CAN VITAMIN D SUPPLEMENTS DEPLETE VITAMIN K by Green Pasture

What is Vitamin D?

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that can be obtained from your diet or made by your body when your skin is exposed to sunlight. One of the most important roles of vitamin D is in maintaining the strength of your bones. You need vitamin D to absorb calcium, one of the main minerals in your bones. Vitamin D also stimulates some of your bone cells and a lack of vitamin D can make your bones weak.

Vitamin D and Vitamin K

There is some evidence that having more vitamin D in your body can decrease the levels of vitamin K. A study that examined the relationship between vitamin D and vitamin K in Danish girls was published in a 2010 issue of the "British Journal of Nutrition." This study found that girls with elevated vitamin D levels had lower levels of a substance known as undercarboxylated osteocalcin, which is often used as a marker for vitamin K levels, suggesting that high amounts of vitamin D decrease the levels of vitamin K.

What Is Vitamin K?

Vitamin K is another fat-soluble vitamin with multiple roles in the human body. It is best known for its importance in blood clotting; many of the chemical reactions needed to make a blood clot require vitamin K. Vitamin K is also needed to maintain the health of bones and low levels of undercarboxylated osteocalcin is associated with an increased risk of bone fractures. A lack of vitamin K can cause poor blood clotting and impaired bone health.

Considerations

Although there appears to be a link between vitamin D and vitamin K levels, it has not been proven that taking vitamin D supplements will decrease the amount of vitamin K in your body. Talk to your doctor before taking any sort of vitamin supplement, as too much vitamin D can cause a dangerous increase in blood calcium levels and may also weaken your bones.

Hi David,

Dr. Mercola interviewed Dr. Rheume-Bleue from Montreal recently. She wrote the book:

Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox.

This is her website. http://doctorkatend.com/blog/about/

This is an excerpt of Dr Mercola's interview:

IMPORTANT: If You Take Vitamin D, You Need K2

This is a really crucial point: If you opt for oral vitamin D, you need to also consume in your food or take supplemental vitamin K2.

"There are so many people on the vitamin-D-mega-dose bandwagon, taking more and more of vitamin D. And it could absolutely be causing harm if you are lacking the K2 to complete the job to get the calcium where it's supposed to be," Rheaume-Bleue warns.

"We don't see symptoms of vitamin D toxicity very often. But when we do, those symptoms are inappropriate calcification. That's the symptom of vitamin D toxicity. And it is actually a lack of vitamin K2 that can cause that..."

While the ideal or optimal ratios between vitamin D and vitamin K2 have yet to be elucidated, Rheume-Bleue suggests that for every 1,000 IU's of vitamin D you take, you may benefit from about 100 micrograms of K2, and perhaps as much as 150-200 micrograms (mcg).

The latest vitamin D dosing recommendations, which call for about 8,000 IU's of vitamin D3 per day if you're an adult, means you'd need in the neighborhood of 800 to 1,000 micrograms (0.8 to 1 milligram/mg) of vitamin K2.

"My earlier recommendation was not taking into account people who were doing high dose of vitamin D supplementation," Rheaume-Bleue says. "That's where it gets a little bit more technical. It seems that for the average person, around 200 to 280 micrograms will activate your K2 proteins and do a lot of good for your bones and your heart. If you're taking high levels of vitamin D... then I would recommend taking more K2."

The good news is that vitamin K2 has no toxicity. No toxic effects have ever been demonstrated in the medical literature.

"The reason why K2 doesn't have potential toxic effect is that all vitamin K2 does is activate K2 proteins. It will activate all the K2 proteins it finds. And if they're all activated and you take extra K2, it simply won't do that. That's why we don't see a potential for toxicity the way we do with vitamin A or D," she says.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/12/16/vitamin-k2.aspx