Forms of Vitamin K

Vitamin K actually comes in three different forms:
First, there’s vitamin K1, or phylloquinone. Phylloquinone is ubiquitously distributed in plants, green leafy, vegetables oils, and algae and is the main source of vitamin K in the human body. This group of lipophilic vitamins, mostly required for blood coagulation, also plays important roles in bone metabolism, calcification and vascular health.

Next, there’s Vitamin K2, also called menaquinone. This the form friendly bacteria in the intestines make. Vitamin K2 helps the body turn on biological switches that activate three critical preteens: osteocalcin, calcitonin, and matrix G1a. Osteocalcin, calcitonin, and matrix G1a are calcium-binding proteins that are essential in guiding into the bone.

The September 2003 International Journal of Oncology revealed that treating lung cancer patients with vitamin K2 slowed the growth of cancer cells. Among food sources of vitamin K2 are green vegetables, parsley, cilantro, watercress, culinary herbs and green drinks”.

The last form would be called vitamin K3. This is the artificial form, also called menadione. All vitamin K ends up in liver, where it’s used to make some of the substance that make blood clot.
Forms of Vitamin K