MenaQ7 Heralds A Breakthrough In The Fight Against Heart Disease And Osteoporosis

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The latest exciting research findings have revealed that a new form of vitamin K, which has recently been made available in supplement form, could help to prevent both coronary heart disease and osteoporosis (thinning of the bones).

Called MenaQ7, this amazing product contains vitamin K2 derived from natto, a traditional Japanese breakfast food made from fermented soya beans. It helps your bones retain calcium, where it belongs, and stops it from being deposited in your arteries, where it can increase your risk of a heart attack.

This is promising news, especially when you consider that every two minutes, one person in Britain has a heart attack and heart disease tragically accounts for four in every ten deaths. Doctors have long known that a build-up of calcium in the coronary arteries (the arteries that supply blood and oxygen to the heart muscle itself), hardens and narrows them. This increases the risk of an obstruction to your blood flow and a resulting heart attack. The medical name for this problem is arterial calcification

Although scientists still don't fully understand just why calcium is laid down in the coronary arteries, they know that the process is linked to smoking, being overweight and having high cholesterol or blood sugar levels. In fact, the presence of these risk factors in young adults aged 18 to 30 has been found to accurately predict coronary artery calcification some 15 years later (Ref. 1).

Vitamin K prevents calcification of your arteries and may even reverse it

Japanese researchers have also discovered that people with coronary artery calcification have unusually low levels of a protein called MGP (matrix gla-protein), which seems to have a protective effect because it binds to and mops up excess calcium (Ref. 2).  In order for MGP to be converted to an active form so that it can do its job properly, the body needs a good supply of vitamin K.

A recent animal study carried out at the Cardiovascular Research Institute at Maastricht University, in Holland, revealed that vitamin K doesn't just prevent arterial calcification but appears to be able to treat it. The researchers used the anticoagulant drug Warfarin to cause arterial calcification in laboratory rats. They then fed some of the rats a diet that was high in vitamin K, with the result that the amount of calcium in their arteries dropped by a massive 50 per cent, compared with the rats fed a normal diet (Ref. 3).

Commenting on the findings, lead researcher professor Leon Schurgers, said: These latest findings on the role of vitamin K2 intake are an exciting development for the management of cardiovascular diseases such as coronary heart disease. Our trial is even more significant as it showed that vitamin K2 supplementation was capable of reversing the effects of arterial calcification.

Including more vitamin K2 in your diet could halve your risk of a heart attack

Vitamin K is produced naturally in your body by the friendly bacteria that live in your gut and is also present in some foods. It occurs naturally in two forms, K1, also called phylloquinone (abundant in dark-green leafy vegetables and vegetable oils) and K2, also known as menaquinone (found in meat, fermented soya foods, cheese and yoghurt).

Scientists at the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, Holland, have investigated the relationship between the amounts of vitamin K1 and K2 that people ate and their incidence of arterial calcification and coronary heart disease. They studied records of the diets and health of 4,807 people over a ten year period. Their conclusion was that the 25 per cent of people whose diets included the most vitamin K2 had lower blood cholesterol and less than half the risk of arterial calcification and heart attack, compared with the 25 per cent who ate the least.  However, intake of vitamin K1 had no effect on heart disease risk (Ref. 4).

Menaquinone (vitamin K2) comes in several different molecular forms. Now, a form called menaquinone-7 is available for the first time as the supplement MenaQ7. It has been isolated from a traditional Japanese fermented soya food called natto, and differs from the synthetic forms of vitamin K found in most supplements in that its molecules have longer chains of carbon atoms, which improves its stability and effectiveness in the body.

The findings of a clinical trial that compared synthetic vitamin K1, which is widely used in food supplements, with menaquinone-7 have recently been published. The researchers measured the absorption and biological activity of equal amounts of the two supplements in healthy volunteers. They found that, while they were both quickly absorbed, the vitamin K1 was broken down after a short time whereas menaquinone-7 was much more stable and built up to concentrations in the blood that were 7 to 8 times higher than those of vitamin K1. The menaquinone-7 was also much more effective in activating a protein called osteocalcin, enabling it to bind to calcium atoms (Ref. 5).

MenaQ7 helps keep your bones strong too

Like the MGP protein found in the arteries, osteocalcin is a so-called gla-protein that clings on tightly to calcium. But while MGP keeps calcium from sticking to the walls of the arteries, osteocalcin holds calcium in the bone matrix, keeping the bones dense and strong. Japanese researchers have found that vitamin K2 maintains bone mineral density and prevents fractures in patients with age-related osteoporosis (Ref. 6). So MenaQ7 not only keeps your arteries and heart healthy, but keeps your bones strong, too.

MenaQ7 is the only supplement that contains the natural menaquinone-7 form of vitamin K2. There is another, synthetic vitamin K2 supplement, called menaquinone-4, but this is poorly absorbed and breaks down quickly in the body, so milligram doses are needed, rather than the microgram doses (one thousand times less!) of natural MenaQ7.

What to take for best results

Take one MenaQ7 capsule a day, preferably with a hot meal for best absorption.

Contraindications: You should consult your doctor before taking MenaQ7 if you are taking anticoagulant (blood-thinning) medication.

1. J Am Coll Cardiol 2007; 50 in press
2. Thromb Haemost 2004; 91(4): 790-794
3. Blood 2007; 109(7): 2823-2831
4. J Nutr 2004; 134(11): 3100-3105
5. Blood 2007; 109(8): 3279-3283
6. Curr Pharm Des 2004; 10: 2557-2576