Very interesting report on Vitamin K-2 and its effects on health and development

[Rasputin]

http://www.westonaprice.org/On-the-T...ly-Solved.html

I take http://www.swansonvitamins.com/CSN028/ItemDetail?n=0 daily.

[Rasputin]

Because the article is a bit long and detailed, I will excerpt some of it here to whet your whistle:

Vitamin K2 plays a crucial role in the development of the facial bones, and its presence in the diets of nonindustrialized peoples explains the wide facial structure and freedom from dental deformities that Weston Price observed.

whereas K1 is preferentially used by the liver to activate blood clotting proteins, K2 is preferentially used by the other tissues to place calcium where it belongs, in the bones and teeth, and keep it out of where it does not belong, in the soft tissues.

This protocol not only stopped the progression of tooth decay, but completely reversed it without the need for oral surgery by causing the dentin to grow and remineralize, sealing what were once active caries with a glassy finish. One 14-year-old girl completely healed 42 open cavities in 24 teeth by taking capsules of the high-vitamin cod liver oil and Activator X (Vitamin K2) concentrate three times a day for seven months.

While it is most clearly established that vitamin K2 deficiency causes calcification of the cardiovascular system, vitamin K2 appears to protect against the inflammation and accumulation of lipids and white blood cells that characterize atherosclerosis as well.

Vitamin K2 is the substance that makes the vitamin A- and vitamin D-dependent proteins come to life. While vitamins A and D act as signaling molecules, telling cells to make certain proteins, vitamin K2 activates these proteins by conferring upon them the physical ability to bind calcium. In some cases these proteins directly coordinate the movement or organization of calcium themselves; in other cases the calcium acts as a glue to hold the protein in a certain shape. In all such cases, the proteins are only functional once they have been activated by vitamin K.

[Jonathan Randall]

Good info. Thanks.

The part about needing K2 for both calcium and protein use helps explain why taking supplement pills which only contain the vitamin/mineral/etc. doesn't always have much effect because the other required, but lesser known, substances that make them work may be absent.