Vitamin K2 MK-7 300mcg Extra Strength | 60 Capsules | NOW Foods

Vitamin K2 MK-7 300mcg by NOW Foods

This capsule is for those seeking a higher dose. You get 300mcg of vitamin K2 per capsule, as MK-7 from MenaQ7. That is three times as much as the standard version from Now. One capsule per day, sixty in a bottle, in a plant-based cellulose capsule.

Menaquinone-7, what does that actually mean

Vitamin K2 is technically called menaquinone. There are several menaquinones, from MK-4 to MK-13, and the number indicates how many building blocks (isoprene units) are in the tail of the molecule. MK-7 has seven. That long tail makes the molecule more soluble in fat, allowing your body to keep it in circulation for a long time, with a half-life of about three days. For comparison: vitamin K1 from vegetables and the shorter MK-4 are largely gone from your blood within a few hours. MK-7 is naturally found mainly in natto, fermented soybeans from Japan. By the way, your own gut bacteria also produce small amounts of menaquinones, although it is unclear how much of that your body actually uses. Now chooses MenaQ7, a patented raw material. It consists almost entirely of the all-trans form, the spatial form of the molecule that your body recognizes and uses.

How vitamin K activates proteins

In your body, vitamin K acts as a co-factor (a helper molecule) for the enzyme gamma-glutamyl carboxylase. That enzyme modifies certain proteins so that they can bind calcium. Only then are they active. In your liver, it is about clotting factors. Vitamin K contributes to normal blood clotting. In your bones, it is about osteocalcin, a protein made by bone-forming cells. Vitamin K contributes to the maintenance of normal bones. MK-7 has a longer half-life than vitamin K1 and MK-4.

300mcg per capsule, how does that compare

The reference intake (RI) for vitamin K is 75mcg per day. This capsule provides 400 percent of that. That sounds like a lot, but EFSA has not established a maximum safe upper limit for vitamin K, because no adverse effects of high intake are known in healthy people. Many people wonder whether they should take 100 or 300mcg of vitamin K2. In short: the 100mcg variant is a daily basic, you choose this Extra Strength if you are consciously looking for a higher amount.

A short, plant-based composition

The Extra Strength has a different, shorter ingredient list than the 100mcg version. In addition to MK-7, it only contains microcrystalline cellulose as a filler and a little silicon dioxide, so that the powder does not clump. The capsule is made of hypromellose, a plant-based cellulose. Now makes these capsules without wheat, gluten, soy, milk, egg, fish, shellfish, or nuts, in a GMP-certified factory in the United States. Notably: rice flour and maltodextrin, which are in the 100mcg capsule, are missing here.

For those who know exactly what they are looking for: a lot of vitamin K2 in one small capsule per day. Sixty capsules means two months, without the hassle of drops or combination products.