Vitamin K is a complex issue to properly manage. I have been working on a 1 year project to reduce the calcium build up in my heart arteries as well as other arteries and redirect the calcium where it belongs to my teeth and bones. There is a lot of research on this to prevent cardiac events that has been done in Japan, Europe and Canada but little to none in the US. In the US, we don’t normally try to prevent a cardiac event, we let the event happen and then have the best doctors in the world to fix our broken hearts if we survive the event. Acting in a pro-active fashion is not profitable and therefore rarely practiced in the US.
I have learned over the past 6 months that taking Vitamin K is totally ineffective unless taken with the proper amount of Vitamin D3 and Vitamin A. The balance is important and finding vitamin K in various doses in the US is next to impossible. Additionally, proper Vitamin K is needed, with the greatest concentration being in Vitamin K2, long chain MK7 version.
Within the first 6 months of taking the cocktail I believe is the best for me, I have seen some initial success. To monitor my success, I have a CT heart scan every 6 months to determine my CAC score. After a full year, I will evaluate if being proactive with Vitamin K is worth the effort or if it is mostly just hype or if it has other non planned benefits or issues. It is still too early for me to release my original findings as proper use of Vitamin K2 to its full potential is a marathon, not a sprint.
How much A CJ? I take the correct kind of K2 and D3 but no A. Can you give me amounts for a 105 lb woman? Thank-you.
Sorry Marilyn - I can’t begin to recommend anything yet as more data is first needed over a longer period of time. For me, I have gone all out and am taking what is considered to be the maximum for D3 and A. I recently had an 11 mm kidney stone imbedded in my ureter and there are claims that both Vitamin C and Vitamin D3 can exacerbate kidney stone production, I had never had stones in the past so who knows but time will tell if this cocktail is causing my stones. Plus my heavy use of Vitamin C to reduce my LDL.
The most reliable ratios I have found around the world is Vitamin D3 and A to be equal and 10 times the amount of K2. This is what I take but in no case recommend it yet. I am a 72 year old male and weigh 125 lbs.
Vitamin K, K1 5000 mcg
Vitamin K K2 MK-4 25mg (short chain)
Vitamin K K2 MK-7 0.5 mg (long chain)
Vitamin K K2 MK-7 600mcg (long chain)
Vitamin A 10,000 iu
Vitamin D3 10,000iu
I show 2 different values for my Vitamin K K2-MK-7 as it comes from 2 sources to get the proper amount. 1 is US based and the other UK based and they are both made from Natto, which is generally believed based on most studies which are done in Japan to be the best source for K2.
The toughest part was to A) find the proper ratios and B) find the proper dose of the right K2 to bring this all into balance.
Thanks. I will do some research. I can’t take too much D3 because my levels go up too high, but I do take some. I will continue my K and D and see about A.
Your kidney stone must have been horribly painful. I have had stones 3 or 4 times now. I am very grateful to have had the stone that required surgery 11 yrs ago, because the urologist found a tiny amount of bladder cancer during the surgery. In 2020 I had lithotripsy and I would almost rather have had surgery. I tend to go 10 yrs between problems with kidney stones and hope to go that long again.
For initial research without getting deep into the weeds, I strongly recommend the following to get an excellent overview.
Never felt a thing. Due to labor shortages it was all hands on deck in the warehouse and after 3 days of just helping out by moving about 100 40-60lb boxes of hardware a day I started peeing blood. Ultrasound was showing everything normal. CT scan was showing kidney stone and blocked bile duct. Surgeon said stone was well polished and had been stuck in my ureter for quite a while. I had Ureteroscopy and Laser Lithotripsy. She knocked me out so no pain and after procedure for 3 days only felt like a bad case of indigestion and did not even take any pain pills. She did, however, put in a stent which was uncomfortable for 10 days to help painlessly pass any stone remnants and other smaller stones and continued peeing a little blood. The worst part of the ordeal was the stent removal. She went in and grabbed the stent with some pliers without anesthesia and pulled it out and that was really painful as all heck.