Vitamin D, produced by your body when your skin is exposed to the sun's radiation, keeps your bones strong. However, vitamin D does not play a role in coagulation, or blood clotting. Vitamin K promotes blood clotting. Consult with your doctor before changing your diet or deciding to use vitamin supplements.
Vitamin D Functions
Vitamin D maintains healthy bones by helping your body effectively use calcium. Vitamin D plays a role in assisting your body's absorption of calcium from the foods you eat, and the reabsorption of calcium filtered by your kidneys. Vitamin D also helps regulate your immune system and the secretion of insulin from your pancreas.
Vitamin D and Clotting
Vitamin D is not involved in blood clotting. While vitamin D does help indirectly regulate your blood pressure, the vitamin does not help with blood clotting itself. Vitamin K, another vitamin mainly produced by your body, is essential for blood clotting.
Blood Clotting
Vitamin K, which your body produces in the large intestine as well as receives from your diet, is directly involved in the clotting process. The proteins that are necessary for blood coagulation depend on vitamin K to enable them to bind calcium, which is a necessary part of the process that causes blood to clot. Insufficient vitamin K means these proteins cannot bind calcium, inhibiting coagulation.
Amounts
Adult males need 120 mcg daily of vitamin K, while adult women need 90 mcg every day. The bacteria in your large intestine produce around half of the vitamin K you need. You should get the rest through your diet in foods like leafy green vegetables, broccoli and vegetable oils. While you do not require vitamin D for blood clotting, you should still get around 10 minutes of sun exposure daily to produce the amount you need.
