What You Really Need To Know About Vitamin K (an Overview)

Updated: May 3, 2023

Lara Cover Photo

Lara Pizzorno is the author of “Your Bones: How You Can Prevent Osteoporosis and Have Strong Bones for Life – Naturally” and a member of the American Medical Writers Association with 29 years of experience specializing in bone health.

Recently we asked Lara if she would help us provide a series of short, ongoing videos to help you (our customers and readers) stay up to date on the latest facts and science related to bone health.

In this latest video, Lara reveals the topic for our upcoming set of videos on…vitamin K! In this video, she discusses what the upcoming videos are going to talk about. Watch the video below (or read the transcript provided) and let us know what you think in the comments. 🙂

Hello, my name is Lara Pizzorno. I’m the author of “Your Bones”, and today I’d like to begin sharing with you some information about vitamin K, which I hope will help you to have healthier your bones. Many of us, including many of our doctors, are still not aware of the critical importance of vitamin K for bone health, or of which forms of this nutrient are required, or about how to determine how much you, and not some mythical average person in a medical study, but an actual person, you, need for optimum bone health. And, as usual, misinformation abounds on the Internet.
You can rely on me to provide you with the most current scientifically accurate, research-validated information from the peer-reviewed medical literature. I will also provide all the medical journal article references, so that if you’re interested in any topic, you’ll be able to read up on it later. And I’ll try to tell you what you need to know about vitamin K so that you can be well-informed and can take the best care of your bones. In this video, I’m just going to list the topics that we’re going to cover regarding vitamin K, and then in the following videos, we’ll discuss them one by one.

So what we’re going to cover is the following.

  • First, I’ll try to give you an overview, that vitamin K in both its forms K-1 and K-2 plays a number of critical roles in your bones’ health.
  • Then I’ll talk to you about how vitamin K-1 works, and what happens when you don’t get enough vitamin K-1. I’ll discuss with you the dietary recommendations for getting adequate K-1, and I’ll talk to you about why refined oils do not contain vitamin K-1 in the standard American diet. The bottom line here is that you can get enough K-1 from your diet, but you’re not going to get it from processed foods.
  • Then we’ll discuss how vitamin K-2 works, and what happens when your intake of vitamin K-2 is too low. I’ll talk to you about dietary recommendations for vitamin K-2, but the bottom line with this nutrient is that you will need to take a supplement unless you live in Japan and regularly consume a fermented soybean food called Natto.
  • We’ll talk about which supplements you should take, and this involves a discussion of the different types of K-2: MK-4, and MK-7. You’ll most likely be wanting to use MK-7 for a bunch of reasons that we’ll discuss, but some people need MK-4, and just a few of us need MK-4. And I’ll talk to you about why that is, and I’ll try to help you figure out if you might be one of the people that need MK-4, instead of MK-7.
  • If you’re taking a supplement, you’re going to need to know what dosage you should be taking, and this depends on whether your supplement is providing MK-4 or MK-7, it also depends upon how much vitamin D you need to take, to get your blood levels of vitamin D into optimal range. We’ll talk about the safety issues related to taking vitamin K-2. It’s very safe, but we’ll still discuss the dosages that are used in the various studies, and what the results have been.
  • We’ll also talk about drugs that decrease your body’s ability to retain and to use vitamin K. How do these drugs reduce vitamin K-2, and what you should do about it if you have to take one of these drugs? That will be the topic of another video.
  • I want to talk to you about why it is essential to balance your intake of vitamin D and vitamin K-2. The appropriate balance is provided for you in AlgaeCal Plus, but if you require more vitamin D than is provided by AlgaeCal Plus, you will also need more vitamin K, and we’ll discuss why, and figure out how much more you need.
  • Lastly, I would like to talk with you about why you also need vitamin A, and not just beta-carotene, which is pro-vitamin A, but actual vitamin A, along with vitamin D, and vitamin K-2, why all three of these need to be taken together. We’ll discuss the issues surrounding vitamin A, and its relationship to vitamin D and vitamin K, and then you can make an informed decision as to what you should be doing. So on our next video, we’ll begin with the first topic on the list, which is vitamin K in both its forms, K-1, and K-2, plays a number of critical roles in your bones health. Thanks for tuning in, and I hope you’ll join me on our whole odyssey through the intricacies of vitamin K.
The Complete Vitamin K Bone Health Series List (with links to videos):

The Two Forms of Vitamin K and Why You Need Them

Vitamin K1 and Its Most Critical Role

The Role That Vitamin K1 Has on Inflammation In Your Body

How Much Vitamin K1 Do You Need and How To Get It

What Does Vitamin K2 Do And What Happens If You’re Too Low

How Long Does Vitamin K2 MK-4 Remain Active In Your Body?

How to Find Vitamin K2 (MK-7) Rich Foods

The Two Forms of Vitamin K2 and How to Get Them

Why Vitamin K2 (MK-7) Works Best for The Majority of People

This Protein Can Affect How Much Vitamin K2 You Need

What Variations In Your Genes (SNPS) Mean For Your Health

By Improving This Enzyme Your Osteo Risk Reduces Dramatically

How This Liver Enzyme Gets Rid of Harmful Substances In Your Body

The Bottom Line on Vitamin K: What You Need to Know

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This article features advice based on cutting-edge research from our industry experts to give you the best possible information to support your bone-building journey.

Lara Pizzorno
MDiv, MA, LMT - Best-selling author of Healthy Bones Healthy You! and Your Bones; Editor of Longevity Medicine Review, and Senior Medical Editor for Integrative Medicine Advisors.,
Dr. Liz Lipski
PhD, CNS, FACN, IFMP, BCHN, LDN - Professor and Director of Academic Development, Nutrition programs in Clinical Nutrition at Maryland University of Integrative Health.,
Dr. Emma Gasinski
PT, DPT, RYT - Physical therapist and certified yoga teacher with a Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professionals,
Dr. Lawrence (Larry) A. May
MD, FACP, Harvard Medical School Graduate, Physician, Author, Public Speaker - Doctor of Internal Medicine at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center and author of several articles and books, including the widely utilized and best selling medical textbook Primary Care Medicine,