Have you cut yourself on something and the wound just keeps bleeding and bleeding? Then you probably don’t get enough vitamin K. Vitamin K is a nutrient that plays an important role in your blood clotting and is therefore indispensable for healing a wound. But not only that, because this nutrient also has a lot of influence on the health of your bones and your heart.
To prevent a deficiency, it is important to add enough products that are packed with vitamin K to your diet. But vitamin K is not well known, because let’s be honest: do you know what vitamin K is in? And is it true that eggs are true vitamin K powerhouses?
What do you get vitamin K from?
Although a vitamin K deficiency is rare, getting too little vitamin K can affect your health over time. Insufficient intake can hinder your blood clotting, weaken your bones and increase your risk of heart disease. Therefore, make sure you get enough of this vitamin from your diet.
How Much Vitamin K Do You Need?
The recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamin K is 70 to 90 micrograms (mcg) for women and 120 mcg for men. There is no upper limit, in other words: you can never get too much vitamin K.
It is striking that newborn babies can also be deficient in vitamin K, because they have received too little during pregnancy. The newborn baby is therefore at risk of serious bleeding. That is why all babies actually receive droplets of vitamin K after birth.
What does vitamin K contain?
There are two different types of vitamin K:
- Vitamine K1 (phylloquinon)
- Vitamine K2 (menaquinon)
Both very important for your health. You get vitamin K1 from food. This is the most common form and is mainly found in plant foods. The second is produced by bacteria in your colon. Vitamin K2 is therefore mainly found in animal or fermented foods. To help you along, here are 20 foods that are particularly high in vitamin K. This is how you make sure you get enough every day:
- Kale
- Swiss chard
- Spinach (raw)
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- Round liver
- Neither chops
- Kip
- Whole liver pate
- Green beans
- Plums
- Kiwi
- Soya oil
- Hard and soft cheeses
- Avocado
- Green peas
- Parsley (fresh)
- Brood
- Milk (products)
- Eggs
How much vitamin K is in an egg?
An egg a day, keeps the doctor away. There are plenty of reasons to start every day with a boiled, fried or poached egg. There is also vitamin K in an egg, but only in the egg yolk. 100 grams of egg yolk contains 2.1 micrograms of vitamin K. An egg yolk weighs about 20-25 grams, which means that an egg provides you with 0.42 to 0.53 micrograms of vitamin K. But if you compare it with kale (which contains no less than 871 micrograms of vitamin K per 100 grams), that is almost nothing.
Vitamin K deficiency
A deficiency of vitamin K is rare, but if it does occur, the consequences can be life-threatening. Especially adults who use antibiotics for a long time can be deficient in vitamin K, possibly resulting in delayed blood clotting. Vegetarians and vegans are also susceptible to a vitamin K deficiency. That is why it is important to pay close attention to the symptoms of a vitamin K deficiency.
Vitamin K supplements
If you think that you are not getting enough vitamin K, it is wise to make an appointment with your doctor or a nutritionist. They can check whether you have a vitamin K deficiency. Perhaps a change of diet can be the solution, but in some cases supplements come in handy to counteract the deficiency.
Bron: Healthline, Medical News Today
