O.K. for Bones

“O” stands for a protein called osteocalcin, and “K” stands for vitamin K. Protein O’s job it is to build the frames that calcium fills, and this is our bone mass. But protein O is completely dependent upon Vitamin K in order to do its work, and so there you have it, Team O.K. You don’t have to worry about protein O because it is readily available, but vitamin K must be consumed in order to be adequately present in the body.

Someone could take a sample of your blood and find lots of these O guys just carousing around your blood stream not doing their job. That would mean that you have not been eating enough Vitamin K rich foods, and protein Os are just riding around the bloodstream because they are unemployed. But when Vitamin K is present, it first gets the Os going on their job, and then recruits and sticks the mineral calcium into the framework built by the Os. If you are a parent, or have supervision responsibilities of any sort, this must be sounding very familiar.

It is pretty common knowledge that our bones build density up until our mid 20s, and then we strive to maintain what we have for the rest of our lives. But a shocking seventy-five percent of Americans have idle protein Os surfing through their bloodstream because they simply do not have enough Vitamin K to activate them.(2)

The two natural forms of Vitamin K are found in abundance in green vegetables and other plant sources like collard greens, broccoli, kale, swiss chard, spinach, parsley. olive, canola, and fermented soy, and animal products like egg yolk, some cheeses, and chicken. The general consensus from various studies is that we need at least one serving of green vegetables every day, or more specifically, “an individual would need to eat a little more than 1/2 cup of chopped broccoli or a large salad of mixed greens every day.”(3)

So are you part of that 75% who have something to worry about, or are you in the group of 25% who are investing in their bones today for payoffs tomorrow?

We’ve only just begun to talk about Vitamin K. Stay tuned for part two in weeks to come when we talk about cancer, your heart, and the big “K”. Want to read a little more? See http://dannademetre.com/_blog/Growing_Young for this week’s post about healthy BONES.

Happy Skeleton Day!

Molly
Research Specialist and Test Cook for Orange Tree Lane