Vitamin K Helps Fight Type-2 Diabetes

A new Dutch study reports higher intakes of vitamin K may lessen the risk of developing type-2 diabetes. Although the research, which was published in Diabetes Care, is based on statistical correlation, it does underline the potential benefits of a vitamin K-rich diet as a deterrent against type-2 diabetes. Unfortunately, about 8 percent of the American population is estimated to be suffering from this condition, with total healthcare costs reckoned at $174 billion. One of the two main forms of vitamin K, called phylloquinone (vitamin K1), is found in green leafy vegetables like lettuce, broccoli and spinach, which constitutes about 90 percent of the typical Western diet. The other main form of vitamin K, menaquinones (vitamin K2), which makes up about 10 percent of Western vitamin K consumption, is capable of being synthesized in the gut by microflora. Scientists conducting the research calculated that for every increase of 10 micrograms in consumption of vitamin K2, the risk of type-2 diabetes drops by 7 percent.

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