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MenaQ7® is the Optimal Vitamin K2
MenaQ7® Vitamin K2 was created from a desire to substantially impact people’s health through all stages in life. Years of clinical research have established safe and effective health benefits, and these findings have been validated, published in respected peer-reviewed journals. Still today, all industry claims for Vitamin K2 as MK-7’s bone health benefits in children and adults and cardiovascular health benefits in adults stem solely from the clinical validation of MenaQ7®.
The most sought-after Consumer Selection Criteria sets MenaQ7® Vitamin K2 apart from competing K2 brands – “Proof that it works.”
MenaQ7® is the most clinically validated, patented Vitamin K2 as MK-7 available on the market today. Meeting the demands of an increasingly growing global market for health solution products, MenaQ7® varieties are suitable for vegans and vegetarians, free from gluten, dairy, soy, and other known allergens.
Since MenaQ7® was first introduced, novel technologies have been pioneered to expand the product portfolio. Today, the MenaQ7® natural product range caters to a growing global demand for high-purity, stable, and well-researched Vitamin K2 as MK-7. Our Advanced Solutions Platform enables the proven benefits of MenaQ7® to be delivered in a wide range of finished product dose forms, ranging from traditional tablets to in-demand liquids and gummies, and much more. In addition, the stringent quality assurance standards required for MenaQ7® production has earned it the industry’s highest certifications.
MenaQ7® Vitamin K2 as Menaquinone-7 (MK-7) Facts
- MenaQ7®, Vitamin K2 as menaquinone-7 (MK-7), is the most bioavailable, longest-lasting, and most bioactive form of Vitamin K.
- MenaQ7® is the most clinically proven Vitamin K2, with more than 22 human trials, having shaped the Vitamin K2 market of today
- The versatility of its portfolio makes MenaQ7® not only the perfect natural Vitamin K2 for consumer’s health but also for wide formulations & application choices.
Vitamin K-insufficient diets put children at risk of not optimizing their ability to grow strong bones and, potentially, a well-functioning cardiovascular system later in life.
Bones grow and develop most intensively during childhood and adolescence, with up to 90 percent of peak bone mass acquired by age 18 in girls and by age 20 in boys. Without adequate vitamin K to activate Osteocalcin, calcium cannot be properly used to build healthy, strong bones. Population-based studies and clinical trials have tightly linked better K vitamin status in children (meaning higher levels of K vitamins found in blood serum) to achieving strong, healthy bones. Yet a 2014 study of 42 children and 68 adults showed that levels of the bone-building vitamin-K dependent protein osteocalcin are 8-10 times higher in children than adults, hence their requirement of vitamin K is also higher.
But recent research has shown that most children are vitamin K deficient, which is likely attributable to the consumption of more processed food, and generally less that is naturally rich in K vitamins. With the average dietary vitamin K intake dropping significantly over the last 50 years, today’s intake is insufficient for optimal bone development, as evidenced by a population-based Minnesota study showing an increase in forearm fractures in children over a similar 30-year period.
Furthermore, clinical observations show that vitamin K-dependent Matrix Gla Protein (MGP) helps inhibit arterial calcification. Certain medical cases show that calcification may begin in childhood. Hence, early supplementation with Vitamin K2 may contribute to the development of healthy cardiovascular systems.
The Difference MenaQ7® Makes in Child Populations
The consumption of more processed food, less vegetables and generally less food naturally rich in K vitamins has resulted in sub-optimal K vitamin intake. This recognition has led experts within this field to strongly recommend foods enriched with Vitamin K2 as an alternative to giving children Vitamin K2 supplements.
However, a 2008 study published in the British Journal of Nutrition revealed that daily supplementation with 45-50 mcg of Vitamin K2 as MK-7 (as MenaQ7®) may support bone needs from early childhood through the lifespan. Monitoring healthy children between 6 and 10 years of age taking 45-50 mcg of MenaQ7® for two years resulted in improved vitamin K status as well as stronger, denser bones.
MenaQ7® is featured in quality products around the globe.
Bone loss occurs naturally as we age, but with sufficient Vitamin K2 intakes – particularly starting at an early age – this loss can indeed be slowed.
Poor bone metabolism is a condition characterized by loss of bone mineral density, which leads to bone that is weaker and more susceptible to fractures. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), this condition currently affects some 200 million people globally: one in three men is expected to incur bone fractures in the future because of poor bone metabolism, whereas lifetime risk of fracture for women is nearly one in two.
Bone is a living substance comprised of a hard outer shell and spongy inner tissue matrix. The skeleton “remodels” itself every 8 to 12 years. This is process is regulated by osteoblasts (cells that build up bone) and osteoclasts (cells that break down bone). Osteoblasts produce a protein called Osteocalcin, a vitamin K-dependent protein that binds calcium to the bone matrix and builds healthy bones. But Osteocalcin needs adequate Vitamin K2 to activate it.
As long as the bone-forming activity (absorption) is greater than the bone-breakdown (resorption), the process of maintaining healthy bones is kept under control. However, when this delicate process is not in balance, bones become weak and brittle. This is an unfortunate result of Vitamin K2 deficiency.
The strong association between Vitamin K2 deficiency and impaired bone health was proven in both laboratory and clinical studies. It has been found that vitamin K deficiency results in a decreased level of active Osteocalcin, which in turn increases the risk for fragile bones. Research also showed that Vitamin K2 – but not K1 – combined with calcium and vitamin D can decrease bone turnover. Further, a significant study clearly demonstrated that Vitamin K2 is essential for maintaining bone strength in postmenopausal women, and also improved bone mineral content and femoral neck width.
K2 for Bone Health
Bone mass or density is lost as people age, especially in women after menopause. The bones lose calcium and other minerals.
MenaQ7®’s Proven Bone Benefits
In 2013, Osteoporosis International published a groundbreaking double-blind, randomized, clinical trial that demonstrated for the first time clinically statistically significant protection of the vertebrae and the hip (femoral neck) against bone loss. This was attained with a nutritional dose of Vitamin K2 as MK-7 (MenaQ7®) taken daily for three years.
In this study of 244 healthy post-menopausal women, the MenaQ7® group took 180 mcg daily and showed significantly decreased circulating uncarboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC), a well-established biomarker for bone and vitamin K status. After 3 years, both bone mineral content and bone mineral density, as well as bone strength were statistically significantly better for the MK-7 group compared to the placebo group.
MenaQ7® is featured in quality products around the globe.
An adequate intake of Vitamin K2 has been shown to positively influence the cardiovascular system.
Calcification was once believed to be an irreversible process and a result of aging. However, it is now known that calcium accumulation is an actively regulated process involving the vitamin K-dependent Matrix Gla Protein (MGP), the most potent inhibitor of vascular calcification known, which is actively involved in recycling calcium.
Healthy arterial tissues have shown to contain 100 times more Vitamin K2 than unhealthy arteries, and the amount of calcium in the arteries is a risk factor for cardiovascular health. One might say that “you are as old as your arteries.” Studies in large population groups show that significant calcification in young persons actually make them older than their chronological age. On the contrary, older persons with little or no calcification may deduct up to 10 years from their actual age.
The Rotterdam Study (2004) shows that high dietary intake of Vitamin K2 – but not vitamin K1 – has a strong protective effect on cardiovascular health. Findings from this 10-year population-based study, which followed 4,807 initially healthy men and women >55 years of age from start, indicate that eating foods rich in natural Vitamin K2 (at least 32 mcg/day) results in 50% reduction of arterial calcification, 50% reduction of cardiovascular risk, and 25% reduction of all-cause mortality.
In 2008, these findings were confirmed by another population-based study with 16,000 persons from the Prospect-EPIC cohort population. Female participants aged 49-70 years at the start of the study, were followed up for 8 years and were free of cardiovascular diseases at the baseline. The researchers found that for every 10mcg Vitamin K2 (MK-7, MK-8, and MK-9) consumed – not K1 – the risk of coronary heart disease was reduced by 9%.
Unfortunately, the Western diet does not contain sufficient Vitamin K2, so supplementing with MenaQ7® Vitamin K2 as MK-7 is a viable alternative recommended by experts.
Breakthrough MenaQ7® Cardiovascular Study
Findings from a large clinical study, published in Thrombosis and Haemostasis, signal Vitamin K2 as MK-7 as a potential game-changer for the cardiovascular health category. Scientists at the University of Maastricht (the Netherlands) performed a double-blind, randomized, intervention study of 244 postmenopausal women given either 180 mcg of Vitamin K2 as MK-7 (as MenaQ7®) or a placebo daily for 3 years.
Using ultrasound and pulse-wave velocity measurements (recognized as standard measurements for cardiovascular health), researchers determined that carotid artery distensibility was significantly improved for a 3-year period in the MenaQ7® group as compared with that of a placebo group, especially in women having high arterial stiffness. Also, pulse-wave velocity showed a statistically significantly decrease after 3 years for the Vitamin K2 (MK-7) group, but not for the placebo group, demonstrating an increase in the elasticity and reduction in age-related arterial stiffening, again, especially in women having high arterial stiffness.
This first intervention trial on MK-7 supplements and cardiovascular endpoints showed that 3-year supplementation with a daily, nutritional dose (180 mcg) of MenaQ7® was enough to actually decreased arterial stiffness in healthy post-menopausal women.
And now a new 1-year trial has published – this time examining the impact of K2 supplementation (as MenaQ7®) on male and female populations – confirming cardiovascular benefits.
A pre-selected group of 243 vitamin K-insufficient subjects (men and women) were randomly included in a placebo-controlled, double-blind 1-year supplementation study using non-invasive diagnostic method evaluating whether an effect of vitamin K2-supplementation (180 μg MK-7 as MenaQ7®) may be demonstrated within one year.
Arterial stiffness was concluded from the carotid-femoral pulse-wave velocity (cfPWV), and other vascular characteristics were measured by echotracking of the common carotid artery. In the total study group, MK-7 induced a significant decrease of both dp-ucMGP and cfPWV.
It was concluded that high vitamin K intake decreased age-related vascular stiffening (consistent with outcomes in two previous 3-year studies), but this is the first time that vascular effect was observed within one year of treatment.
MenaQ7® is featured in quality products around the globe.
Are you getting enough Vitamin K2? If you are eating a Western diet, you likely are not.
Vitamin K occurs naturally in two major forms — Vitamin K1 and Vitamin K2. While Vitamin K1 is found in green leafy vegetables, such as broccoli, spinach and kale, and is easy to incorporate into one’s diet, the more beneficial Vitamin K2 is of bacterial origin and much more difficult to obtain through diet alone.
Vitamin K2 can be produced within the human body by beneficial bacteria colonizing the intestines. However, the intestinal absorption seems to be minimal, contributing little to the body’s vitamin K requirements especially for bones and arteries, and research now indicates that contribution is much less than previously thought.
Therefore, the daily requirement for Vitamin K2 has to be gained from dietary sources, and the most popular sources in Western diets are curd, cheeses, and other fermented dairy products shown to contain Vitamin K2. But one needs to consume extremely high amounts of these foods daily in order to get a sufficient Vitamin K2 intake.
The best source of Vitamin K2 is a traditional Japanese dish made from fermented soybeans called natto, which is uniquely rich in menaquinone-7 (MK-7). As natto remains unpopular in the Western world, supplementation with additional Vitamin K2 is viewed as the optimal alternative.
In general, the typical Western diet contains insufficient amounts of Vitamin K2 to adequately activate the K-dependent Matrix Gla Protein (MGP), which means about 30% of Vitamin K2-activated proteins remain inactive. This amount only increases with age. Further, Vitamin K2 is nearly non-existent in processed “junk” food, and even in a healthy Western diet.
Also of note is that there are currently no recommended intake levels for Vitamin K2 – the only recommended levels are for vitamin K1.
Even the healthiest diets fall short on delivering all the nutrients the body requires to operate optimally.
It has long been believed that vitamin K deficiency is rare due to dietary intake and contribution from microbial biosynthesis in the gut. Yet published studies show that the majority of both children and adults are vitamin K deficient.
Consider that dietary intake data from the 1950s and early 2000 in the UK show that consumption of vitamin K is now lower than it once was – a likely a consequence of changing diets, as well as food supply. For example, between the 1950s and the 1990s, fats and oils became a larger part of most Western diets than vegetables.
Further, changes in food composition and different preparation practices can also explain deficiencies. Food used to be made in the presence of various bacteria species (synthesizing Vitamin K2). Now, sterile conditions introduced by international standards of food manufacturing stop microorganisms, including beneficial flora, from multiplying and penetrating the human body.
And while it was thought that bacterial synthesis of menaquinones in the colon was a significant contributor to the body’s systemic needs, research now indicates that contribution is much less than previously thought.
Published studies strongly indicate that better Vitamin K2 status contributes to non-calcified, flexible arteries and strong, healthy bones. With a shifting emphasis to fast and processed foods, it is conceivable that vitamin K intakes have been on a significant decline since 1950, which may have serious implications for bone and cardiovascular health.
Vitamin K2 Unrecognized in RDAs
Current daily recommendations for K vitamins are based exclusively on vitamin K1 and the requirement for proper blood clotting, which is presently 1 mcg vitamin K1/kg of body weight (daily). This amount is insufficient for the optimal function of vitamin K-dependent proteins in other tissues like bone and vasculature.
Further complicating the issue is that very few foods contain Vitamin K2 as MK-7. For those that do, we need to eat substantial amounts of those foods daily just to obtain the minimum dosage of 45 mcg to experience any sort of bone or cardiovascular benefit.
