K2

Calcium and vitamin D get all the attention in bone health, and between them they only cover half the process. Vitamin D governs how much calcium you absorb. Vitamin K2 governs where that calcium goes once it is in you.

WHAT K2 ACTUALLY DOES

Vitamin K2 activates two proteins — osteocalcin and matrix Gla protein — that handle calcium in the body. Without K2, those proteins remain inactive. It is the reason K2 is described as directing calcium rather than supplying it, and the reason it is increasingly taken alongside vitamin D rather than instead of it.

MENAQ7, AND WHY THE FORM MATTERS

K2 comes in two forms worth knowing about. MK-4 clears the bloodstream within hours, which is why it has to be dosed several times a day to hold a level. MK-7 stays in circulation for days. MenaQ7 is the branded MK-7 used in most of the published research, and it is what is in this capsule — 160 mcg of it, which is 135% of the daily value and a dose in line with the studies rather than a fraction of one.

THE OTHER HALF OF VITAMIN D

Vitamin D supplementation is close to universal now, and it works — it raises how much calcium you take in. K2 is the part of that system most people are not covering. Taking them together is the reason this capsule exists as a standalone product rather than only as a line on a multivitamin panel.

IF YOU TAKE BLOOD THINNERS

Vitamin K interacts directly with warfarin and other anticoagulants — that interaction is the basis of how those medications work. If you take one, speak to your doctor before taking vitamin K2 in any form or at any dose.