Your body needs 13 vitamins that play various roles in promoting healthy growth and development, preventing diseases associated with nutrient deficiencies and preventing illness or medical problems. You can typically get all of the nutrients you need from food if you eat a well-balanced diet and consume enough calories to prevent malnutrition. One vitamin in particular is essential in the coagulation -- or blood-clotting -- process.
Blood-clotting Vitamin
Vitamin K helps your body synthesize proteins, including coagulation proteins such as prothrombin, or factor II. Vitamin K is a necessary cofactor in the carboxylation of glutamic acid, which attaches to coagulation proteins, according to the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University. Without vitamin K, the proteins responsible for blood clotting would not be able to do their jobs. Vitamin K enables coagulation proteins to bind together to form, in concert with platelets, a fibrin clot in areas where tissue, blood vessels or organs are damaged.
Vitamin K Sources
Your body is able to make vitamin K from intestinal bacteria. You also get vitamin K from a variety of foods, including broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and leafy green vegetables such as spinach, leaf lettuce, romaine and Swiss chard. Less significant sources include organ meats, pork, beef, fish, eggs and cereal. One cup of spinach provides 145 mg of vitamin K, for example, which is more than enough to meet your daily requirement.
Adequate Intake
The amount of vitamin K believed to adequately meet nutritional needs in adults is 90 mcg for women and 120 mcg for men. Vitamin K is fat-soluble, meaning that your body is able to store excess amounts in fatty tissue and your liver. A vitamin K deficiency is uncommon but may be more likely in individuals with certain conditions, such as celiac disease, Crohn's disease, liver disease and gallbladder disease. Blood-thinning medication, hemodialysis and severe burns may also interfere with vitamin K status.
Considerations
Most healthy individuals get enough vitamin K without supplementation. Patients being treated with warfarin or coumadin should follow medical advice about vitamin K intake. In cases where blood clots too easily, blood-thinning medications may be used to counter or mediate the role of vitamin K in the body. Calcium also plays a role in healthy blood clotting. The recommended dietary allowance of calcium for women up to age 50 and for men up to age 70 is 1,000 mg daily. Women over 50 and men over 70 should aim for 1,200 mg daily.
References
- Medline Plus: Vitamins
- Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University: Vitamin K
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: General Information on Hemostatis (How Blood Clots)
- Medline Plus: Vitamin K
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Vitamin K
- National Institutes of Health Drug-Nutrient Interaction Task Force: Important Information to Know When You Are Taking Coumadin and Vitamin K
