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vitamin D3 and vitamin K2

Hi Wray! I have read your site for a while now and as a result I take 5000 IU of vitamin D3. I read recently however that vitamin D3 can do more harm than good for the heart and arteries if it is not taken with vitamin K2. Is this really the case and have you heard any reports of this? Thank you!

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Dec 17, 2012
 Vitamin D
by: Anonymous

Try purity products web site. They carry a line of victim D that is approved by Dr. Cannell, the president of the Vitamin D council. All of the Dr. Cannell D supplements have all the necessary vitamins and minerals added in with the vitamin D to help it to fully metabolize in your body. Then the vitamin D will go to the bones and not your soft tissue. You need vitamin K, calcium, magnesium, and boron for the D to work properly in your body. Dr. Cannell's products have these added items mixed right in with his D supplements so no need to purchase and take these others separately. Although his vitamin D products are more costly then others that only have the D, it comes out the same if not less costly than buying bottles of all the other vitamins and minerals needed for the vitamin D to full metabolize.
Dec 18, 2012
 vitamin D3 and vitamin K2
by: Wray

Hi there So pleased the site has helped you. In regards to your question, where do I start! The body is so hugely complex, and it all interacts. What's good for the heart is good for the bones. My over riding concern has been the severe lack of vitamin D in people the world over, it's now regarded as a pandemic. But it does need co-factors to work optimally, magnesium (Mg), vitamin K2, boron and zinc. Magnesium is generally thought to be the most important, but this is low in foods as it's low in our soils. It's very low in the typical processed western diet, particularly in the US, not so critical in Europe, India and the Far East, as they still eat plenty of green leafy veggies which are high in Mg. Vitamin K is a neglected vitamin, I think everyone assumes we all eat enough green leafy veggies, where it's also found. But looking again at the processed foods eaten by many in the west, I doubt we do. Vitamin K1 (phylloquinone) is found in green leaves, some then gets converted into K2 (menaquinone) by gut bacteria and various tissues. But many people have gut dysbiosis with a lack of good bacteria, often because of antibiotics, Crohn's disease, coeliac disease, etc. A deficiency can also occur in people with a compromised liver, cystic fibrosis, or any inflammatory gut disease. Vitamin K2 is found in organ meats, egg yolks, butter and some cheeses and fermented foods. It's has been found to reduce osteoporosis, calcification of arteries and cancer. These are excellent articles here, here and here. Vitamin K2, as one of the cofactors for vitamin D, ensures deposition of calcium in bones, preventing it's deposition in arterial plaque. Excess free calcium in the blood results in calcified arteries and heart disease, plus depression, see here, here, here, here and here. Continued below
Dec 18, 2012
 vitamin D3 and vitamin K2 Part 2
by: Wray

Hi there Dr Cannell recommends all the cofactors for vitamin D should be taken, magnesium, vitamin K2, boron and zinc, see here. This complex is one he recommends. Vitamin D draws Ca from the gut, as blood levels increase, parathyroid hormone decreases. But if vitamin D levels are low, Ca will be low, parathyroid hormone increases. This draws Ca from the bones, and dissolves it in the blood to keep blood levels normal. This is far more critical to the body, than weak bones. As Ca levels rise, parathyroid hormone shuts down. But if vitamin K2 is low, Ca will be deposited on artery walls as 'bone', this removes blood Ca, keeping levels 'normal', so parathyroid hormone will continue to be high, still drawing Ca from the bones. Raising vitamin D will lower parathyroid hormone, by drawing Ca from the gut, and stopping the robbery of Ca from bones. But if vitamin K2 is low, the arteries will still be calcified. Mg helps to keep Ca levels normal, the two minerals work in tandem. I once had occasion to help a post menopausal woman with bad depression. I eventually pinned it down to reactive hyperglycaemia, as she would be in floods of tears each time she ate a sweet or starchy meal, this caused her blood glucose to drop dramatically. Stopping the sugary carbs helped, but didn't solve the problem. It turned out she was taking large amounts of calcium (Ca) with no magnesium. This causes unbalanced blood glucose leading to Insulin Resistance and then heart disease. A hair analysis revealed calcium at toxic levels, making the ratio of Ca and Mg completely out of balance. Like many, many women she thought she needed the extra Ca for her bones. But all she was doing was causing osteoporosis, plus heart disease, and the depression of course. Unfortunately many obgyns give only Ca to their patients on HRT, thinking it will help prevent osteo! I often wonder if the great increase in heart disease found in menopausal western women is due to all the Ca they're given. Because of the high intake of dairy foods in the west, we generally have plenty. Ironically giving oestrogen via HRT depresses zinc levels, another co-factor needed by vitamin D. Contraceptives would do the same. Oestrogen depresses zinc, increases copper. Progesterone does the reverse. Although not a co-factor, I feel taurine is also important. It's the most abundant amino in the body, but does not get bound into protein. It flows freely all over the body as it's an osmolyte, involved in regulating the flow of the electrolytes, Ca, Mg, K (potassium) and Na (sodium) in and out of cells. Continued below
Dec 18, 2012
 vitamin D3 and vitamin K2 Part 3
by: Wray

Hi there It's the most important amino for the heart, more is found there than all other aminos combined. Understandably, as the heart depends on the electrolytes, as Ca constricts muscle, Mg relaxes it. It's important for other muscles too. All my adult life I've had to take Mg for calf cramps, very erratically I might add! I would wake with terrible cramp, take Mg for a few days, then forget it, until the next cramp. I started taking a complex I make up with taurine it it, but no Mg, I never have cramp. But if I run out of the complex I get them again. It finally dawned on me I was eating enough green leaves to get the Mg I needed, but too little meat. Taurine is not found in veggies, only animal protein. It can be converted from cysteine, but this is often in short supply being such an important component of glutathione, our most important cellular antioxidant. Although everyone thinks the west eats too much meat, according to Cordain et al we don't eat as much as hunter gatherers, see here,here, here, here, here and here. You can see the complexity of the system, I liken the body to a game of dominoes. Too much or too little of one substance, will have a domino affect right through the body. I've now probably given you indigestion with all this info! I always ask people to take Mg, but forget the K2 and others, so thanks for pointing this out. It is best to take all the co-factors with vitamin D, ideally a complex containing all of them. Take care Wray

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