Women and Osteopenia / Osteoporosis

 Fermented food and vitamin K₂ (menaquinone)

Vitamin K₂ (menaquinone) together with vitamin D₃ are necessary for bone health. When we are diagnosed with osteopenia or osteoporosis, doctors generally prescribe a calcium supplement. In the last years, some of them have added a vitamin D₃ supplement. Does this sound familiar to you? But nobody suggests to consume food that help our body produce vitamin K₂. Health insurance companies and do not cover this vitamin’s supplements.

There is scientific evidence that shows that intestinal flora (that is, bacteria that compose it) are important sources of various vitamins (B group and K). The microorganisms in our guts use certain foods to synthesize these vitamins.

Many scientists assure that fermentation increases the presence of various vitamins of the B group and vitamin K₂. The latter is hard to find in non-fermented foods. It is a key vitamin for both, bone and coronary health, and it has a role in the prevention of certain types of cancer.

There are two vitamins that cannot be absent in women’s diet, Vitamin D₃ which stimulates the absorption of calcium in the food we eat and vitamin K₂ which ensures that calcium deposits in the right places (bones and teeth) and not in your arteries (it makes them stiff and clogged).