For Avoiding Diabetes, Vitamin K Saves the Day

Among the fat soluble vitamins – A, D, E, and K – vitamin K tends to get the short end of the stick. That may be because we tend not to think about the things vitamin K’s chiefly responsible for, which is helping the blood clot normally.

But elderly men with a history of diabetes in the family are likely to make vitamin K something to be very concerned about, this after studies suggest it can help slow some of the negative effects associated with diabetes.

Whether its type I or type II, diabetes pops up as an issue when insulin isn’t doing what it’s supposed to (it’s either not being produced, or the body isn’t responding as it should to its production). The body’s production of insulin is what allows the body to turn sugar into energy. As the body ages, it’s not uncommon for the body to become increasingly resistant to insulin, which oftentimes spells the diagnosis of type II diabetes. But researchers from Tufts University found that insulin resistance was slowed among men who took vitamin K supplements.

The study involved over 350 elderly men and women (between the ages of 60 and 80) who weren’t diabetic, with the participants receiving various doses of vitamin K, vitamin D and calcium. They were put into two groupings and given their vitamin D and calcium supplements that were to be taken daily, but one of the groups received a high dosage of vitamin K – 500 micrograms (significantly higher than the daily recommended allotment of 120 micrograms).

The researchers found that indeed, vitamin K improved the body’s ability to use insulin for its actual purposes – converting sugar into energy for the body’s cells. In short, vitamin K diminished the body’s resistance to insulin. What’s more, those who took the vitamin K had lower blood glucose levels.

Interestingly, however, these beneficial effects only applied to men; the results did not translate to women.

While researchers can’t be certain, the lack of effect was likely due to the weight of the participants. As the researchers wrote in the journal Diabetes Care, most of the participants that were overweight were women, and because vitamin K is a fat soluble vitamin and stored in fat, excess fat makes it less available to cells for use.

The participants supplemented with vitamin K as part of this study, but in my opinion, it’s always better to get vitamins from food rather than supplements. And as the researchers point out, it’s not out of the realm of possibility to get as much vitamin K from food as these participants did from supplements. Take parsley, for example. Just two tablespoons of parsley has 123 micrograms of vitamin K. But for a more palatable experience, try kale (1 cup=1062 micrograms!), broccoli (1 cup=155 micrograms), spinach (1 cup=889 micrograms) or collard greens (1 cup=704 micrograms).