Quick tip: Consider swapping butter and cheese for olive oil or canola oil. This will help boost your vitamin K intake and perhaps decline your risk of heart disease.
6 Facts From Our IV Therapy Toronto Clinic on Vitamin K1
POSTED ON NOVEMBER 9, 2022 BY TORONTO FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE CENTRE
Did you know that our IV Therapy Toronto clinic provides intramuscular shots as a personalized service? This intravenous therapy-related tool might offer beneficial effects.
Alleviating nutritional deficiencies is needed for replenishing cell health and supporting brain health as you age. At the Toronto Functional Medicine Centre, we offer various types of vitamins as injections, such as include vitamin D, vitamin B12 and vitamin K1. But what is vitamin K?
This unique vitamin is one of the main forms of vitamin K, which is necessary for building bones and regulating blood coagulation in cases of cuts, abrasions or injuries. It’s also a cofactor for the carboxylate form of glutamic acid and impacts cellular functioning.
If you’ve recently given birth, the nutrient may be familiar to you; when infants are born, its usually provided to them because vitamin K can’t cut across the placenta in the womb. “Babies are born with very little vitamin K stored in their bodies. Without enough vitamin K, babies cannot make the substances used to form clots, called ‘clotting factors,’” explains the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
Vitamin K consists of several fat-soluble key vitamins, including vitamin K1. K1 is also called phylloquinone, and makes up 90% of the vitamin K content in the human body. It’s significance on the human body is impressive, as our bones and cartilage hold proteins that rely on K1.
Some scientists believe that low levels might be connected to bone health. For instance, the Journal of Orthopaedic Science has highlighted that low vitamin K intake might be associated with knee osteoarthritis.
Vitamin K deficiency is rare in adults because the nutrient is available through dietary intake; also, your intestines naturally create vitamin K. So, why should we still consider its supplementation? Read on to learn about phylloquinone’s prominence on optimal functioning.
6 Facts to Know About Vitamin K1
1. The top compounds of vitamin K include K1 (phylloquinone) and K2 (menaquinone). Phylloquinone is generally “…found in green vegetables and plant chlorophylls, whereas K2 menaquinones are synthesized by bacteria and are primarily found in food where bacteria are part of the production process,” explains an International Journal of Molecular Sciences article.
2. In a two-year, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (on women ages 60 and over), it was shown that phylloquinone – when combined with calcium and vitamin D supplements – has the potential to improve bone mineral content.
3. Phylloquinone might contribute to improved brain function. According to a piece from the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism, elderly patients with Alzheimer’s disease have low K1 levels. Authors of this article suggest that the vitamin might be linked to enhanced mental performance. “One such study showed that vitamin K1 was associated with better verbal episodic memory performances especially on recall tasks,” authors confirmed to Nutrition and Metabolism.
4. In a study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, it was deemed that low K2 levels might boost hip fracture risks in females. The study was conducted on women over a 10-year period; women with low K1 intake had a 30% chance of getting a hip fracture.
5. Finding a suitable delivery method for phylloquinone is imperative. Its bioavailability “…from green vegetables is lower than from oil or supplements. Also, the phylloquinone content of green vegetables depends on their content in chlorophyll (green pigment), so that outer leaves have more phylloquinone than inner leaves,” confirms Oregon State University. Thus, a K1 intramuscular shot can provide a complete absorption rate without unwanted side effects.
6. A deficiency is rare, though some adults are at risk. This includes people on medications or particular supplements that interact with the injection (i.e. blood thinners, excessive doses of vitamin A and vitamin E); adults with liver disease or damage; and those with malabsorption issues (i.e. inflammatory bowel disease or celiac disease). With that,, a functional medicine provider should be consulted to ensure that vitamin K is suitable for your health condition.
About Our Integrative and Functional Medicine Practice
Are you interested in our nutritional intramuscular injections? Let us know and we’ll book your complete diagnostic session! With our collaborative approach, let’s upgrade your energy levels, reduce oxidative stress and strengthen your immune function and tissue repair.
FYI: There are symptoms associated with a vitamin K deficiency, which include:
– bleeding into the skin, from the nose or stomach
– vomiting blood
– bloody urine or stool
– black-colored stool
Your process of recovery matters to our team. Our integrative and functional medicine programs can be applied to different issues related to: infertility, cellular damage, lack of energy, athletic recovery, premature aging, thyroid conditions, autoimmune disease, viral illness, among others. In-person and virtual appointments can be arranged, too.
Next to intramuscular shots, we offer IV vitamin infusions/therapy drips with essential vitamins or a combination of ingredients (i.e. high-dose vitamin C, a medley of amino acids, glutamic acid, major antioxidants, Myers Cocktail, glutathione, etc). Vitamin drip treatments are freshly compounded with safe ingredients on a daily basis. Other treatment modalities at our practice include: allopathic medicine, naturopathy, functional medicine treatments, herbal medicine, acupuncture, and others. We’re ready and eager to introduce your wellness to beneficial ingredients!
Do you need help achieving your health goals? Become a new patient at our practice – our functional medicine tools might steer you toward optimal health. Contact us to learn about nutritional injections and IV therapy in Toronto.
Disclaimer: The information in this article is designed for educational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for informed medical advice or care. This information should not be used to diagnose or treat any health problems or illnesses without consulting a doctor. Consult with a health care practitioner before relying on any information in this article or on this website.
References:
Basset GJ, Latimer S, Fatihi A, Soubeyrand E, Block A. Phylloquinone (Vitamin K1): Occurrence, Biosynthesis and Functions. Mini Rev Med Chem. 2017;17(12):1028-1038. doi: 10.2174/1389557516666160623082714. PMID: 27337968.
Bolton-Smith C, McMurdo ME, Paterson CR, Mole PA, Harvey JM, Fenton ST, Prynne CJ, Mishra GD, Shearer MJ. Two-year randomized controlled trial of vitamin K1 (phylloquinone) and vitamin D3 plus calcium on the bone health of older women. J Bone Miner Res. 2007 Apr;22(4):509-19. doi: 10.1359/jbmr.070116. PMID: 17243866.
Feskanich D, Weber P, Willett WC, Rockett H, Booth SL, Colditz GA. Vitamin K intake and hip fractures in women: a prospective study. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999 Jan;69(1):74-9. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/69.1.74. PMID: 9925126.
“Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s): Vitamin K and the Vitamin K Shot Given at Birth” from the CDC, updated January 1, 2021, viewed on October 26, 2022.
Halder M, Petsophonsakul P, Akbulut AC, Pavlic A, Bohan F, Anderson E, Maresz K, Kramann R, Schurgers L. Vitamin K: Double Bonds beyond Coagulation Insights into Differences between Vitamin K1 and K2 in Health and Disease. Int J Mol Sci. 2019 Feb 19;20(4):896. doi: 10.3390/ijms20040896. PMID: 30791399; PMCID: PMC6413124.
Harshman SG, Shea MK. The Role of Vitamin K in Chronic Aging Diseases: Inflammation, Cardiovascular Disease, and Osteoarthritis. Curr Nutr Rep. 2016 Jun;5(2):90-98. doi: 10.1007/s13668-016-0162-x. Epub 2016 Mar 31. PMID: 27648390; PMCID: PMC5026413.
Makiko Yoshida, Sarah L Booth, James B Meigs, Edward Saltzman, Paul F Jacques, Phylloquinone intake, insulin sensitivity, and glycemic status in men and women, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 88, Issue 1, July 2008, Pages 210–215, https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/88.1.210
Oka H, Akune T, Muraki S, En-yo Y, Yoshida M, Saika A, Sasaki S, Nakamura K, Kawaguchi H, Yoshimura N. Association of low dietary vitamin K intake with radiographic knee osteoarthritis in the Japanese elderly population: dietary survey in a population-based cohort of the ROAD study. J Orthop Sci. 2009 Nov;14(6):687-92. doi: 10.1007/s00776-009-1395-y. Epub 2009 Dec 8. PMID: 19997813.
Schwalfenberg GK. Vitamins K1 and K2: The Emerging Group of Vitamins Required for Human Health. J Nutr Metab. 2017;2017:6254836. doi: 10.1155/2017/6254836. Epub 2017 Jun 18. PMID: 28698808; PMCID: PMC5494092.
“Vitamin K” from Oregon State University, Reviewed in July 2022 by: Sarah L. Booth, Ph.D.
Director, Vitamin K Research Program, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, viewed on October 26, 2022.
“Vitamin K deficiency” from Merck Manual: Consumer Version, By Larry E. Johnson , MD, PhD, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, last full review/revision Nov 2020, content last modified Sep 2022, viewed on October 26, 2022.
