When you take some vitamin D3 supplements, you probably need another vitamin that people often forget - K2. Actually, your body absorbs more calcium when you take D3. The thing is, without enough K2, that calcium can build up in your arteries instead of making your bones stronger. Think of K2 as a helpful guide that shows the calcium where it should go in your body and keeps it away from the areas it shouldn't be.
These two vitamins work together to improve your health in ways that they can't do on their own. The D3 helps your body take in more calcium from your food, while the K2 turns on the proteins that put this calcium into your bones and keep it out of your arteries. When they work together, your bones like to get stronger. You're less likely to break them, and your heart and blood vessels generally stay healthier, too.
When you take the D3 without any K2, you have the extra help, but you're not telling that help what to do or where to go. In practice, when you combine these two vitamins as part of your health schedule, you give your body what it needs to direct the calcium to the right areas - where it helps you the most.
Let's learn some more about this together!
Calcium Balance And Vitamin D
Your body actually uses vitamin D3 to help absorb calcium from your food. When you don't have enough D3, you can usually only get a small amount of calcium from what you eat. Your bones need this calcium to help stay strong. With adequate D3 levels in your system, you can then absorb more of the calcium in your meals.
There's a big catch that many people just don't know about! Getting calcium into your bloodstream is only one part of what your body actually needs. Your body also needs to know where to put that calcium. Vitamin K2 works just like a traffic director for calcium in your body. It guides the calcium to your bones and teeth where it should be.
Calcium can often end up in the wrong locations if you don't have enough K2. It might just settle in your arteries, kidneys, or other soft tissues instead of in your bones. Your arteries can get very stiff and narrow when calcium builds up in them. Doctors call this arterial calcification, and it can cause serious complications for your heart health.
The truth is you might run into some complications if you take D3 without having enough K2, according to the research. Your bones won't get the calcium that they need. At the same time, the calcium can build up in locations where it doesn't belong - this happens because D3 makes your body produce more proteins that need K2 to work right.
These two vitamins normally work together like partners. D3 helps your body make more osteocalcin, a protein that binds calcium to your bones. But this protein only works when something actually activates it. That's what K2 does. Without K2, the protein just sits there doing nothing at all.
K2 also turns on another protein called Matrix Gla Protein - this protein prevents the calcium from building up in your soft tissues and arteries. Just remember when you don't have enough K2, this protection doesn't work properly - this leaves your arteries and organs open to those unwanted calcium deposits.
People used to commonly get both of these nutrients together from their traditional foods. Eggs from chickens (that roam outside) and cheese from cows (that eat grass) have D3 and K2. So basically, most of our modern meals don't have these natural food combinations. Why not try adding some of these foods to your meals to get both vitamins at once?
Benefits For Bone Strength
Your body uses vitamin D3 to help absorb calcium from your food. But that's just the beginning of the story. You also generally need some K2 to direct that calcium to where it actually belongs. When you don't have enough of the K2, the calcium can wander around in your blood and sometimes end up creating some deposits in your arteries.
Actually, the K2 turns on a protein in your body called osteocalcin. You can think of this helpful protein as a kind of magnet that draws calcium into your bones. When you don't have enough of the K2, this protein just sits there doing nothing at all. You might absorb lots of calcium with the D3. But without the K2 helping out, that calcium won't do much for your bone strength.
You could be taking some D3 supplements already but leaving out the K2 - this is like calling for a delivery but then forgetting to give your home address. The calcium shows up in your body, but it has no idea where it should actually go. The research usually suggests that when you take both of these vitamins together, then you'll probably develop much stronger bones compared to just taking the D3 alone.
The truth is that your bone loss tends to speed up quite a bit after menopause. When the women in one study took both of these vitamins together for about two years, they lost much less bone mass. Their chance of breaking any bones went down by almost 25 percent in total.
Your diet can give you some K2 in a few different forms. The type that's called MK-7 hangs around in your body longer than the others. You'll find it in foods that go through the fermentation process. Since most common Western meals tend to lack the K2, you might want to consider taking some supplements instead.
Just remember that strong bones aren't the only thing that you can get from this vitamin combination. Your teeth can receive support from them, too. When the K2 activates proteins in your body, they help to make your tooth enamel much harder. Plus, when you take these two vitamins, you might lower your danger of dealing with any cavities or gum problems down the road.
You should know that getting the right amounts matters when you take these vitamins together. Many doctors recommend shooting for about 100-200 micrograms of the K2 each day. For the D3, then you'll want to base your dosage on your own blood test results. When you take too much D3 without enough K2, it can actually create more health problems than it helps with in the long run.
Benefits For Heart Health
Just remember that your body needs vitamin D3 to absorb calcium from food and supplements. Sometimes, though, that calcium can end up where it shouldn't be. That's when vitamin K2 comes to the rescue for you! You can think of K2 as a friendly traffic director for calcium that makes sure it goes to your bones where you need it the most.
When you don't have enough K2 in your system, calcium often builds up in your arteries instead of your bones. Over time, it makes your arteries less flexible than before. Your heart then has to work extra hard to pump the blood through these hardened pathways - this added strain can take a toll on your heart health as you age.
People who get enough K2 in their diet generally have healthier hearts, according to studies out there. These people show less calcium buildup in their arteries and face fewer heart complications down the road. That means stronger bones for you without putting any extra stress on your heart.
You may help slow down artery hardening when you use these vitamins together. It'll make a real difference if you already worry about your heart or have some risk factors. Doctors usually recommend this vitamin combination for their patients. They've seen how this tag-team strategy can protect your heart over time.
The thing is, scientists are still learning about this important connection. But what they've found so far looks very positive. They've seen that people from cultures who eat lots of K2-rich foods tend to have fewer heart complications. Take the traditional Japanese diets with foods like natto that contain plenty of K2. The communities eating these foods often show better heart health.
You should know that K2 supplements come in different types on the market. The main ones you'll see are MK-4 and MK-7 when you shop around. If you're looking for the best partner for vitamin D3, choose MK-7 since it stays in your system longer than others - this can give your body extra time to guide the calcium to your bones instead of your arteries.
What's The Right Amount to Take?
Vitamin D3 and K2 usually work together like a tag team for your health. D3 brings the calcium into your body, while K2 tells that calcium where to go. They help each other do a better job when you take them together than when they work alone. That's why so many doctors recommend taking them as a pair.
You'll probably do just fine with about 2000 to 5000 IU of vitamin D3. However, the amount can change based on your own body and health situation. For K2, most people take between 90 and 200 micrograms each day. Remember that these numbers can vary quite a bit from person to person.
Doctors generally use an easy rule when they're figuring out your vitamin balance. For every 1000 IU of vitamin D3, you might want to take about 10 micrograms of K2. So if you take about 5000 IU of D3, you'd match it with around 50 micrograms of K2 - this balance helps your body use vitamins more effectively.
Studies have shown that people who take vitamins together tend to have stronger bones than the ones who only take D3. Your body seems to use vitamin D3 more efficiently when K2 is there to help out. Try adding them to your schedule for better results.
The teamwork between these two vitamins matters. Just remember that D3 helps you absorb the calcium from your food, which your bones need. Without enough K2 around, that calcium might end up in areas like your arteries where you don't want it. K2 makes sure that the calcium goes to your bones where it belongs.
Your body generally stores D3 in your fat cells and releases it slowly over time. K2 doesn't stay in your system as long, so you need to take it more often. This difference in how long they can stay in your system is another reason why taking them together makes sense. I suggest you check with your doctor about how to find the right balance for your own requirements.
Foods That Have K2 and D3
Your body usually uses the vitamins from food better than the ones from pills. When you eat some vitamin-rich foods, you get more benefits than from supplements alone. You'll find that vitamin K2 is in foods that you might already like. Natto (a type of fermented soybean popular in Japan) contains lots of K2.
You can generally get K2 from aged cheeses like gouda and brie. Egg yolks can give you some K2, too. This is especially true for eggs from chickens that roam outdoors. Try some butter from grass-fed cows for another tasty K2 source. You'll even find some K2 in meats - beef liver and chicken thighs have this helpful vitamin.
Fatty fish like salmon and mackerel can give you lots of vitamin D3. Egg yolks pull double duty with K2 and D3 - a good bonus. Items like milk, orange juice, and cereal now come with added D3. Remember that your skin makes D3 when you spend some time in the sunlight. This can give you a great vitamin boost - and it's free!
D3 and K2 actually work together in your body like partners. D3 helps you absorb calcium from your meals, while K2 directs that calcium to where it belongs. Without enough K2, the calcium can sometimes go to your arteries instead of strengthening your bones. You can think of these vitamins as traffic directors, keeping the calcium flowing to the right locations for bones and clear blood vessels.
Your body uses this whole network of vitamins and minerals to help you stay healthy. You'll find magnesium in leafy greens, nuts, and seeds that help support the work of D3 and K2. These nutrients support one another.
Sauerkraut and kimchi regularly help your gut health while also supplying K2. People who follow traditional diets eat these foods in combinations that naturally give them the right nutrients. You can try adding some fermented vegetables to your meals for flavor and health benefits.
Interestingly, people living in the Arctic regions traditionally eat lots of fatty fish and fermented foods. Even with the tough living conditions, they tend to have fewer bone and heart complications. Their diet gives them the D3 and K2 naturally, which shows how food options can give you what your body needs without any extra supplements.
Keep It All Natural
The vitamins in your body team together to keep you healthy. You might take some D3 because you have heard that it's helpful for your bones and your mood. But without having K2 alongside it, you generally won't get the full set of benefits from it. Actually take a careful look at what you're taking now - does your supplement have both? When in doubt, you should ask your doctor if your latest combination covers your bases.
In reality, the little actions that you do each day can add up to you feeling better. We at Bella All Natural want to help you take those first steps toward better health for yourself.
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