Many foods are rich in vitamin K. This important vitamin is left mostly intact when foods are cooked. Vitamin K functions to prevent bleeding and to ensure calcium is deposited in bones. When levels of vitamin K in the blood drop, calcifications can occur in coronary arteries and heart valves.
Function
In combination with calcium and the protein fibrinogen, vitamin K acts to help blood platelets form clots to prevent hemorrhaging, reports the Franklin Institute. Vitamin K and calcium must be present in the blood for the clotting process to work. Uncontrolled bleeding occurs with a lack of vitamin K. A calcium and vitamin K balance in the blood reduces unwanted calcification.
Availability
Very little vitamin K is destroyed by cooking or food processing. Food sources provide good amounts of vitamin K. People who eat a balanced diet are not usually deficient in this vitamin, according to MayoClinic.com. Foods rich in vitamin K include meat, dairy products and green leafy vegetables such as kale, spinach and Brussels sprouts. Fruit sources include kiwi and avocado.
Blood Thinners
Heart patients taking prescription blood thinners, such as warfarin, should continue eating vitamin K foods, but should limit amounts of vitamin K-rich foods, according to the Texas Heart Institute, which recommends discontinued use of vitamin K supplements for heart patients on blood thinners.
Calcifications
The presence of vitamin K in the blood assures calcium deposits in bones, which decreases the potential for diseases such as osteoporosis. Too little vitamin K allows calcium deposits, in the form of calcifications, to occur in unwanted areas such as heart valves. The "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" reports that vitamin K supplementation, in the form of phylloquinone, slows the progression of coronary artery calcification already present in study subjects.
Supplements
Dr. Frederic Vagnini of Eldr.com stresses the importance of vitamin K in heart health. As daily diet choices change, patients on blood thinners may benefit from low-dose vitamin K supplementation. A diet's fluctuating effects on vitamin K in the blood may be stabilized by the use of supplemental vitamin K, says Vagnini.
References
- Franklin Institute: The Human Heart
- MayoClinic.com: Vitamin K (Oral Route, Parenteral Route)
- Texas Heart Institute: Blood Thinners
- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition: Vitamin K Supplementation and Progression of Coronary Artery Calcium in Older Men and Women
- Eldr.com: Fight Heart Disease with Vitamin K
