Vitamin K May Help Lower Diabetes Risk

Researchers from the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands recently conducted a study which found that Vitamin K may be linked to lower risk of developing diabetes. Their findings were published in the April 2010 edition of the journal Diabetes Care.

The researchers followed over 38,000 Dutch adults for 10 years. The participants were all between 20 and 70 years of age. During the 10 years, 918 (2.5%) of the participants were diagnosed with type-2 diabetes.

The researchers determined each participant's daily vitamin K intake using detailed dietary questionnaires. The participants also answered questions about their lifestyle habits and overall health.

After accounting for lifestyle factors, the researchers still found a 20% reduction in diabetes risk among the one-quarter of participants with the highest vitamin K intake compared to the one-quarter with the lowest.

Both of the main forms of vitamin K, vitamin K1 and Vitamin K2, were associated with a lower risk of diabetes. However, Vitamin K2 seemed to be slightly more effective.

You can increase your vitamin K intake by taking a supplement, and the vitamin can also be found in some common foods.

Vitamin K1 is found in green leafy vegetables and makes up about 90% of the vitamin K consumption in a western diet.

Vitamin K2 is harder to come by and therefore makes up only 10% of consumption. It is most common in fermented foods like cheese but can also be found in meat and soybeans.