20 Vitamin K Foods That Support Healthy Bones, Blood, and More

When people think of foods with vitamin K, they often credit them with helping with blood clotting. And indeed, this vitamin is required in the synthesis of several blood proteins involved in clotting. Vitamin K also activates proteins that strengthen bones and help them grow, reducing the risk of fractures.

Certain types of vitamin K contain disease-fighting antioxidants. We asked experts to explain why incorporating this vitamin into your diet is a healthy habit that can boost your immune system. We've also rounded up the best food sources of vitamin K to help you keep your intake steady.

What Is Vitamin K?

Vitamin K is the collective name of a family of compounds. "There are different categories within vitamin K," says a specialist in sports nutrition. "You have vitamin K1, which is found in dark leafy greens and soybean oil, and also vitamin K2 and some others, which can be found in smaller amounts in animal products."Fermented foods also contain vitamin K2.

Daily Recommended Value

So how much vitamin K do you need? The unofficial daily value for vitamin K is between 90 and 120 micrograms.2 For context, one cup of raw spinach contains more than 100% of the daily recommended value, so you don't need to eat much of the foods listed below to consume a healthy amount of vitamin K. While a consistent intake is important, you don't want to overdo it.

Good Food Sources of Vitamin K

Your body treats vitamin K like fat and stores it in your liver and fat tissues. "We can rely on our body stores a little bit more than [we can for] some of our water-soluble vitamins," says Nguyen. But at the same time, your body isn't able to make enough vitamin K consistently and relies on you getting it from the foods you eat.2

Here are several foods that are good sources of vitamin K and ways to incorporate them into your diet.

1) Kale

                                                                      There are 113 micrograms of vitamin K in a cup of uncooked kale, providing 94% of the DV.2 Roast your kale with a drizzle of olive oil and a dash of salt to enjoy a crunchy, high-vitamin K snack

2) Collard Greens

This is a sign to whip out a Southern-style collard greens recipe now and again. A half-cup serving of cooked collard greens provides over 400% of the DV of vitamin K (530 micrograms).

3) Swiss Chard 

 

These bitter greens seem to have an edge when it comes to vitamin K. There are 150 micrograms in half a cup of cooked Swiss chard (over 125% of the DV).3 

 

4) Spinach

 

 If you prefer something with a milder, less bitter flavor, a cup of uncooked spinach is another option, with 145 micrograms of vitamin K (121% of the DV).

5) Broccoli

 

Just half a cup of cooked broccoli already contains 110 micrograms of vitamin K or 92% of the DV.

Cheese boosts the benefits even further: A healthy dose of fat helps you absorb Vitamin K.  

6) Brussels Sprouts

 

Brussels sprouts contain 78 micrograms of vitamin K in half a cup, which meets 65% of the DV. Toss these in olive oil and salt, and roast until tender on the inside and crispy on the outside.  

7) Romaine Lettuce

 

 Having a large salad with two cups of romaine lettuce  would give you 96 micrograms, or about 80% of the DV, of vitamin K.

8) Parsley

 

 Even fries are a little healthier when they're garnished with one tablespoon of fresh parsley, which offers you 62 micrograms, or 50% of your daily vitamin K needs.

9) Prunes

 

If you're already having a daily dose of prunes for gut health, you'll be pleased to know you're also getting vitamin K. A snack of six prunes contains 34 micrograms, or 28% of the DV.

10) Turnips

 

These brown sugar-glazed turnips are a surprisingly sweet way to get 426 micrograms of vitamin K in a ½ cup serving. That's 355% of the DV.

11) Edamame

 

This light and tasty pasta salad recipe includes a 12-ounce bag of edamame. Just ½ cup of edamame has 21 micrograms of vitamin K, which is 18% of the DV.

 

12) Pine nuts

 

The toasted pine nuts don't just give these green beans a burst of flavor. They also provide 15 micrograms of vitamin K, which is 13% of the DV.

13) Pumpkin

 

The recipe for this decadent pasta dish calls for over 3 ½ cups of pumpkin puree. In just ½ cup of canned pumpkin, there are 20 micrograms of vitamin K, which is 17% of the DV.

 

14) Okra / Lady finger 

 

Alongside many other healthy veggies (like onions, peppers, and garlic), this warm and lightly spicy gumbo includes 2 cups of okra. Just ½ cup of okra contains 16 micrograms of vitamin K, which is. 13% of the DV. 

 

15) Blueberries

 

These healthy blueberry muffins contain heart-strengthening flax seed oil and an entire cup of oats. The 2 cups of blueberries offer lots of vitamin K. There are 14 micrograms of vitamin K, which is 12% of the DV. 

 16) Mustard greens

 

This hearty stew is a warm and comforting way to work mustard greens into your dinner rotation. Just one cup contains 405 micrograms of vitamin K, an impressive 450% of the DV.

 

17) Kiwi

 

Just one kiwi contains 30.2 micrograms of vitamin K, or 33 percent of the DV. The fruit teams up with cucumber in this sweet and spicy relish, which makes a refreshing side for grilled chicken or fish. 

 

18) Arugula

 

Peppery arugula, juicy peaches, creamy burrata—this dynamic trio will be your go-to summer salad. One cup of arugula provides 21.8 micrograms of vitamin K, or 24% of the DV. 

 

19) Asparagus

 

 Not only is this veggie-packed flatbread a quick, delicious dinner, it's a vitamin K powerhouse, featuring arugula as well as asparagus, which has 84.5 micrograms of Vitamin K, or 93% of the DV, in just one cup.

 

20) Bok Choy

 

Bok choy is another heavy hitter in the vitamin K department, with 84.4 micrograms of Vitamin K per cup, or 93% of the DV. 

How to Improve Absorption

As a fat-soluble vitamin, vitamin K from food is best absorbed when there's fat or oil in the same environment. So when you're having your green vegetables, toss them in some oil to increase your intake. However, some people with underlying health conditions may need more help and possibly a supplement to improve their nutrient absorption.

"If someone has a disease that impacts the gastrointestinal tract, like celiac disease or Crohn's disease, they may not absorb the vitamin K from their food as well," says Nguyen. In these cases, the physician and dietitian would monitor the person's vitamin K levels more regularly and may start them on a supplement.

Precautions

There are people who need to be more mindful about their intake of vitamin K-rich foods. Since vitamin K supports blood clotting, if you are on a medication to prevent clotting, sudden increases in vitamin K intake may interfere with your medication, says an expert.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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How to control Diabetes: Here’s what a Stanford-trained MD eats in a day for blood sugar balance

Every person is gifted with a body and constitution that is unique. The strengths, the weaknesses, the allergies, the problems, all form a complex set, a unique combination.

Therefore, what works for Jane may not work for Mary and what hurts Arun may actually suit Varun quite well.

At the end of the day, it's up to you to find what works for your body, writes Jamie Schneider in MindBodyGreen.com.

This Associate Editor of the health website brings us inspiration from experts' menus. And who does he pick this time? Stanford-trained physician and co-founder of Levels Casey Means, MD.

With any meal, I'm thinking about what components I want to get into my body for optimal cellular health," says Casey Means, on the mindbodygreen podcast. "I think more in a modular sort of way when building a meal and less about the exact dish," Casey tells mindbodygreen founder and CEO Jason Wachob about how healthy fats, fibre, protein, and tons of micronutrients from colourful, nourishing plants make it into every recipe. And that when you ask her to rattle off a few favourites, this would be her list on any given day:

Breakfast:

1. Switch from sweet to savoury breakfast – this is the best life hack for balancing blood sugar (especially if your sweet breakfasts typically include lots of refined carbs and sugar).
2. She likes a free-range egg scramble with avocado and some sautéed greens.
3. She welcomes some smoked salmon with eggs and some greens.
4. She also loves a tofu scramble with some nutritional yeast and a bunch of veggies, maybe even some beans.
5. Savoury, lower-carbohydrate, less sweet (dish) is her style.
6. Never shy away from a filet of salmon and some greens incorporated with a traditional "breakfast".
7. A nourishing breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and especially when it comes to metabolic health—so make sure your dish sets you up for a healthy, balanced morning.

Lunch:

1. Dr Casey Means advises that we should "Identify the culprits in terms of glucose spikes, and then just either take them out or swap them”.
2. A sandwich might have vegetables, hummus, and protein in there.
3. But then the bread or the wrap essentially thrives the glucose spike, Dr Casey points out.
4. As a remedy, she swaps the bread or wraps for a grain-free alternative, like ones with cassava flour.
5. Add to it some collard greens, or butter or iceberg lettuce.
6. For the wraps, she prefers shaved jicama or nori sheets to cut out the glucose-spiking carbs.

Dinner:

1. Switch completely to cauliflower rice sushi, entirely cooked at home, easy, and super delicious.
2. This offers her zero glucose spike, as opposed to the 80-point spike she typically sees with white rice sushi.
3. You could also opt for quinoa sushi—one of the healthiest carbohydrates for blood sugar.
4. Quinoa has a high protein and fibre content.
5. Or you can have a veggie-packed poke bowl.

Dessert:

1. Nothing beats a chocolate chia pudding.
2. Chia is an amazing superfood that has fibre and protein – loads of it in just 2 tablespoons
3. Customise it with nut butter, berries, what have you.
4. Add some berries and coconut in a coconut-cocoa chia pudding.

Dr Means tells MindBodyGreen that she changes her recipes from day to day, but they are always the ones that incorporate the blood-sugar-balancing basics: fibre, protein, and healthy fats. Give the above dishes your own twist. These are all things that the Stanford-educated MD says she knows do not spike her blood sugar despite being tasty.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement