Calcium
Supplementation
and
Heart
Attack
Risk?
Vitamin
K2 May
Be A
Solution.
PL
Thomas
today
commented
on
recent
research
linking
calcium
supplementation
to
increased
risk of
heart
attack,
reported
in the
British
Medical
Journal’s
January
16th
issue.
“We at
PL
Thomas
found
this
study
quite
disturbing,
but not
surprising,”
said
Scott
Rosenbush,
Business
Manager.
“Calcium
supplementation
is
clearly
important
for a
large
percentage
of the
population,
however
the goal
should
be to
provide
supplements
that
help put
calcium
in the
bones
where it
is
needed,
and keep
it out
of the
soft
tissues
and
arteries,
where it
can be
harmful.
Recent
research
has
shown
that
vitamin
K2 plays
a vital
role in
calcium
utilization,
and we
believe
it
should
be
included
in all
calcium
supplements.”
Professors
Cees
Vermeer
and Leon
Schurgers,
of
VitaK,
at
Maastricht
University,
the
Netherlands,
a
leading
research
institute
specializing
in the
role of
vitamin
K in the
field of
bone
health
and
cardiovascular
health,
provided
the
following
statement:
“There
are two
vitamins
known to
be
involved
in
calcium
metabolism:
vitamin
D and
vitamin
K.
Increased
calcium
intake,
especially
if
combined
with
vitamin
D,
results
in
increased
absorption
of
calcium.
However,
Vitamin
K is
required
for
activation
of the
vascular
protein
MGP,
which is
an
inhibitor
of
calcification.
In fact
it is
the
strongest
inhibitor
of
tissue
calcification
presently
known
and it
is the
only
calcification
inhibitor
found in
the
vasculature.
Using
highly
specific
assays,
the
VitaK
research
group at
the
Maastricht
University
has
demonstrated
that the
vitamin
K intake
by
non-supplemented
adults
(almost
without
exception)
is
insufficient
to
completely
activate
MGP (at best 70% is activated). This means that healthy adults
are not
optimally
protected
against
vascular
calcification,
even in
the
absence
of an
extra
calcium
load.
Subjects
of 50
years
and
older
even
have a
still
lower
vitamin
K
status,
and
hence a
higher
fraction
of their
MGP is
synthesized
in an
inactive
form.
When
knowing
these
facts,
it is
only to
be
expected
that an
increased
calcium
intake
will
lead to
increased
artery
calcification.
This is
what may
happen
if
incomplete
supplements
are
provided.
It has
been
demonstrated
in large
population-based
studies,
in
experimental
animal
studies
and in
cell
culture
studies
that the
efficacy
of
vitamin
K2 in
vascular
calcification
protection
is far
better
than
that of
vitamin
K1.
However,
at high
intakes
even K1
was
shown to
maintain
vascular
elasticity
in a
three-year
study.
Although
a large
clinical
intervention
trial on
the
cardio-protective
effect
of K2 at
high
calcium
intakes
has not
yet been
published,
all data
presently
available
suggest
that
supplements
containing
calcium
and
vitamin
D
without
K2 are
incomplete,
and may
have
unexpected
adverse
side
effect
in the
cardiovascular
area.”
A study
published
in the
Journal
of
Nutrition
called
the
“Rotterdam
Study”
in 2004,
followed
over
4,800
people
for a
ten year
period.
The
study
found
increased
intake
of
specifically
vitamin
K2 from
dietary
sources
significantly
reduced
the risk
of CHD
mortality
by 50%
as
compared
to low
dietary
vitamin
K2
intake.
In this
study,
vitamin
K1 had
no
effect
at all.
These
results
were
confirmed
in a
published
study in
which
rats
were fed
a diet
which
depleted
their
vitamin
K
stores,
resulting
in
inactive
vitamin-K
dependent
proteins,
including
MGP, leading to major arterial calcification. The addition of
vitamin
K2 to
the
rats’
diet
completely
inhibited
the
induced
calcification.
A
follow-up
study
published
April
2006 in
the
journal
Blood
demonstrated
that
supplemental
vitamin
K2
actually
regressed
preformed
calcifications
in an
animal
model.
Rosenbush
continued,
“Additional
research
is
certainly
necessary.
However,
we
strongly
recommend
vitamin
K2
supplementation
to
address
a
deficiency
in the
Western
diet,
thus
helping
protect
bone and
heart
health.
Natural
Vitamin
K2 as
menaquinone-7
is the
obvious
choice
for
supplements
and food
enrichment
as it is
the most
bioactive
and
longest
lasting
form of
vitamin
K. And
menaquinone-7
is safe
and
effective
within
current
RDI’s
for
Vitamin
K,
whereas
K1 and
synthetic
K2 would
require
pharmacological
doses to
be
effective.
PLT offers a natural vitamin K2 under the tradename MenaQ7 in alliance with
Natto
Pharma,
Norway.
About
MenaQ7
MenaQ7
provides
Natural
Vitamin
K2 as an
extract
of
natto, a
fermented
soy food
from
Japan.
Natto is
particularly
rich in
the
highly
bio-available
form of
vitamin
K2
called
menaquinone-7
(MK-7).
MenaQ7
provides
the only
commercially
available
Natural
Vitamin
K2 with
guaranteed
actives
and
stability,
clinical
substantiation
and
international
patents
awarded
and
pending.
For more
information
on the
health
benefits
of
MenaQ7,
please
visit
www.menaq7.com
About PL
Thomas
PL
Thomas,
a New
Jersey-based
ingredient
supplier,
offers
fifty
years of
innovation
in
securing
reliable,
high
quality
raw
materials
for the
food/functional
food and
nutrition
industries.
PLT is a one-stop resource for application solutions, current
industry
information
and
technical
service,
and
specializes
in
water-soluble
gums and
clinically-supported
botanical
extracts.
www.plthomas.com
About
NattoPharma
NattoPharma
Norway is the exclusive international supplier of MenaQ7
natural
Vitamin
K2.
NattoPharma
has
entered
into a
multi-year
research
and
development
program
to
substantiate
and
discover
the
health
benefits
of
natural
vitamin
K2 for
applications
in the
exciting
marketplace
for
functional
food and
health
food
supplements.
www.nattopharma.com
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