Most of us have heard that Vitamin D is a key nutrient in our health but what about it’s super important sister, K2?.

Vitamin D actually acts more like a hormone than a vitamin. It is fat soluble along with Vitamin A, E and K and is important in immune health along with a host of other processes. Yes, you can get Vitamin D from sun exposure, but some of us will not manufacture enough of it to stay in optimal ranges-especially in the cooler months.

As with most processes in the body, Vitamin D does not act alone. Vitamin K2 and calcium work synergistically to assist the body to use Vitamin D appropriately. But doesn’t Vitamin K make the blood thicker and clot easier? That is K1! We are discussing K2 which has a completely different role.

K2 plays critical roles in protecting organs like the heart and brain and has an important role in cancer protection. MOST IMPORTANTLY: K2 helps to move calcium into the proper areas of the body- and a deficiency leads to inappropriate calcification which can lead to hardening of the arteries.

It is a deficiency of K2 which is responsible for the symptoms of Vitamin D toxicity. Optimal levels of Vitamin D on a lab test are 50-80ng/ml which is different than the more wide ranges you will see from majority of labs.

If you are supplementing Vitamin D, it is important that you also supplement with K2, and SUPER important if you also are taking calcium. There are many companies that package these together in 1 capsule- some of my favorites are Thorne and Orthomolecular. The correct amount to supplement with K2 is still being researched, but 180-200mcg seems to be enough.

Lastly, these are fat soluble vitamins as mentioned earlier- so take with some fat! Or at least food, optimally.