Here's what you need to know about K vitamin

Many of us have heard of Vitamin A, B, C, and D, however most of us have totally no idea what is K vitamin, what it does, and whether it is good or not. Today we will be explaining all those questions with regards to the K vitamin. First off, the K vitamin is essential for the blood to clot upon suffering from a cut or open wound, to repair injuries. Whenever a person has a bleeding wound, the K vitamin is present in the blood that stops the bleeding and enables most minor cuts to heal rapidly. 

Next up, did you know that there are three different forms of the K vitamin?. The first variant of the K vitamin is known as vitamin K1, also known as phylloquinone. This is the form of the K vitamin that is found in types of plant foods. The second form of the K vitamin is the vitamin K2, or also known as menaquinone. Friendly bacteria in the intestines form this type of the K vitamin. Thirdly, there is vitamin K3, which is also known as menadione and is actually a synthetic form of the K vitamin. All three of these types of K vitamin end up in the liver, where it is used to create the blood clotting substances.

The best natural sources of the K vitamin are green leafy vegetables, such as spinach. However, because the friendly bacteria in the intestine make one of the forms of the K vitamin it is extremely rare for a person to have a deficiency of the K vitamin and so K vitamin supplements are not needed by the majority of people.

Well, apart from the primary function of helping blood to clot, the K vitamin, specifically the Vitamin K1, has a vital part to play in the bone-building process. This K vitamin is required to retain the calcium in the bones and redistribute it to where it is needed.

Although a K vitamin deficiency is relatively rare, there are without a doubt, certain groups of people who may suffer from it. Newborn babies may not have enough of the K vitamin as they have insufficient bacteria in their intestines to produce it. The majority of newborn babies in developed countries are therefore given a K vitamin injection to tide them over until the natural process takes over. That is the only time that most people will take a K vitamin supplement throughout their lives. However, an extended course of antibiotics may lead to a K vitamin deficiency due to the fact that the antibiotics kill the intestinal bacteria as well as the ones that they are being taken to cure. Then again, a K vitamin supplement may be given if the course of antibiotics has to continue for an extended period of time.