Vitamin K2 MK-7 100mcg | 120 Capsules | NOW Foods

Vitamin K2 MK-7 100mcg by NOW Foods

Each capsule contains 100mcg vitamin K2 in the form of MK-7, derived from MenaQ7. You take one capsule per day. With 120 capsules in a bottle, you have a four-month supply.

The difference between vitamin K1 and K2

Vitamin K is not a single substance, but a group. The two best-known forms are K1 and K2. You get K1 (phylloquinone) mainly from green leafy vegetables such as spinach and kale. K2 (menaquinone) is found in fermented products and animal-based foods such as hard cheese, egg yolk, and liver. Within K2, there are again different variants, designated with MK and a number. That number represents the length of the side chain of the molecule. MK-4 has a short chain, MK-7 a longer one. The difference lies precisely in that chain: the longer it is, the longer the molecule remains circulating in your blood. What many people do not know: the richest source of MK-7 is natto, a Japanese dish of fermented soybeans that hardly ever makes it to the table in the Netherlands. In cheese, you mainly find the even longer variants MK-8 and MK-9, produced by the bacteria that ripen the cheese.

What vitamin K does in your body

Vitamin K acts as a cofactor for an enzyme that activates certain proteins. That process is called carboxylation: the enzyme attaches a small chemical group to it, allowing the protein to bind calcium. Without vitamin K, those proteins remain in an inactive form. The best-known example is the clotting factors in your blood. Vitamin K contributes to normal blood clotting. Another example is osteocalcin, a protein that your bone cells produce. Vitamin K plays a role there too: vitamin K contributes to the maintenance of normal bones. That explains why vitamin K2 is often mentioned in the same breath as vitamin D3, although only K2 is in this capsule. This way, you decide for yourself whether and which vitamin D you take with it.

Why MK-7 and why 100mcg

MK-7 has a half-life (the time in which half disappears from your blood) of about three days. MK-4 and K1 are largely gone from your blood again within a few hours. With MK-7, you therefore build up a stable level with one capsule per day. Now uses MenaQ7, a patented raw material. The reference intake for vitamin K is 75mcg per day. With 100mcg, you are slightly above that, at 133 percent.

The capsule and what else is in it

In addition to vitamin K2, the capsule contains rice flour as a filler, maltodextrin as a carrier, a little silicon dioxide, and ascorbic acid fatty acid esters, an antioxidant that keeps the vitamin stable. The capsule shell is made of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, a plant-based material. Because vitamin K is fat-soluble, your body absorbs it more easily if there is some fat in your meal.

In short: a simple capsule with one vitamin, 100mcg K2 as MK-7, for one capsule per day.