Sounds crazy, but one of the most important minerals for good health can also destroy your health.
Calcium, essential for strong teeth and bones, can also put you at serious risk when your body can’t use it properly. Unfortunately, it’s hard to detect a calcium problem in the early stages.
That’s why it’s important to manage your calcium before it gets out of control… and protect both your heart and your bones at the same time.
And the only way to do that is with nature’s own calcium manager, vitamin K2-7.
Quick Answer: Vitamin K2-7 (menaquinone-7) helps your body put calcium where it belongs. It activates proteins that direct calcium into your bones and help keep it out of your blood vessels, supporting both bone strength and normal arterial function. Calcium alone is not enough; your body also needs K2-7 to use it correctly. K2-7 is hard to get from food, found mainly in certain fermented foods, organ meats, and full-fat grass-fed dairy, and most multivitamins do not include it. Studies of K2-7 supplementation point to support for bone density and arterial flexibility, with research using a dose around 320 micrograms per day.
Why Can Calcium Become a Problem?
Calcium is essential, but your body has to place it correctly. When calcium is not directed into your bones, it can collect in your blood vessels instead, which is why simply getting more calcium is not the whole answer.
You need calcium to survive, but this essential mineral can also threaten your health.
Here’s how it works: Your body needs just the right amount of calcium in your bloodstream. If you get too little calcium, your body pulls what it needs from its internal storage – your bones.
Seems like there’s an easy fix for that: Make sure to get enough calcium from food and supplements. But that’s only part of the solution. Your body also has to be able to process all that calcium the right way – to strengthen your bones.
When it can’t do that, your bones won’t get enough calcium, and you’ll start to lose bone density. What’s worse, the calcium that doesn’t get to your bones can collect in your blood vessels… exactly where you don’t want it. When too much calcium builds up in your blood vessels, it can block the blood flow to your heart.
Luckily, there’s a very easy way to make sure this doesn’t happen. A simple nutrient, vitamin K2-7, directs calcium into your bones and helps it stick there, and keeps excess calcium out of your bloodstream.
What Does Vitamin K2-7 Do?
Vitamin K2-7 helps regulate how your body uses calcium. It activates proteins that move calcium into your bones and help keep it out of your blood vessels, so the right amount ends up in the right place.
Here’s a little fun fact about Vitamin K2-7: It helps to control the way your body uses calcium.
Let’s break this down. When you get enough K2-7, your body will use the calcium you take in to build and strengthen your bones… and keep calcium out of your blood vessels so they don’t stiffen up (also called calcifying). It doesn't take much K2-7 to get the job done, but you do need to supply enough of it in the right form.
Vitamin K2-7 activates special calcium-regulating and bone-strengthening proteins:
- Matrix Gla keeps calcium out of your blood vessels
- Osteocalcin directs calcium into your bones and locks it in place
- Gas6 helps special cells called osteoclasts clear old, dead bone cells to make space for fresh, healthy bone tissue
- Protein S helps regulate bone turnover, meaning the replacement of old bone cells with new bone cells
By activating these proteins (a process known as carboxylation), vitamin K2-7 makes sure calcium stays in your bones where it belongs… and out of your blood vessels, where it doesn’t.
How Does Vitamin K2-7 Support Bone Health?
Vitamin K2-7 plays a role in healthy bone formation by activating osteocalcin, the protein that locks calcium into bone. Research links adequate K2-7 with support for bone density.
Around 44 million Americans suffer from osteoporosis or low bone density (osteopenia). And low levels of vitamin K2-7 count among the biggest risk factors.
That’s not surprising, as vitamin K2-7 plays a pivotal role in healthy bone formation.
But adding vitamin K2-7 to your diet through foods or supplements can help increase your bone density and strengthen your bones.
A meta-analysis of 19 clinical trials – a total of 6,759 patients – found that vitamin K2-7 improved spinal bone density and helped reduce fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.
Another clinical trial found that supplementing vitamin K2-7 preserved bone density and prevented bone loss in older women with osteopenia (low bone density).
And a review of seven clinical trials that looked at fractures found that supplementing with vitamin K2-7:
- Reduced spinal fractures by 60%
- Reduced non-spinal (everywhere else) fractures by 81%
- Reduced hip fractures by 77%
Best of all, it doesn’t take much vitamin K2-7 to do the job. Just 320 micrograms per day can protect your bones… and your heart.
How Does Vitamin K2-7 Support Heart Health?
Vitamin K2-7 supports cardiovascular health largely by helping keep calcium out of your blood vessels, which supports normal arterial flexibility. The activated protein matrix Gla is central to this role.
There are hundreds of studies that show how important vitamin K2-7 is for preventing heart disease, and it all starts with keeping calcium out of your blood vessels.
One clinical trial involving kidney transplant patients (who often have dangerously low levels of vitamin K2-7) showed remarkable results. After supplementing with vitamin K2-7 every day for eight weeks, the patients had a 55.1% decrease in uncarboxylated (inactive) matrix Gla protein and a 14.1% decrease in arterial stiffness.
A huge study that lasted 12 years and followed 39,629 subjects had similarly amazing results.
Researchers found that supplementing with vitamin K2-7 reduced the risk of peripheral artery disease (PAD). PAD harms the blood vessels in your arms and legs, increasing the risk of stroke and heart attack. And K2-7 worked even more effectively in the patients who had high blood pressure.
What’s more, supplementing with vitamin K2-7 can reduce the chance of calcified blood vessels by 52%… and decrease the risk of dying from heart disease by 57%.
In fact, for every 10 micrograms of K2-7 that you take, you can lower your risk of heart disease by 9%!
That means by taking a clinically-proven dosage of 320 micrograms of vitamin K2-7 every day could reduce the threat of heart disease by 288%.
Why Is Vitamin K2-7 Good for Both Bones and Heart?
Vitamin K2-7 ties two systems together because the same calcium-directing action that supports bone strength also helps keep calcium out of arteries. It is difficult to get enough from food, so many people rely on a supplement.
It’s no wonder health professionals consider vitamin K2-7 a “super nutrient.” After all, K2-7 supports both optimal bone and heart health – it ties these two crucial systems together.
The trouble is, it’s nearly impossible to get enough vitamin K2-7 from food alone. This fat-soluble vitamin (meaning it needs to be digested with some fat in order to work) is only found in certain fermented foods, organ meats, and full-fat dairy products from grass-fed cows.
And most multivitamins don’t contain vitamin K2-7 at all (though some contain vitamin K1, which isn’t the same).
The best way to make sure you’re getting enough vitamin K2-7 is with a high-quality supplement.
| With calcium alone | Calcium plus enough vitamin K2-7 |
|---|---|
| Calcium-regulating proteins (osteocalcin, matrix Gla) may stay inactive | K2-7 activates these proteins (carboxylation) |
| Calcium can collect in blood vessels | Calcium is directed into bones and kept out of vessels |
| Bone density support is incomplete | Supports bone density and arterial flexibility |
Frequently Asked Questions About Vitamin K2-7
What is vitamin K2-7?
Vitamin K2-7 (menaquinone-7) is a fat-soluble form of vitamin K. It activates proteins that help direct calcium into bones and keep it out of blood vessels, which is why it is sometimes called a calcium manager.
How is vitamin K2-7 different from vitamin K1?
K1 and K2 are related but not interchangeable. K2-7 is the form tied to calcium regulation in bone and the vascular system, and most multivitamins contain K1 (or no vitamin K) rather than K2-7.
How does vitamin K2-7 support bone and heart health?
By activating osteocalcin, K2-7 helps lock calcium into bone, supporting bone density. By activating matrix Gla protein, it helps keep calcium out of blood vessels, supporting normal arterial flexibility.
Can you get enough vitamin K2-7 from food?
It is difficult. K2-7 is found mainly in certain fermented foods, organ meats, and full-fat dairy from grass-fed cows, so many people use a supplement to reach an effective amount.
How much vitamin K2-7 do studies use?
Much of the research on K2-7 uses a dose around 320 micrograms per day, and because it is fat-soluble it is best taken with a meal that contains some fat.
Just Thrive Vitamin K2-7 contains all-natural, pharmaceutical grade vitamin K2-7 along with three crucial co-factors that boost its effectiveness.
Just Thrive Vitamin K2-7 is the only product available on the retail market that contains the clinically-studied effective dose of 320 mcg per day.
Give your heart and bones the support they need to stay healthy and strong with Just Thrive Vitamin K2-7.
