Vitamin supplements occasionally get bad press, so that people think they don’t need supplements.
• Others take supplements for long term protection, so they don’t expect these vitamins to have an instant effect on their health – or even on their memory.
• And while most people know about antioxidants such as vitamin C and vitamin E, they don’t realize that vitamin D and vitamin K prevent not only osteoporosis, but cancer AND coronary artery disease and heart attacks – the diseases that are by far the leading causes of death.
Vitamin Supplements Protect You Immediately!
Researchers found that taking extra vitamins was protective even after people ate one “bad” meal! They found the harm of eating fatty and sugary foods could be counteracted after a meal -- by taking extra vitamin C and vitamin E vitamin supplements!
• How did they find this out? Researchers gave people cognitive tests, and found that after eating fatty and sugary foods, people, especially diabetics, suffer memory lapses -- for one to three hours after eating a high-fat, high-sugar meal.
• But when they gave people 1000 mg of vitamin C and 800 IU of vitamin E, this impairment of mental function was NOT evident when measured on their cognitive abilities after such a meal.
While it normally takes years for the effects of a poor diet to show its ill effects on the brain, researchers are finding plenty of evidence that the quality of diet that someone eats in their middle to late adult years, is an important dementia risk factor.
This research on memory loss and vitamin supplements was lead by Dr. Carol Greenwood, who nevertheless says that people should not be relying on supplements to compensate for a bad diet. Why?
“Fruits and vegetables are naturally rich in antioxidants that neutralize the excess of “free radicals” that are produced when an unhealthy meal is digested,” she explains. (C. Greenwood, journal Nutrition Research)
Vitamin D and Vitamin K Stop Heart Disease
Both vitamin K and vitamin D, say researchers have a much bigger role than imagined:
Vitamin K2 is an essential nutrient that activates certain proteins that
• help calcium build strong bones and
• STOPS CALCIUM FROM ACCUMULATING IN THE ARTERIES: Vitamin K helps out in the arteries by reducing the amount of calcium in the arteries feeding the heart.
(My Note: Calcification of the joints and arteries happens when too much 'bad' calcium' builds up - you can get rid of it over time with MSM! Supplements and foods with "added calcium" are ones we avoid like the plague!)
Hardening of the arteries is caused when calcium enters the arteries, and lesions are formed that lead to the degeneration associated with heart disease.
• Vitamin K is found in green leafy vegetables, especially in spinach and kale, broccoli, and vitamin K2 is found in the Japanese natto kinase and the Dutch cheeses, Gouda and Edam.
Why You May Not Be Getting Enough Vitamin K
Most healthy adults in the USA have undiagnosed Vitamin K deficiency. Why?
• The production of vitamin K is suppressed by Cholesterol lowering drugs -- statins such as Lipitor and Zocor.
• The commonly used anticoagulant drug coumadin (Warfarin) interferes with the metabolism and function of Vitamin K by inhibiting the enzymes needed to produce Vitamin K.
This drug can produce excessive bleeding and produces progressive widespread calcification of arteries and the aorta.
• Hydrogenated oils in margarine and baked goods may stop the proper utilization of vitamin K.
• Antibiotics destroy intestinal flora, which are the source of making vitamin K.
Vitamin K Stops Calcium Plaques in the Arteries and Osteoporosis
A clinical study from Rotterdam, Holland revealed a correlation between long term adequate Vitamin K2 intake and a lower incidence of calcification of the wall of the aorta.
Arteries with no plaques have a 20 to 50 fold increase in Vitamin K2 concentration when compared to arteries with arterial plaques.
The high K2 content arteries were noted to be more flexible and elastic than arteries lacking K2.
Lack of Vitamin K2 causes calcium to fail to be deposited in bones where it belongs and to be deposited instead in arteries, aorta, soft tissues including muscle, breast, kidneys and in heel spurs.
A protein called osteocalcin transports calcium to bone.
Vitamin K2 (menaquinone-7) is used to solidify this calcium into the bone matrix.
When Vitamin K2 is lacking the calcium remains in the blood and ends up getting deposited in the walls of arteries and other sites which is very undesirable.
Thus Vitamin K2 becomes a critical nutrient for both bone and arteries.
Dr. Leon Schurgers and Dr. Cees Vermeer of Maastricht University in Holland studied 4800 elderly Dutch men and women to ascertain whether Vitamin K2 could help prevent artery calcium deposits.
They learned that persons with the highest dietary intake of K2 (primarily originating in low fat Dutch cheeses Gouda and Edam) had the least evidence of calcification of the aorta when compared to persons with low Vitamin K2 intakes.
The higher the intake of these cheeses the lower the mortality from cardiovascular disease.
• The fermented soy Japanese food natto contains Vitamin K2 in large amounts. All of the Vitamin K2 produced in making the enzyme nattokinase is available as food and vitamin supplements.
• This has important health ramifications as it is a prime contributing cause for arteriosclerosis and osteoporosis with vertebral and other fractures (hip and wrist).
Coumadin Causes Calcification of the Arteries and Aorta
The commonly used anticoagulant drug coumadin interferes with the metabolism and function of Vitamin K by inhibiting the enzymes needed to produce Vitamin K.
This drug can produce excessive bleeding and does produce progressive widespread calcification of arteries and the aorta.
The clinical study from Rotterdam, Holland revealed a correlation between long term adequate Vitamin K2 intake and a lower incidence of calcification of the wall of the aorta.
Arteries with no plaques had a 20 to 50 fold increase in Vitamin K2 concentration when compared to arteries with arterial plaques.
The high K2(menaquinone-7) content arteries were noted to be more flexible[7] and elastic than arteries lacking K2. (Cees Vermeer, Laviena Braam et al Vitamin K supplementation: A simple way to bone and cardiovascular health, AgroFOOD industry hi-tech, Nov/Dec 2003 17-20)
Pass the Cheese or the Vitamin Supplements?
Regular intake of Vitamin K2 from vitamin supplements made from natto kinase, or eating Edam and Gouda cheeses should prevent the development of arteriosclerotic plaques and thus be able to prevent disability and deaths from arteriosclerosis.
• Taking a slice of these cheeses daily is a pleasant good health habit if you prefer not to take extra vitamin supplements.
Use of Vitamin K2 now permits reversal of calcifications in arteries and the aorta which should lead to significant drops in cardiovascular mortality if intake of Vitamin K2 becomes adopted by many citizens.
Other possible uses for K2 vitamin supplements include:
• decreasing the incidence of hepatoma following viral hepatitis
• resolution of abnormal calcification(heel spurs, breast and kidney deposits
• improving blood sugar control in diabetics
• prevention of diabetes
• possible protection against Alzheimer’s Disease
Low Vitamin D Explains Unpredicted Heart Attacks
Recent research has already linked low vitamin D levels to cancer diabetes and other chronic illnesses such as Multiple Sclerosis.
Why take vitamin supplements, especially vitamin if you don't get much sun?
Heart attacks and congestive heart failure have now been added to the list linked to low vitamin D.
• Vitamin D has been shown to be associated with a doubling of the risk of heart attacks in men and an even greater risk of dying from a heart attack. (journal Archives of Internal Medicine)
• Researchers say that low vitamin D seems to explain the trend in strong seasonal fluctuation in heart attack incidence – it rises during the winter months, and is more prevalent in northern countries.
• Scientists believe that this may explain why people with no risk factors such as smoking or high blood pressure, suddenly, inexplicably develop heart attacks.
• Researcher Dr. Edward Giovannucci believes that vitamin D may be beneficial by reducing the buildup of plaque in arteries, one of the causes of heart attacks.
• Moving from the low category of vitamin D to sufficient would in Dr. Giovannucci’s estimation take about 3,000 IU of vitamin supplements of vitamin D daily. (Edward Giovannucci, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston)
• Vitamin supplements, especially with 1000 IU of vitamin D are definitely recommended if you do not get into the sun every day!
I'm still learning all of this stuff, but having it here for easy reference makes it alot better for me! Remember, when you are starting a new 'lifestyle' such as this one, ensure you are on the right track. See a naturopath. I did - he gave me amazing advice that I could build on. If you're looking for a naturopath in the Winnipeg area, please consider mine! I saw him a few times, and then he simply said he didn't want to see me again - I could do this on my own now. He never made me buy my products there, and actually suggested I go where it was less expensive. He also spoke to me by phone (I live about 2 1/2 hours away) when I had concerns. I highly recommend him!
Bruce Hanke
Winnipeg, Manitoba
(204) 453-0151
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