The surprising vitamin that helps break down leg clots—are you getting enough?

 

 

Let’s talk about how it works in your body, clearing up some common ideas and showing you the truth based on the latest research. Vitamin K1 plays a key role in blood clotting, like a conductor making sure your body forms clots just right. It’s essential for making clotting proteins that stop bleeding, but at the same time, it also helps make natural anti-clotting proteins that prevent too much clotting.

 

 

And here’s a super important point to clear up: Vitamin K1 is not a blood thinner. In fact, it helps with clotting. During the pandemic, there were rumors that it could thin the blood, but experts quickly clarified: this nutrient helps the clotting process, it doesn’t stop it. So, Vitamin K1 doesn’t dissolve existing clots, but its job is to make sure your clotting system works perfectly—not too little, which risks bleeding, and not too much, which risks clots. It’s the key to a perfect balance.

But Vitamin K does much more than just clotting. It gives an amazing extra boost to the health of your veins and arteries. How? Vitamin K2 activates proteins like MGP (Matrix GLA Protein), which act like a cleaner for your arteries, stopping calcium from building up on the walls of your blood vessels. By preventing this calcium from settling where it shouldn’t, it helps keep your vessels flexible and clear.

With more flexible and clean arteries, the chance of getting atherosclerosis, where fat and calcium plaques harden the arteries, goes way down. People who eat a lot of Vitamin K tend to have a more protected heart. While the information is very promising, science is still researching to understand everything this vitamin can do. But current evidence already points to it being vital for your heart health.

The good news is that getting Vitamin K through your diet is easy and tasty. It’s naturally found in many foods, especially dark green vegetables. Here are some of the best sources: The top of the list is dominated by champions like broccoli, spinach, kale, romaine lettuce, arugula, and Brussels sprouts—all full of Vitamin K1.

To give you an idea, 100g of cooked broccoli has almost 300mg of Vitamin K1, several times the daily need. Kiwi stands out among fruits. A single medium kiwi can give you about 25% of your daily needs. Other fruits with plenty of Vitamin K1 are avocado, grapes, and blueberries.

Animal products and fermented foods have less than vegetables, but are still important. We have liver, eggs, and some cheeses, especially fermented and harder ones, which provide Vitamin K2. And for the curious, a Japanese fermented soybean food called natto is extremely rich in K2.

Vitamin K can handle heat, meaning cooking it by steaming or stir-frying doesn’t destroy the nutrient. You can change how you prepare it without losing much. The important thing is to include this in your daily diet consistently to make sure you get enough.

For those who like convenience, a smart and healthy way to get Vitamin K1 daily is to add green juice to your routine. Those smoothies with greens and fruits—prepare a juice with spinach, broccoli, kiwi, adding water, lemon, maybe an apple to sweeten—make a drink super rich in Vitamin K and other good things.

 

 

Because it’s made with fresh vegetables, this juice packs a lot of vitamins into the leaves, including Vitamin K. Many people find it easier to drink their salad in the morning than to eat large portions of greens throughout the day. If that works for you, go for it.

 

 

One important detail: Vitamin K is fat-soluble. So, to get the most out of it, it’s good to drink your green juice with a healthy fat source, like some seeds, nuts, or a drizzle of olive oil. But remember, green juice doesn’t have to be the only way to get Vitamin K. Soups, stir-fries, salads, and other dishes with green vegetables do a great job too.

Now, a super important point for anyone using blood thinners, like warfarin (the famous Marevan). If you take this medicine, you’ve probably heard about its connection to Vitamin K. Warfarin works by blocking Vitamin K1’s action in the liver, which thins the blood and prevents clots. In the past, the advice was to completely avoid foods rich in Vitamin K, but today we know that the most important thing is to keep your intake consistent and not cut out these healthy foods.

So, you don’t need to, and it’s not recommended to, remove broccoli, kale, or spinach from your diet. The key is to eat similar amounts of Vitamin K every day, and your doctor will adjust your INR (a blood test) based on what you eat. For example, if you love a leafy salad or your morning green juice, you can and should keep having them. Just tell your doctor so your blood thinner dose can be adjusted, considering your regular intake.

What’s really concerning are sudden changes. One day you don’t eat it, two days you do, one week you don’t. That’s not good. The effect of warfarin can get out of whack. Always talk to your healthcare professional to match your diet with your treatment instead of cutting out nutritious foods. Your conversation with your doctor is vital for your safety.

As you can see, the power of healthy circulation and a strong heart is largely in your hands. With small but powerful changes to your diet and lifestyle, focusing on these vitamins we just learned about, you can have a huge impact on your health. Think about it: taking care of your body is the best long-term investment you can make. You deserve this health.