Inadequate Vitamin K Intake Accelerates Diseases
In analyzing hundreds of articles
published over three decades, researchers have concluded that current
recommendations for vitamin K are not being met, which may place people at
increased risk accelerated bone fragility, arterial and kidney calcification,
cardiovascular disease, and possibly cancer.[1]
Although vitamin K is primarily
known for its role in facilitating blood coagulation, various vitamin K-related
proteins play other important roles as well in promoting bone health and
cardiovascular health, while avoiding inappropriate calcification and
inhibiting the growth of certain types of cancer cells.
The results of this new analysis
support the "triage theory", first proposed by Dr. Ames (one of the researchers
in the current study) in 2006[2] to
explain why age-related diseases like heart disease, cancer, and dementia may
be unintended consequences of mechanisms developed during evolution to protect
against episodic vitamin/mineral shortages. The theory basically holds that the
body will use scarce micronutrients for absolutely essential functions such as
energy production (needed for short-term survival), making them unavailable for
other needs which ultimately would trigger
the "triage response", accelerating cancer, aging, and neural decay (long-term
survival).
The solution to the problem would
be to provide a higher intake of the micronutrient in question-in this case
vitamin K. This makes a good case for
vitamin K supplementation.
References
[1] McCann JC, Ames BN. Vitamin K, an example of triage
theory: is micronutrient inadequacy linked to diseases of aging? Amer J Clin Nutr Published online ahead
of print, doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2009.27930.
[2] Ames BN.
Low micronutrient intake may accelerate the degenerative diseases of aging
through allocation of scarce micronutrients by triage. PNAS 2006;103:17589-17594.