ScienceDaily (Nov. 26, 2008) — Vitamin K slowed the development of insulin resistance in elderly men in a study of 355 non-diabetic men and women ages 60 to 80 who completed a three-year clinical trial at the Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University (USDA HNRCA).
...."Men who received vitamin K supplementation had less progression in their insulin resistance by the end of the clinical trial," said Sarah Booth, senior author and director of the Vitamin K Laboratory at the USDA HNRCA. "Conversely, we saw progression in insulin resistance in women who received vitamin K supplementation, and in the men or women who were not given vitamin K supplements."....
Although vitamin K supplements were used for the study, the authors say the study dosage is attainable by consuming a healthy diet. Foods considered good sources of vitamin K include brussels sprouts, broccoli, and dark, leafy greens, such as spinach and collards.
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Gary:
Vitamin K is one of the least understood of all the vitamins. It has a growing list of benefits from maintaining healthy bones, regulating blood clotting, preventing varicose veins, keeping skin supple and strong and slowing or halting insulin resistance.
Let's turn our attention to the study referred to above....
I wonder why there was no measurable benefit for older women? Let me speculate:
Vitamin K is a fat soluble vitamin. Without fat, its uptake into the body and its being put to good use within the trillion or so cells of the body is compromised. Is the simple explanation due to the fact that men tend to consume more fat than women regardless of age? Without a decent amount of fat in the gut and in the blood as vitamin K supplement is probably of little health benefit.
The fat free diet - The Kiss of Death
I have been working on people to various degrees for some 30 years now and one disturbing trend is the increasing number of women presenting at an increasingly younger age with cracking bones, turkey neck skin and proliferating varicose veins. I attribute this to the pushing of the fat free diet with religious zeal by the food industry and most health experts. It is increasingly evident that the fat free diet is the cause of enormous harm to the population.
Fat Free = No Fat Soluble Vitamins (A,D,E & K)
Eat your Greens!
Sure, leafy greens - spinach and brocolli are rich sources of Vitamin K1; but they are no good steamed. They should be cooked in clarified butter or coconut oil so that when the cells burst open with the heat, the vitamin K is dissolved into the fat before ingestion.
And what about the more important vitamin K2? Vitamin K2 is found in fatty foods. The most convenient may be blue vein cheese. To learn more about vitamin K-rich foods, please go here.
Wishing you healthy eating!
Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.
Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.
