... those consuming the coconut oil would have the worst effect on their cholesterol levels, thus increasing their heart disease risk. But, “To everyone’s surprise, coconut oil came out best,” says Dr Mosley.
Testing whether certain health fads, trends or concepts really work is the basis of Dr Mosley’s work. This shot represents an episode of the Trust Me, I’m A Doctor series where they check out whether coconut oil is harmful or beneficial. — BBC
Exploring Good Science
“What I love about the science programmes I do for the BBC is that we go out there and test things, and we do it in a vigorous and proper way, and sometimes, it can be really surprising,” he shares.
The ideas and inspirations for his shows come from a few sources. “In programmes like Trust Me, I’m A Doctor, there is a big research team behind the scenes with scientific PhDs, and we are in close contact with a lot of experts as well. Our viewers also send in ideas,” he explains.
In fact, one of the upcoming episodes in their latest season – in which Dr Mosley is one of five regular presenters – will feature coconut oil as suggested by a viewer. “They had read some claims about the benefits of coconut oil, but their doctor had said it was terrible, so they wanted to know what was the evidence behind it,” he says.
So the show contacted University of Cambridge professors Dr Kay-Tee Khaw and Dr Nita Forouhi to help conduct a study with 94 healthy adults aged 50-75, who were divided into three groups that ate 50g of extra virgin olive oil, 50g of extra virgin coconut oil and 50g of unsalted butter respectively every day for four weeks.
The prediction was that those consuming the coconut oil would have the worst effect on their cholesterol levels, thus increasing their heart disease risk. But, “To everyone’s surprise, coconut oil came out best,” says Dr Mosley.
“It raised the LDL levels, the bad cholesterol, a bit; also, it raised the HDL levels, the good cholesterol, more. In terms of heart disease risk, it appeared to lower it. And it was also the only one of the oils that lead to a reduction in what they call inflammatory factors, which plays an important part in heart disease.”
The study was significant enough to be published in the journal BMJ Open on Mac 6. Dr Mosley himself also throws in ideas that he finds interesting.
Cooking with vegetable oils releases toxic chemicals linked to cancer and other diseases, according to leading scientists, who are now recommending food be fried in olive oil, coconut oil, butter or even lard.
The results of a series of experiments threaten to turn on its head official advice that oils rich in polyunsaturated fats – such as corn oil and sunflower oil – are better for the health than the saturated fats in animal products.
Scientists found that heating up vegetable oils led to the release of high concentrations of chemicals called aldehydes, which have been linked to illnesses including cancer, heart disease and dementia.
Martin Grootveld, a professor of bioanalytical chemistry and chemical pathology, said that his research showed “a typical meal of fish and chips”, fried in vegetable oil, contained as much as 100 to 200 times more toxic aldehydes than the safe daily limit set by the World Health Organisation.
“The human brain is changing in a way that is as serious as climate change threatens to be"
Professor John Stein, Oxford University’s emeritus professor of neuroscience
In contrast, heating up butter, olive oil and lard in tests produced much lower levels of aldehydes. Coconut oil produced the lowest levels of the harmful chemicals.
Concerns over toxic chemicals in heated oils are backed up by separate research from a University of Oxford professor, who claims that the fatty acids in vegetable oils are contributing to other health problems.
Professor John Stein, Oxford’s emeritus professor of neuroscience, said that partly as a result of corn and sunflower oils, “the human brain is changing in a way that is as serious as climate change threatens to be”.
Because vegetable oils are rich in omega 6 acids, they are contributing to a reduction in critical omega 3 fatty acids in the brain by replacing them, he believes.
“If you eat too much corn oil or sunflower oil, the brain is absorbing too much omega 6, and that effectively forces out omega 3,” said Prof Stein. “I believe the lack of omega 3 is a powerful contributory factor to such problems as increasing mental health issues and other problems such as dyslexia.”
He said sunflower oil and corn oil were now banished from his own kitchen, replaced by olive oil and butter.
NHS advice is to replace “foods high in saturated fat with lower-fat versions” and warns against frying food in butter or lard, recommending instead corn oil, sunflower oil and rapeseed oil. Saturated fats raise cholesterol levels, increasing the risk of heart disease.
But Prof Grootveld, of De Montfort University in Leicester, who carried out a series of experiments, said: “For decades, the authorities have been warning us how bad butter and lard was. But we have found butter is very, very good for frying purposes and so is lard.
“People have been telling us how healthy polyunsaturates are in corn oil and sunflower oil. But when you start messing around with them, subjecting them to high amounts of energy in the frying pan or the oven, they undergo a complex series of chemical reactions which results in the accumulation of large amounts of toxic compounds.”
The findings are contained in research papers. Prof Grootveld’s team measured levels of “aldehydic lipid oxidation products” (LOPs), produced when oils were heated to varying temperatures. The tests suggested coconut oil produces the lowest levels of aldehydes, and three times more aldehydes were produced when heating corn oil and sunflower oil than butter.
The team concluded in one paper last year: “The most obvious solution to the generation of LOPs in culinary oils during frying is to avoid consuming foods fried in PUFA [polyunsaturated fatty acid]-rich oils as much as possible.”
Prof Grootveld said: “This major problem has received scant or limited attention from the food industry and health researchers.” Evidence of high levels of toxicity from heating oils has been available for many years, he said.
Health concerns linked to the toxic by-products include heart disease; cancer; “malformations” during pregnancy; inflammation; risk of ulcers and a rise in blood pressure.
He said the oils when “completely pure [and] authentic … offer no threats to human health” but that “LOPs arising from the frequent and common use of polyunsaturated fats” for frying “certainly do so”.
Public Health England says saturated fats, including butter and coconut oil “can be eaten occasionally in small amounts as part of a healthy balanced diet”.
This is both a tragedy and an embarrassment for the Heart Association. Assuming the 52-year-old president was following the badly flawed AHA dietary guidelines, maybe this is the wake-up call they need to come clean with what the science really says for preventing heart attacks.
November 29, 2017
Story at-a-glance
John Warner, cardiologist and president of the American Heart Association (AHA), recently suffered a heart attack in the middle of a health conference at the age of 52
In all likelihood, Warner followed AHA recommendations, many of which can actually worsen or cause heart disease
AHA supports ample grain consumption and recommends eating harmful fats such as canola, corn, soybean and sunflower oil, both of which are known to cause and/or contribute to cardiovascular problems
Good heart health starts with your diet — what you eat and when you eat. A powerful treatment for heart disease is to work your way up to an intermittent fasting schedule where you’re fasting for 20 hours a day
When you do eat, make sure you eat real food, and consider a cyclical ketogenic diet, high in healthy fats, low in net carbs with moderate protein. Once you’re comfortable with this intermittent fasting schedule, start doing a monthly water only fast, working your way up to multiple days
By Dr. Mercola
In the health paradox of the year, 52-year-old cardiologist John Warner, president of the American Heart Association (AHA), recently suffered a heart attack in the middle of a health conference.1,2 In a statement, the association reported Warner was in stable condition after having a stent placed to open a blocked artery. Part of Warner’s speech at the Scientific Sessions conference in Anaheim, California, centered around his own family’s struggle with heart disease.
"After my son was born and we were introducing him to his extended family, I realized something very disturbing: There were no old men on either side of my family. None. All the branches of our family tree cut short by cardiovascular disease," Warner said in his speech.3
“Together we can make sure old men and old women are regulars at family reunions, that people live long enough and healthy enough to enjoy walks and fishing trips with their grandchildren and maybe even their great-grandchildren. In other words, I look forward to a future where … children grow up surrounded by so many healthy, beloved, elderly relatives that they couldn't imagine life any other way.”
The AHA’s CEO, Nancy Brown, said in a statement:4 “John wanted to reinforce that this incident underscores the important message that he left us with in his presidential address … that much progress has been made, but much remains to be done.”
Many AHA Recommendations Worsen Heart Health
In all likelihood, Warner followed AHA recommendations, many of which are actually recipes for heart disease disaster. Of the foods scientifically proven to cause heart disease and clogged arteries, excess sugar and industrially processed omega-6 vegetable oils, found in nearly all processed foods, compete for space at the top the list. And what kinds of foods does the AHA recommend to protect your heart?
Not only does it support ample grain consumption, it also recommends eating harmful fats such as canola, corn, soybean and sunflower oil.5 “Blends or combinations of these oils, often sold under the name ‘vegetable oil,’ and cooking sprays made from these oils are also good choices,” the AHA says. Meanwhile, the association still insists saturated fats are to be avoided.
Just this past summer the AHA shocked health experts around the world by sending out a worldwide advisory6 saying saturated fats such as butter and coconut oil should be avoided to cut your risk of heart disease, and that replacing these fats with margarine and vegetable oil might cut your heart disease risk by as much as 30 percent. Overall, the AHA recommends limiting your daily saturated fat intake to 6 percent of daily calories or less.7
This is as backward as it gets, and if Warner was following this long-outdated advice, it’s no wonder he suffered a heart attack. In fact, it is to be expected. As noted by American science writer Gary Taubes in his extensive rebuttal to the AHA’s advisory,8 with this document, the AHA reveals its longstanding prejudice — and the method by which it reaches its flawed conclusions.
In short, the AHA simply excluded any and all contrary evidence. After this methodical cherry-picking, they were left with just four clinical trials published in the 1960s and early ‘70s — the eras when the low-fat myth was born and grew to take hold. The problem is nutritional science has made significant strides since then, and a number of significant studies have firmly disproven the hypothesis that saturated fat causes heart disease, finding no association whatsoever.
In related news, the AHA recently issued new guidelines on blood pressure,9 moving the goal post for heart health yet again. Now you’re considered hypertensive if your blood pressure is above 130 over 80. Previous guidelines started hypertension at 140 over 90. This means an estimated 30 million Americans will qualify for the designation of having high blood pressure, and of those, an estimated 1 in 5 are likely to receive the recommendation to take blood pressure medication.
Flawed Fat Recommendations Have Been Followed With Disastrous Consequences
Since the 1950s, when vegetable oils began being promoted over saturated fats like butter, Americans have dutifully followed this advice, dramatically increasing consumption of vegetable oil. Soybean oil, for example, has risen by 600 percent while butter, tallow and lard consumption has been halved. We’ve also dramatically increased sugar consumption, which has also been implicated as a primary contributor to heart disease and other chronic health problems.10
While following this advice, Americans have gotten fatter and sicker. Heart disease rates have not improved even though people have been following the AHA’s “heart healthy diet.” Common sense tells us if the AHA’s advice hasn’t worked in the last 65 years, it’s not likely to start working now. Modern research is just now starting to reveal what actually happens at the molecular level when you consume vegetable oil and margarine, and it’s not good.
For example, Dr. Sanjoy Ghosh,11 a biologist at the University of British Columbia, has shown your mitochondria cannot easily use polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) for fuel due to the fats’ unique molecular structure. Other researchers have shown the PUFA linoleic acid hinders mitochondrial function and can even cause cell death.12
PUFAs are also not readily stored in subcutaneous fat. Instead, PUFAs tend to get deposited in your liver, where they contribute to fatty liver disease, and in your arteries, where they contribute to atherosclerosis.
According to Frances Sladek,13 Ph.D., a toxicologist and professor of cell biology at UC Riverside, PUFAs behave like a toxin that builds up in tissues because your body cannot easily rid itself of it. Making matters worse, when vegetable oils like sunflower oil and corn oil are heated, cancer-causing chemicals like cyclic aldehydes are also produced.14
Other research confirms such findings by linking fried foods to an increased risk of death. For example, eating fried potatoes more than twice a week has been shown to double a person’s risk of death compared to never eating fried potatoes.15 Animal and human research has also found vegetable oils promote:
According to Dr. Cate Shanahan,21 a family physician and author of “Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food,” the idea that PUFAs are healthier than saturated fats falls flat when you enter the field of biochemistry, because it’s “biochemically implausible.” In other words, the molecular structure of PUFA is such that it’s far more prone to react with oxygen, and these reactions disrupt cellular activity and cause inflammation.22 Oxidative stress and inflammation, in turn, are hallmarks not only of heart disease and heart attacks but of most chronic diseases.23,24
“[T]he folks at the AHA claim saturated fat is pro-inflammatory and causes arterial plaque and heart attacks — but there is no biochemically plausible explanation for their argument,” she told me in an emailed rebuttal to the AHA advisory.“Saturated fat is very stable, and will not react with oxygen the way PUFA fat does, not until the fundamental laws of the universe are altered.
Our bodies do need some PUFA fat, but we need it to come from food like walnuts and salmon or gently processed (as in cold pressed, unrefined) oils like flax and artisanal grapeseed, not from vegetable oils because these are refined, bleached and deodorized, and the PUFA fats are molecularly mangled into toxins our body cannot use.”
Open Letter to AHA President
In an open letter to AHA president Warner, Dr. William Davis, a New York cardiologist and author of The New York Times best seller “Wheat Belly, Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health,” writes, in part:
“If you ignore the nonsense that AHA policy dictates, you can absolutely gain control over cardiovascular risk. But you will NOT find the answers in any AHA policy. I learned these lessons practicing as an interventional cardiologist, then abandoning this ridiculous way of managing coronary disease to devote my efforts to early detection and prevention.
So, I thought I would articulate some of these thoughts in an open letter to Dr. Warner as he recovers from his procedure … Dr. Warner — … There are a number of reasons why someone like you — deeply-entrenched in the conventional world of heart disease management and what passes for prevention — highlights the miserable failure that the modern coronary care paradigm represents:
1) We are trapped by the outdated but profitable lipid hypothesis … 2) We know from abundant data that small oxidation- and glycation-prone LDL particles are highly atherogenic … are potent triggers of the inflammation cascade … and are triggered to abundant degrees in some genotypes upon consumption of the amylopectin A of grains …
[Y]es, the food that the American Heart Association advises to fill the diet with — and sugars … I am hoping that, now that this disease has touched you personally, your eyes will be opened to the corrupt and absurd policies of conventional coronary care and the American Heart Association.”
The Magic Pill Myth Needs to End
Davis goes on to note that heart disease is a multifactorial problem that cannot be solved with a pill.
“Thinking that a statin drug … [is] sufficient to prevent coronary events is absurd and overly-simplistic, like thinking that taking Aricept for dementia will stop the disease — of course, it does no such thing,” he writes, adding, “There are no drugs to ‘treat’ many of the contributors to coronary atherogenesis.But there are many non-drug strategies to identify, then correct, such causes.”
Nondrug prevention strategies suggested by Davis include:
•Avoiding any and all dietary factors that provoke insulin resistance, glycation and formation of small, dense LDL particles. Importantly, this would include avoiding the harmful fats recommended by the AHA such as margarine and processed vegetable oils, and keeping your total daily fructose consumption below 25 grams per day.
•Optimizing your vitamin D level.
•Optimizing your omega-3 fat intake: An omega-3 index of 10 percent or greater is associated with “dramatic reduction in cardiovascular events,” Davis notes. Indeed, a 2010 analysis25 found that while diets higher in omega-6 fats (found in ample amounts in vegetable oils) and lower in omega-3s increased the risk of nonfatal myocardial infarction and death from heart disease by 13 percent; a mixed diet of both omega-3 and omega-6 fats reduced these risks by 22 percent.
Meanwhile, the AHA recommends higher intakes of omega-6, saying26 “Aggregate data from randomized trials, case-control and cohort studies, and long-term animal feeding experiments indicate that the consumption of at least 5 percent to 10 percent of energy from omega-6 PUFAs reduces the risk of coronary heart disease relative to lower intakes.
The data also suggest that higher intakes appear to be safe and may be even more beneficial.”This statement runs counter to a large body of research suggesting the converse — specifically, that reducing omega-6 fats and increasing omega-3 is better for your heart.
•Addressing your thyroid function.
•Optimizing your gut microbiome to address dysbiosis caused by excess sugar, chlorinated and fluoridated water, and exposure to antibiotics, pesticides and common heartburn drugs.
Stent Placement No Better Than Placebo
Research also does not support the routine procedure of coronary artery angioplasty and stent placement. In fact, recent research suggests up to 50 percent of all stent placements may be unnecessary.27 Moreover, the effectiveness of this procedure is right on par with placebo. In a recent study published in The Lancet, researchers from Imperial College London investigated the difference between patients who had received a stent for stable angina and those who underwent a placebo intervention.28
In the short video above, lead author and interventional cardiologist Dr. Rasha Al-Lamee, describes the study and its results. Two hundred participants with severe single vessel blockage were recruited from five sites across the U.K.29 During the initial six weeks, all patients underwent an exercise test followed by intensive medical treatment.
At that point, they were randomly assigned to two groups. The first underwent a percutaneous intervention (PCI) during which coronary angioplasty was performed and a stent was placed. The second group also underwent a PCI procedure with an angiogram but without a balloon angioplasty or stent placement.30
For the following six weeks, neither the patient nor the physician knew if the patient received the stent. At the conclusion of the six weeks, patients again underwent an exercise test and were questioned about their symptoms. The researchers found both groups experienced nearly identical improvements in exercise tolerance and no difference in reported improvements of their symptoms.31 From the data, Al-Lamee commented:32
“Surprisingly, even though the stents improved blood supply, they didn’t provide more relief of symptoms compared to drug treatments, at least in this patient group. It seems that the link between opening a narrowing coronary artery and improving symptoms is not as simple as everyone had hoped.”
In this interview, Dr. Thomas Cowan, family physician, founding member of the Weston A. Price Foundation and author of “Human Heart, Cosmic Heart: A Doctor’s Quest to Understand, Treat and Prevent Cardiovascular Disease,” reveals how your heart and circulatory system works. This understanding may go a long way toward changing the way you understand heart disease.
He makes a strong case for heart disease being rooted in mitochondrial dysfunction and believes plaque formation alone cannot explain a heart attack."[Conventionally], it's all about the plaque," Cowan says. "My point in the book is that it's NOT about the plaque." The conventional view is that your heart functions like a pump — a pressure propulsion system caused by the muscular contraction of the ventricles.
Cowan explains that your heart is actually better described as a hydraulic ram — a vortex-creating machine — where the primary mover of blood is the interaction occurring between the negatively charged vessel walls and the positively charged water in your blood. Importantly, the following three natural energies result in a separation of charges that improve blood flow:
1.Sunlight charges up your blood vessels, which increases the flow of blood. When the sun's rays penetrate your skin, it causes a massive increase of nitric oxide that acts as a vasodilator. As much as 60 percent of your blood can be shunted to the surface of your skin through the action of nitric oxide.
This helps absorb solar radiation, which then causes the water in your blood to capture the energy and become structured. This is a key component for a healthy heart. The ideal is to be exposed to the sun while grounding, meaning walking barefoot. This forms a biological circuit that makes it work even better.
2.Negative ions from the Earth, also known as earthing or grounding. This also charges up your blood vessels, creates a separation of charges, creates more positive ions and allows the blood to flow upward, against gravity.
3.The field effect or touch from another living being, such as laying on of hands.
A Healthy Heart Is the Result of a Healthy Lifestyle
As noted by Cowan, "The best thing is to be, more or less, with shorts or naked on the beach, with the saltwater, which acts as an electrical conductor, holding hands with somebody you love. That's how you structure the water [in your blood vessels]." Sun exposure, grounding and skin-to-skin contact are three heart disease prevention strategies that, ideally, everyone should be doing, and it doesn't get a whole lot easier or less expensive than this.
That said, your heart health is really dependent on your diet — what you eat and when you eat. In my view, the best treatment for heart disease is to work your way up to an intermittent fasting schedule where you’re fasting for 20 hours a day. When you do eat, make sure you eat real food, and consider a cyclical ketogenic diet, high in healthy fats, low in net carbs with moderate protein.
Once you’re comfortable with this intermittent fasting schedule, start doing a monthly five-day water fast. This really is the most powerful metabolic intervention I know of, and I feel it’s one of the healthiest things I now do for my own health. Senescent cells, which have stopped replicating, play a distinct role in aging and disease. Once replication stops, these cells need to be removed from your body, or else they start clogging it up, causing severe inflammation and immune dysfunction.
Fasting very effectively gets rid of senescent cells — a process known as autophagy. Fasting also stimulates the production of stem cells, which help with regeneration and healing.
While a five-day fast may sound intimidating, if you’re used to 20-hour daily intermittent fasting for a month before starting your five-day fast, then the hunger that typically strikes on the second day of fasting is dramatically reduced and will typically not be at all bothersome. Fasting is also a powerful remedy for insulin resistance, which is a major underlying factor of heart disease.
Last but not least, the following exercise, which requires only two to three minutes, three times a day, is a super-simple way to boost your heart health. It prompts your body to release nitric oxide, which will help relax your blood vessels and improve your blood pressure.
Now Available: ‘Fat for Fuel Ketogenic Cookbook’
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That’s why I created a comprehensive companion tool, the “Fat for Fuel Ketogenic Cookbook: Recipes and Ketogenic Keys to Health from a World-Class Doctor and an Internationally Renowned Chef,” with celebrity chef Pete Evans. When you order today, you’ll receive three valuable bonuses:
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PUBLISHED: 23:53 GMT, 12 April 2016 | UPDATED: 07:36 GMT, 13 April 2016
Eating ‘healthy’ spreads rather than butter may not reduce the risk of heart disease after all, a major review has concluded.
We have long been told butter is full of ‘bad’ saturated fat and that we should eat sunflower and vegetable oil spreads – which are linked to a lower risk of heart attacks – instead.
Many scientists still defend the advice, but there has been growing debate among experts.
+3
Eating ‘healthy’ spreads rather than butter may not reduce the risk
of heart disease after all, a major review has concluded
Fresh research has cast further doubt on the guidelines. Scientists from the US’s National Institutes of Health found those who ate more of the ‘healthy’ fats in vegetable oils saw their cholesterol fall.
But this improvement in cholesterol did not translate into a drop in heart disease or risk of death compared to those who ate butter.
In fact, those with the greatest reduction in their cholesterol levels appeared to have a higher risk of death, the study, published last night in the British Medical Journal, found.
Britons were advised in 1983 to reduce their fat intake to 30 per cent of total energy and to cut their consumption of butter, full-fat milk and other foods high in saturated fat to 10 per cent.
Meanwhile the ‘good’ polyunsaturated fat in vegetable or sunflower oils – omega-6 fat – has long been linked to a lower heart disease risk.
Flora and other ‘healthy’ spreads boast they are high in omega-6. But several major studies have found that people who eat lots of saturated fat are no more likely to die early than others and a growing number of scientists want the guidelines changed.
The researchers behind the latest study, who are based at the universities of North Carolina and Illinois, found no clear association between eating polyunsaturated fats and a drop in heart disease risk. They said their findings suggest there has been an ‘overestimation of the benefits of replacing saturated fat with vegetable oils’.
We have long been told butter is full of ‘bad’ saturated fat and that we should eat sunflower and vegetable oil spreads – which are linked to a lower risk of heart attacks – instead
+3
The scientists re-analysed the 1970s Minnesota Coronary Experiment, which followed 9,423 participants from state mental hospitals and a nursing home.
During the trial, one group of people swapped their normal diets, which included butter, for a diet rich in corn oil and polyunsaturated margarine.
The team found that while those on the polyunsaturated diet had a ‘significant reduction’ in cholesterol levels, they experienced a higher rate of death.
There was also ‘no evidence of benefit’ in terms of heart disease or risk of heart attack, the scientists wrote.
Dr Aseem Malhotra, a cardiologist and adviser to the National Obesity Forum, said last night: ‘The public health message needs to change to focus on dietary changes that are proven to improve health and that means following a high fat Mediterranean style diet.’
But Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at Public Health England, stood by the current guidelines, saying: ‘The evidence shows eating too much saturated fat raises your cholesterol levels, increasing your risk of heart disease.
‘We are all eating too much saturated fat. This can mean too many calories leading to weight gain and obesity.’
Jeremy Pearson, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, also rejected the findings, saying: ‘We know that having too much cholesterol in your blood can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease, which is why managing our cholesterol level is crucial.’
+3
Fresh research has cast further doubt on the guidelines. Scientists from the US’s National Institutes of Health found those who ate more of the ‘healthy’ fats in vegetable oils saw their cholesterol fall
Caroline Jary, director of spreads at Unilever, which makes Flora, said: ‘Overwhelming evidence confirms that reducing intake of animal fats and replacing them with oils and fats from plants, like those found in our spreads, contribute significantly to heart health.
‘Unilever follows health recommendations from all over the world advocating to reduce the intake of saturated fats.’
The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition, which advises the Government, is currently reviewing the evidence on saturated fat, with a draft report due next year.
Researchers from Harvard University, who last year found polyunsaturated fat was linked to a lower risk of heart disease, suggested the reason other studies may not reach that conclusion is that many who cut down on saturated fat then eat more refined carbohydrates, which are another risk factor.
If you want to improve your health, then vitamins must be a crucial weapon in your arsenal. Numerous studies over the years have highlighted the various benefits that can be obtained from vitamins. Recent studies have shed new light on the relatively obscure and extremely underrated vitamin K. Now let us examine the many health benefits that can be derived from this vitamin.
Know Your Vitamin K
If you want to improve your health, then vitamins must be a crucial weapon in your arsenal. Numerous studies over the years have highlighted the various benefits that can be obtained from vitamins. Recent studies have shed new light on the relatively obscure and extremely underrated vitamin K. Now let us examine the many health benefits that can be derived from this vitamin.
Know Your Vitamin K
There are actually two types of vitamin K: K1 and K2. All K vitamins have identical functions that are tied to the naphthoquinone ring structure. What distinguish the two forms of vitamin K are their unique side chains.
Dr. Leon Schurgers is one of the world’s leading researchers on vitamin K. During the Rotterdam Study, which examined the differences between vitamins K1 and K2, Schurgers observed that two major difference between vitamin k1 and k2 are the food items in which they’re found and the amount of the vitamin that’s absorbed by the body.
He argued that, vitamin K1 is “highly bioavailable” in leafy green vegetables like spinach, kale, broccoli, and cabbage, but the body is capable of absorbing only 10 percent of the total. On the other hand, vitamin K2 is the product of bacterial fermentation and the human body is capable of absorbing almost the full amount of vitamin k2 from the fermented foods in which it is found.
Counting Vitamin K’s Benefits
Both vitamins K1 and K2 are known to help in blood clotting by activating certain coagulation factors. In the past, this has raised concerns from those who are taking oral anticoagulants (which prevent blood clots). Yet surprisingly, high vitamin K levels do not cause your coagulation factors to shift into overdrive. Schurgers explains:
“If you take oral anticoagulants … you have to be careful with K1 AND K2. However, the advice in the United States is to skip everything that contains vitamin K, and that is something I argue against.
Because if you take away all the K1 and K2 from the diet, every little interference — if you take a little bit of vitamin K — [it] will have a dramatic effect on the anticoagulant level.
However, if you have a steady intake level of vitamin K1 or K2, or both, a little bit of interference is not that bad anymore.”
Vitamin K is also vital in activating and promoting the biological function of the proteins osteocalcin (found in the bone) and matrix Gla protein or MGP (found in the vascular system).. It’s also known to strongly inhibit calcifications.
Elderly people who have atrial fibrillation or venous or deep-vein thrombosis and take oral anticoagulants are advised to be cautious about their blood levels, as these drugs prevent the recycling of vitamin K (both K1 and K2). It’s advisable to get your baseline PT (prothrombin) measurements while taking the oral anticoagulant and obtaining vitamins K1 and K2 from dietary sources. This information should allow your doctor to adjust your dose based on the results.
Among people who consumed high levels of vitamin K2, research found both lowered risk and prevented deaths from cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular calcification. Vitamin K2 also hindered arterial calcification by moving calcium to the bone instead. Vitamin K2 is also crucial for vascular flow to the brain by preventing plaque deposits, which may lead to Alzheimer’s disease if not monitored properly. Schurgers noted a study that showed how vitamin K2 played a role in delivering cellular energy in Parkinson’s disease patients, and even treating the disease itself.
Take Your Vitamin K Levels Up a Notch
According to Schurgers, virtually everyone is deficient in vitamin K. If you want to know what your vitamin K levels are, consider taking the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISA) test. This blood test calculates the active and inactive forms of MGP in your body and can accurately determine how much vitamin K you have.
Whether or not you know your results, it’s still best to include vitamin K rich foods in your diet to ensure optimal health.
Vitamin K1: Consume 200 grams of organic vegetables every day, particularly green leafy vegetables like kale, spinach, collard greens, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts
Vitamin K2: Eat at least 360 to 500 micrograms of hard and soft cheeses, raw butter, kefir, fermented foods like sauerkraut, natto, and miso, grass-fed beef and chicken liver, lamb or duck, or dark turkey meat. The bare minimum is 45 micrograms per day, according to the Rotterdam Study, but it’s best to aim for a higher amount.
You can also increase your vitamin K2 levels by taking a supplement, but only do it as a last resort.
The literature on vitamin K is fast expanding but rather limited when compared with other well-known vitamins. The information presented by Schurgers and his colleagues in the Rotterdam Study proved there are many benefits to be derived from vitamin K regardless of your age or level of well-being.
Perhaps the most important point to remember is that there are a wide variety of vitamin K-rich foods and vegetables. These healthy and flavorful items make it easy to boost your vitamin k levels with a wholesome natural diet.
