K is for Koagulate

Figured I’d end how I started – with poor spelling :).  But blood coagulation is the main thing vitamin K is good for, which is very important when it comes to our body’s natural ability to heal wounds.  But it’s good for way more than just wound healing, and studies are being done to reveal that this vitamin may have been a bit underrated.  Some of the benefits of vitamin K include preventing the calcification of arteries, cardiovascular disease, varicose veins, osteoporosis, certain kinds of cancer, and it can also help your brain’s health.

There are two different kinds of vitamin K – K1 and K2.  K1 is found in vegetables, mainly the green leafy ones like kale and spinach and collard greens, and also in brussels sprouts and broccoli.  It does its work from your liver and it’s the one responsible for healthy blood clotting and preventing the arterial calcification mentioned earlier.  It also helps your bones retain calcium, which is why it’s so beneficial in preventing osteoporosis.  K2 is produced by bacteria in your gut (remember that post?  If not I highly recommend you go back and read it – it’s one of my favorites and probably one of the most important and useful ones I’ve written thus far).  It’s the hardest for your body to absorb, though, and sometimes just gets passed on through your body’s elimination process.

Vitamin K1 is easy to get enough of through diet and eating those green leafy vegetables.  K2, however, is probably one of those to take in supplement form to ensure your body gets enough of it.  It should be taken with fat, as it’s a fat-soluble vitamin and that will aid its absorption into your body.  Freaked out about eating fat?  Well stop it, go back and read my post about fat, and avoid fake fats like margarine and canola oil (there’s not even such thing as a canola plant… where the heck does that stuff even come from??).  Vitamin K also works hand-in-hand with Vitamin D – together they ensure your body absorbs calcium properly, aiding in the prevention of such diseases as osteoporosis.

And that wraps up the Vitamin Series!  I hope some of your questions have been answered, and if not let me know and I can do some more research!  You know how I love research!  My apologies again for being late with these last two, and for slacking on your Guilt-Free Friday recipes.  As some of you may know, Justin and I are getting ready to build a new house in the upcoming months, and with him being on night shift now, I’ve been doing a lot of the prep work myself and therefore have had a lot on my mind!  I’m seriously going to write a post about the process of building a new home… it’s quite involved!!  Add that to my increasingly busy schedule at work (any of you who have tried to book a massage and got pushed off to 3-4 weeks later because I’m swamped know about this!) and caring for that adorable, active, curious little boy that’s been hanging out with us for the past 20 months (yes, he is that old!), I don’t have much room left in my life or in my brain to dedicate to my blog!  Which is sad sometimes, as I’ve grown to love my little corner of cyberspace… And, when I do have moments to spare, I find myself researching education options for natural health counseling, as thanks to this blog I’ve realized that all this passion I’ve got inside of me needs to be channeled out beyond just the blog!  Maybe when we’re done having kids and they’re off to school I’ll embark on that chapter of my journey.  In the meantime, allow me to nourish your minds through this blog and heal your body through my work! :-)

But don’t worry, I’ll do my best to stay active here so you don’t run out of reading material.  I have lots to say, after all!  I’ve been learning more about the use and benefits of essential oils which I’d like to share more with you, and I’d like to talk more about diet and nutrition as well.  Lots to look forward to!  Hope you all have been enjoying this snowy spring, and I’ll hopefully be back Friday if I get my act together in time.  Take care, everyone!


 http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02804/vitamin-k.html
 http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/08/26/this-could-be-even-bigger-than-the-vitamin-d-discovery.aspx
 http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/08/26/this-could-be-even-bigger-than-the-vitamin-d-discovery.aspx