A recent study from the American Journal of Epidemiology found that increasing your intake of vitamin K1 may reduce harmful inflammation in your body. As I’ve mentioned on this blog before, chronic inflammation is linked to a slew of diseases including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s.
Researchers concluded that higher dietary intake and higher blood levels of vitamin K1 (phylloquinone) are associated with lower levels of inflammation. The correlation between levels of K1 and inflammation even held up once the data was adjusted to consider age, BMI, gender, drug use, and time of year.
I think vitamin K1 is “slept on” and I rarely hear people talk about it in regards to nutrition. But, now that you know it’s a powerful disease and inflammation fighter, you can help avoid some major health problems by increasing your intake of green vegetables. Good choices are Swiss chard, spinach, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, kale, green beans, and asparagus.
As usual, I found a few tasty recipes to make things a bit more exciting:
Whole-Wheat Spaghetti with Swiss Chard and Pecorino Cheese
Pan Cooked Asparagus and Mixed Fish
You can also check out my previous blogs on Vitamin K:
Need More Vitamin K?
Study on Vitamin K for Diabetes
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Higher vitamin K1 intake may decrease the incidence of the inflammation that has been linked to a variety of diseases. Vitamin K, found in tomatoes helps to maintain healthy bones. Vitamin K1 activates a protein in the bones called osteocalcin, which anchors calcium inside the bone. Without enough vitamin K, bone mineralization is impaired.