Vitamin K % in FitDay....?

[theamazingunderdog]

I use FitDay to chart my nutrients over the day, and see if I need to supplement with anything late in the day. Usually Vitamin K is very low, and I thought I'd buy some vitamin K supplements.

But then I wondered if that lack might be due to most labels NOT carrying info on the %RDA of vitamin K?

I googled "foods vitamin K" and found a site with a chart of foods and their corresponding mcg of K. (Micrograms K per 100 grams of each food - which is about 3.5 ounces of food.)

Ok, so lettuce has 200 mcg vitamin K for that amount of food. Let me check the nutrient info that came with FitDay for lettuce (the cos/romaine).

There is no mention of Vitamin K!

Also, the website says that about half of our daily needs for vitamin K are produced by the bacteria in our gut!

Did anyone know this?? I thought I knew a lot about what vitamins and supplements do in the body. Whoa. Although K came along kind of late....

I'm a little disappointed that the vitamin information is not complete... Just wanted you to be aware, if you're having the same problem with the % of K in FitDay. The adult RDA is 60-80 mcg (micrograms). (It's also in broccoli and other veggie greens.)

[kate58]

Re: Vitamin K % in FitDay....?

Vitamin K deficiency is extremely rare except in new born babies, and is pretty much impossible to induce through diet in a healthy adult. I imagine that is why products don't really mention it - it really is not something we need to track. We get plenty, even if we are not trying.

Deficiency occurs because there is something preventing it from being absorbed in the gut (malabsorbtion syndromes). Some antibiotics can have this effect, but again because people are generally on antibiotics for a short time, even they very, very rarely cause a problem. You can also get it secondary to some liver diseases (eg end stage cirrhosis in alcoholics, at which point you have bigger problems!!).

Given that green leafy veg is an excellent source and that eating fat enhances its absorbtion, I think anyone on Atkins is definitley ok on that front. But since the bacteria in your gut are pretty much a Vit K factory, even if you never ate green leaves in your life you'd still get plenty of Vit K.

Unless you have a diagnosed deficiency issue, I definitely would NOT take VitK supplements. Toxicity, while also rare, can occur and the chances that you need any supplementation are remote in the extreme.

[biogeek]

Re: Vitamin K % in FitDay....?

Vitamin K is one of many nutrients that are not required by the USDA to be listed on a food nutritional label.

Kate is spot on about Vit K deficiency. In addition to antibiotics, those that are on vitamin k antagonist anticoagulant drugs (such as warfarin) have a tendency to become deficient, but many physicians also prescribe vit k to these patients.

I don't know which site you went to, but the USDA has a very nice search engine to look up nutrients in food or search which foods has a particular nutrient.

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

If you want a powerhouse amount of vitamin K, as well as other nutrients, frozen kale is the winner, followed by other frozen greens such as collard greens, spinach, and so forth.


Happy greens eating!

[theamazingunderdog]

Re: Vitamin K % in FitDay....?

Ah, thank you! I'm glad I looked that up today, because I was seeing that red number light up on my daily nutrition every day and got worried.

Thanks also for the link! I am just at the end of my induction period, and starting to look at these things more as I tailor my eating.

Peace~

[Chicklady]

Re: Vitamin K % in FitDay....?

http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=112

I'm gonna start annoying people with this link but there's everything you ever wanted to know about vitamin K and then some

[biogeek]

Re: Vitamin K % in FitDay....?

Great link! Thanks for posting it.