Reduces calcification of soft tissues: Vitamin K activates matrix GLA protein, which prevents calcium from accumulating in soft tissues, such as the kidneys and blood vessels.
At this point, few controlled human studies have investigated the effects of vitamin K supplements on blood vessel calcification, but more studies are under way.
Blood vessel calcification is implicated in the development of chronic diseases, such as heart and kidney disease.
More Info
- Manufacture: Fresh Start Nutrition
- Brand: Fresh Start Nutrition
- Size: 120 Count (Pack of 1)
- Style: D3 4000iu / K2 200µg