Benefits of Vitamin K2 & D3 for Heart Health

For athletes aiming for their best, think of your body like a winning team. Your bones provide the support, and your heart is the powerhouse for enduring strength. To perform at your peak, you need both in top shape. Let’s talk about two important vitamins, K2 and D3, and how they play roles in supporting your healthy heart and making sports even more awesome. Join us on this journey into health and sports, discovering how these simple vitamins can support your athletic excellence!

Vitamin K2: Strengthening Bones and Boosting Cardiovascular Health 

Healthy bones and a strong heart form the foundation for athletes, providing support for rigorous training. Vitamin K2, a potent form of vitamin K, collaborates with Vitamin D to deposit calcium into the bones, ensuring their strength (1). It doesn’t stop there—Vitamin K2 also contributes to cardiovascular health by aiding in blood vessel function (2). Moreover, this powerful nutrient plays a vital role in the production of ATP (3,4), the molecule on which your heart and muscles rely for optimal performance. So, what does this mean for athletes?

• Vitamin K2, supporting both bone strength and cardiovascular well-being, positions it as a crucial ally for athletes. This dual function forms the scientific foundation that underscores the intricate interplay between bone health and athletic prowess.
• In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, researchers delved into the impact of Vitamin K2 supplementation on cardiovascular function in athletes. The results were compelling, revealing a remarkable 12% improvement in maximal cardiac output after eight weeks of supplementation, with 320μg for the first 4 weeks and 160μg for the subsequent 4 weeks (5).

Vitamin D3: A Sunshine Vitamin for a Healthy Heart 

Vitamin D3, often called the sunshine vitamin, is renowned for its role in bone health and immune system support (6). However, its significance isn’t confined to these domains; it extends to cardiovascular health as well (7).  Moreover, Vitamin D3 exhibits anti-inflammatory properties that contribute to a healthy inflammatory response (7).

Athletes can harness the benefits of Vitamin D3 to fortify their cardiovascular system and optimize overall performance (8).

Positive Implications for Sports Performance 

Ensuring the right balance of vitamin K2 and D3 can significantly enhance sports performance, impacting various facets crucial for athletes:

1. Muscle Function: Vitamin D3 plays a pivotal role in supporting muscle function, which is crucial for sports performance. By contributing to muscle mass and strength, Vitamin D supports the recovery of muscles from the stress of intense exercise (8).
2.  Bone Health: Both vitamins K2 and D3 are vital for bone health (9), and strong bones and increased bone mineral density are essential for athletes and maintain performance (10, 11). 
3. Immune Function: Vitamin K2 and D together play a role in modulating inflammation (9) and Vitamin D contributes to the normal function of the immune system (12). 

Balchem’s K2VITAL™: The Perfect Pair  

It’s not just our partners we like to keep close. K2VITAL® and vitamin D work in harmony to keep our body’s calcium in balance (9). Combined in one formulation, they make what we like to call the perfect pair. The two vitamins working together support everyone’s bone, heart, and immune health.

When it comes to providing athletes with the best possible benefits for their bones, heart, and body, Balchem’s K2VITAL™ stands out. K2VITAL™ directs its attention towards the fortification of skeletal integrity*. Acting as a supporter of bone health, Vitamin D and Vitamin K2 function together to regulate calcium metabolism from absorption to placement of the mineral in the bone (9).  Beyond its role in bone health, K2VITAL’s influence extends to cardiovascular health (13), encapsulating its broader impact on overall physiological harmony.

Balchems K2VITAL™, with its typical isomeric purity of 99.7% all-trans MK-7, is like Vitamin K2 found in nature and has optimal bioavailability and full bioactivity.

The production is based on a pioneering one-of-a-kind, patented process, providing superior quality, unprecedented purity, and stability – for a multitude of on-trend formulations. Give your athletes the best possible benefits for their bones, heart, and body!

References

*EU approved health claim: Vitamin K contributes to the maintenance of normal bones

1. Kuang, X., Liu, C., Guo, X., Li, K., Deng, Q., & Li, D. (2020). The combination effect of vitamin K and vitamin D on human bone quality: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Food & function, 11(4), 3280–3297. https://doi.org/10.1039/c9fo03063h
2. Maresz K. (2015). Proper Calcium Use: Vitamin K2 as a Promoter of Bone and Cardiovascular Health. Integrative medicine (Encinitas, Calif.), 14(1), 34–39.
3. Vos M, Esposito G, Edirisinghe JN, et al.. Vitamin K2 is a mitochondrial electron carrier that rescues PINK1 deficiency. Science 2012;336:1306–10. 10.1126/science.1218632
4. Rønning SB, Pedersen ME, Berg RS, Kirkhus B, Rødbotten R (2018) Vitamin K2 improves proliferation and migration of bovine skeletal muscle cells in vitro. PLoS ONE 13(4): e0195432. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195432
5. McFarlin, B. K., Henning, A. L., & Venable, A. S. (2017). Oral Consumption of Vitamin K2 for 8 Weeks Associated With Increased Maximal Cardiac Output During Exercise. Alternative therapies in health and medicine, 23(4), 26–32.
6. Vitamin D – Health Professional Fact Sheet (nih.gov)
7. Danik, J. S., & Manson, J. E. (2012). Vitamin d and cardiovascular disease. Current treatment options in cardiovascular medicine, 14(4), 414–424. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11936-012-0183-8
8. de la Puente Yagüe, M., Collado Yurrita, L., Ciudad Cabañas, M. J., & Cuadrado Cenzual, M. A. (2020). Role of Vitamin D in Athletes and Their Performance: Current Concepts and New Trends. Nutrients, 12(2), 579. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12020579
9. van Ballegooijen, A. J., Pilz, S., Tomaschitz, A., Grübler, M. R., & Verheyen, N. (2017). The Synergistic Interplay between Vitamins D and K for Bone and Cardiovascular Health: A Narrative Review. International journal of endocrinology, 2017, 7454376. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/7454376
10. Laird, E., Ward, M., McSorley, E., Strain, J. J., & Wallace, J. (2010). Vitamin D and bone health: potential mechanisms. Nutrients, 2(7), 693–724. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu2070693
11. Price, C. T., Langford, J. R., & Liporace, F. A. (2012). Essential Nutrients for Bone Health and a Review of their Availability in the Average North American Diet. The open orthopaedics journal, 6, 143–149. https://doi.org/10.2174/1874325001206010143
12. Vitamin D and contribution to the normal function of the immune system: evaluation of a health claim pursuant to Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 | EFSA (europa.eu)
13. Hariri, E., Kassis, N., Iskandar, J. P., Schurgers, L. J., Saad, A., Abdelfattah, O., Bansal, A., Isogai, T., Harb, S. C., & Kapadia, S. (2021). Vitamin K2-a neglected player in cardiovascular health: a narrative review. Open heart, 8(2), e001715. https://doi.org/10.1136/openhrt-2021-001715

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