Contents:
- Medical Video: Vitamin K shot: Is it safe?
- Various benefits of vitamin K for health
- How ideal is the amount of vitamin K needed by the body?
- What happens if someone is deficient in vitamin K
- Groups of people who are more susceptible to vitamin K deficiency
- Enough of your vitamin K needs, from fresh foods and supplements
Medical Video: Vitamin K shot: Is it safe?
Adequate intake of minerals and vitamins every day helps you maintain a healthy body.One type of vitamin that is important for the body, but often forgotten, is vitamin K. Even if there is not enough vitamin K, you will be easier to bruise or bleed because your blood becomes difficult to freeze. Not only that, see varietyother benefits of vitamin K in this article.
Various benefits of vitamin K for health
The main benefits of vitamin K are to support blood clotting. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), until now there really isn't enough scientific evidence to support the benefits of other vitamin K in addition to blood clotting.
However, from several existing studies show that vitamin K can help prevent and overcome other health problems. For example:
- Bone health. Some studies show that vitamin K helps maintain bone strength, increases bone density, and reduces the risk of fractures.
- Brain cognitive function. Increased levels of vitamin K in the blood have been linked to increased cognitive function in older adults so that they can help prevent senility in old age.
- Heart health. Vitamin K can help keep blood pressure low by preventing mineral formation in the walls of blood vessels, which are the main risk factors for heart disease. In addition, adequate intake of vitamin K has also been shown to decrease risk of stroke.
How ideal is the amount of vitamin K needed by the body?
The amount of vitamin K needs for each person varies, depending on age, gender, and activities. However, according to the Nutrition Adequacy Rate (RDA) of the Indonesian Ministry of Health, in general the ideal vitamin K requirement for adults ranges from 55-65 mcg per day.
There are no harmful side effects if you consume vitamin K excessively. However, you really don't need to consume it very much every day. Excess vitamin K from supplements or daily food will be stored in the liver (liver) to reserve later.
What happens if someone is deficient in vitamin K
Without enough vitamin K, your body cannot produce prothrombin, which is a special protein that functions for blood clotting and bone metabolism. If this happens, you will find it easier to experience bruising even if only a minor injury. Vitamin K deficiency also makes you more prone to bleeding and difficult to heal, even if only a small scratch. Because, your blood becomes dulit freeze when the body doesn't have enough prothrombin.
Not infrequently, bleeding that does not heal can have serious consequences, especially if the injury is quite severe.
Groups of people who are more susceptible to vitamin K deficiency
In many cases, healthy adults rarely experience vitamin K deficiency. This is because the body can store vitamin K from previous food intake to use when the time is needed.
Even so, lack of vitamin K is often experienced by newborns and people who have problems absorbing certain nutrients, such asceliac disease, bacterial infection, ascariasis (worms), and acute pancreatitis.
Some of the following people are also more likely to experience vitamin K deficiency, namely:
- Has excessive anti-clotting.
- Have bile duct disease.
- Have liver disease like cirrhosis and Gaucher's disease.
- Often consume alcohol.
- Consuming drugs whose side effects inhibit the absorption of vitamin K in the body.
Enough of your vitamin K needs, from fresh foods and supplements
Even though it doesn't need to be consumed a lot, it doesn't mean you don't have enough vitamin K intake. You can get Vitamin K from fresh food sources, such as green leafy vegetables (broccoli, spinach, mustard greens, chives, cauliflower, cabbage, cucumber, asparagus, lettuce), beans (edamame, soybeans, peanuts), vegetable oil , milk and processed products (cheese, milk, yogurt, butter), to meat and eggs.
The benefits of vitamin K can also be obtained from consumption of supplements. But you should consult with your doctor first to find out the exact dosage for you.
