Contents
1 What is vitamin K deficiency and how much vitamin K do you need every day?
2 Vitamin K deficiency symptoms
3 Causes of vitamin K deficiency
4 Vitamin K in food
Vegan vitamin K sources Animal vitamin K sources Drinking meals against vitamin K deficiency

What is vitamin K deficiency and how much vitamin K do you need every day?

Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin that plays a crucial role in blood clotting, bone mineralization and prevention of cardiovascular diseases. A vitamin K deficiency occurs if the body does not absorb or use enough vitamin K to maintain its normal functions.

The recommended daily supply of vitamin K varies depending on age and gender. According to the German Nutrition Society (DGE), adults should consume around 70-80 micrograms of vitamin K every day. For infants, children and adolescents, lower values ​​apply depending on age. Pregnant and breastfeeding women have a slightly increased need of around 60-65 micrograms per day.

Vitamin K deficiency symptoms

A vitamin K deficiency can be noticeable through various symptoms. The most common signs include:

  • Bleeding: Frequent nosebleeds, slight bruises, extended bleeding times in the event of injuries
  • Blood clotting disorders: Increased coagulation time, poor wound healing
  • Bone complaints: Osteoporosis, increased risk of fracture, joint pain
  • Digestive problems: Diarrhea, constipation, flatulence
  • Fatigue and exhaustion: General weakness, listlessness

Causes of vitamin K deficiency

There are various reasons why a vitamin K deficiency can occur:

  1. Inadequate admission to the food: A one-sided diet with little green leafy vegetables, legumes and fermented foods can lead to poor vitamin K supply.
  2. Malabsorption: In the case of diseases of digestive tract such as celiac disease, Crohn's disease or pancreatic insufficiency, the absorption of vitamin K in the intestine can be impaired.
  3. Taking certain medication: Antibiotics, anticoagulants (blood thinners) and antiepileptics can disturb the vitamin K recording and utilization.
  4. Liver diseases: Since vitamin K is stored and activated in the liver, liver diseases can lead to a deficiency.
  5. Newborn: In the first days of life, infants often have a physiological vitamin K deficiency, since the vitamin is not sufficiently transmitted via the placenta and breast milk.

Vitamin K in food

Vitamin K mainly occurs in vegetable foods and only in very small quantities in animal products. Here is an overview of the vitamin K richest foods (animal or herbal) with their average vitamin K content per 100 g:

Vegan vitamin K sources

Vegan vitamin K sources Vitamin K content per 100 g
1. Wances chard (raw) 830 µg
2. Garden cress (raw) 542 µg
3. spinach (cooked) 494 µg
4. Kale (cooked) 419 µg
5. Chicorée (raw) 298 µg
6. Radicchio (raw) 255 µg
7. Endivia salad (raw) 231 µg
8. Spring onions (raw) 207 µg
9. Brussels sprouts (raw) 177 µg
10. Broccoli (cooked) 141 µg

Animal vitamin K sources

Animal vitamin K sources Vitamin K content per 100 g
1. anchovies (in oil) 12 µg
2. Butter 7 µg
3. tuna (in oil) 7 µg
4. 6 µg
5. Lamb wood meat (fried) 5 µg
6. Mackerel (raw) 5 µg
7. 4 µg
8. Chicken breast (cooked) 4 µg
9. Cattle liver (fried) 4 µg
10. Duck (fried) 4 µg

Drinking meals against vitamin K deficiency

Drinking meals like that of Saturo can also contribute to vitamin K supply. They contain a balanced combination of nutrients, including a defined amount of vitamin K. Regular consumption of such astronaut food can help to cover the vitamin K requirement and prevent a deficiency.

1 3

Frequently asked questions

How does a vitamin K deficiency express itself?

You could increasingly tend to blue spots because vitamin K plays an important role in blood clotting. Nosebleeds and bleeding gums also occur more often. In babies, a pronounced defect can even lead to dangerous brain bleeding. Other possible symptoms are fatigue, nausea and pale skin. In the long term, vitamin K deficiency also weakens your bones and increases the risk of osteoporosis.

Where is a lot of vitamin K included?

Vitamin K is contained in many green leafy vegetables such as kale, spinach, arugula and lettuce. Some types of cabbage such as broccoli and Brussels sprouts as well as herbs such as parsley are great vitamin K suppliers. In smaller quantities you will also find fat -soluble vitamin in animal foods such as egg yolk, liver and cheese.

Which organ forms vitamin K?

Vitamin K is partly formed by the intestinal bacteria in your large intestine. These useful bacteria produce the vitamin form K2, which is then absorbed into the blood via the intestinal mucosa and is thus available to the body. However, the amount is usually not sufficient to completely cover daily needs. That is why it is important to eat additionally vitamin K-rich foods such as green leafy vegetables, cabbage and herbs.

What does the vitamin K recording inhibits?

The absorption of vitamin K can be inhibited by some medication, in particular by anticoagulant agents. These drugs block the effect of vitamin K and thus inhibit blood clotting. If you take such medication, it is important that you keep the vitamin K intake through food as constant as possible. Even low -fat nutrition and disorders of fat digestion such as a disease of the pancreas can also impair the absorption of fat -soluble vitamin K.

What is vitamin K in the body for?

Vitamin K plays an important role in blood clotting in your body. It is involved in the formation of various coagulation factors that ensure that the blood clots quickly in the event of an injury and closes the wound. In addition, your bones need vitamin K to stay healthy and stable. The vitamin activates proteins that store calcium in the bones and thus ensure high bone density. In addition, vitamin K also seems to protect against arterial calcification by preventing calcium from being deposited in the vessel walls.

Why should you take vitamin D with vitamin K?

Vitamin D and vitamin K complement each other perfectly with the support of your bone health. While vitamin D promotes calcium from the intestine into the blood, vitamin K proteins that specifically install the calcium into the bones. Together, both vitamins ensure that your skeleton is optimally supplied with the important mineral. However, if you take vitamin D, without paying attention to a sufficient supply of vitamin K, it can happen that the calcium occurs uncontrollably in the blood vessels and thus promotes the artery calcification.

You might be interested in that too

1 3