In the years I have been researching to find the cause of my heart disease and how to reverse it,  I’ve found nothing more incidental to the disease process than vitamin K2 deficiency. Vitamin K2 looks to be the missing link to both cause and reversal. I have jumped on high dose vitamin K2 with both feet and have seen remarkable changes in my lipid profile (VAP test results). For the first time in my testing history I have started making higher amounts of large particle LDL and HDL, resulting in a Pattern A particle distribution as apposed to the risky Pattern B profile, This is associated with much lower risk and even reversal for arterial plaque buildup.

I also see a change in the calcium levels in my saliva, such that in my last two dental cleanings there has been practically no plaque buildup on my teeth. Clearly my body is making better use of calcium and from the studies that are piling up, and the commentaries on those studies, I think a critical factor for heart disease has been found.

Vitamin K2 is required to activate two proteins that move calcium around in the body. Osteocalcin is the carrier of calcium into bones and teeth. It is producted by Osteoblasts, the cells that build bones, but requires K2 to carboxylate it into its active form – without K2 it doesn’t work. The other protein is Matrix-Gla Protein, and it is responsible for removing and keeping calcium out of soft tissues, including arteries (arterial plaque), joint spaces (bone spurs) and glandular tissues. In other words, it can clean plaque out of arteries, but without K2 calcium goes to all the wrong places – we get soft bones, rotting teeth and stiff arteries

On the other hand, if the body’s demand for K2 is satisfied, everything else seems to come into line as long as the appropriate ratio between vitamins D, A and K are optimized; arterial plaque is de-calcified and arterial flexibility is restored. Or, better yet, with A,D & K in the right dose from pre-natal life, we perhaps never develop arterial disease at all.

Vitamin K2 is hard to come by in diet unless you eat the fat from animals that eat green grass (but not grains), or the butterfat in milk (cream and butter) from grass-fed livestock. It is also found in fermented products such as Natto and cheeses and fermented vegetables like sauerkraut. We make small amounts in our gut IF we have the right intestinal bacterial populations. Our body is designed to recycle and preserve vitamin K2, yet on the diet most of the civilized world eats, some estimate that over 80% of our people are chronically deficient in K2.

I have been taking two supplements for nearly a decade that provide well over the stated requirements, yet continued to progress with arterial disease and arthritis of my hands. It wasn’t until about March 2014 that I began taking 45 mg/day of Menatetrenone (a synthesised version of K2; MK-4) and 3 months after that saw the changes in lipid profile and my dental exams. I’m convinced that for some, with symptoms of metabolic syndrome or heart disease, that a much higher dose is required to overcome the deficiency mechanisms at play. Studies show that there is no toxicity  for any dose, so I just kicked it up to 60 mg – 15 mg 4x/day.

Here are some links to explore if you are interested in the topic:

http://www.ilsi.org/Europe/Documents/Menaquinones%20and%20human%20health.pdf This is full of the usual cautions against really knowing anything, but just look at the results, not their opinions.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/10/19/vitamin-d-vitamin-k2.aspx There is a video on this article worth listening to – I bought her book, which covers the history and current science very well.

There are more and more data piling up – something to keep track of and act on.

The story would not be well told without Dr. Weston Price and his dental/nutritional analysis of primitive people before adopting western diets: http://www.westonaprice.org/?s=activator-X&submit=Search

The product I am using is from Amazon and it is the best buy that I have found:

It remains to be seen if the removal of calcium from arterial plaque actually reverses the volume of plaque and increases the opening of blocked arteries, but recent studies indicate this potential. My specific concern is whether it will work for me.

To Your Greater Health and Fitness!