Know Which Vitamin Helps in Blood Clotting?

Coagulation, or blood clotting, is an integral process in the body. If you have landed on this page searching which vitamin helps in blood clotting, you will get your answer right away! It is vitamin K!

It can also be considered a top vitamin for blood circulation in the legs. Continue reading to know about how this vitamin helps in blood clotting and all related facts!

Which Essential Vitamins Help in Blood Clotting?

Among all the vitamins, vitamin K is known to play a vital role when it comes to the aspect of blood clotting. However, unlike several other vitamins, this one is not usually administered as a dietary supplement.

Vitamin K is fat-soluble. Basically, this vitamin is divided into sub-categories, mainly two kinds. These include vitamin K1 and vitamin K2. Phylloquinone, also known as vitamin K1, is obtained from plants and majorly green leafy vegetables such as kale and spinach.

On the other hand, vitamin K2 or menaquinone works in a similar manner as vitamin K1 and is created naturally in the intestinal tract. Among food sources, it can be obtained largely from eggs, meat and cheese.

What are the Reasons for Blood Clotting?

After an injury, the bleeding would continue unimpeded without a way to stop the flow. Clotting is the body’s natural process to prevent excess bleeding, without which even a small wound cause a person to bleed out. Blood clots refer to clumps of the blood of different sizes, which form in the interiors of the human body.

However, they can also cause harm by blocking the flow of blood to vital regions of the body. These clots can again be of two types – one that does not move about in the body and stay in place and another that breaks away from the site and moves to different body regions.

How Vitamin K Helps the Body in Blood Clotting?

Prothrombin is a protein and clotting factor which is required for bone metabolism and the blood to clot. The body cannot produce prothrombin without vitamin K. This vitamin is responsible for blood clotting as it helps in regulating the blood coagulation process by assisting in the conversion of some coagulation factors to their mature forms.

Now for a further detailed understanding of the role of the vitamin in blood clotting, one must have an idea about the regulation of the formation of a blood clot. For that, it is important to be clear about hemostasis. The term hemo refers to blood, and stasis means to stop or halt. Hemostasis can be divided into two phases, namely, secondary and primary hemostasis.

Primary hemostasis includes the generation of a platelet plug surrounding the site of the damaged blood vessel. On the other hand, secondary hemostasis creates a protein mesh known as fibrin and reinforces the platelet plug.

A set of coagulation factors should be activated in order to get to fibrin. All of these coagulation factors are enzymes that are activated through a process known as proteolysis. There are a total of 12 coagulation factors, starting from I to XIII – a factor VI is not present. It is these factors’ assimilation where vitamin K is essential for the blood clotting process.

A majority of these factors are formed by the liver cells, and the production of the coagulation factor II, VII, IX and X need an enzyme that utilises vitamin K. All of this answers your query as to which vitamin is essential for blood clotting.

How Much Vitamin Should One Take?

The quantity of vitamin K, which an individual must take, depends on sex and age. As an approximation, generally, adults require 1 microgram of vitamin K per day per kilogram of body weight.

This means an individual weighing 65 kg would be requiring 65 micrograms of vitamin K on a daily basis. The adequate daily intake of this vitamin is listed below as per the respective age groups of the individuals:

Infants with ages between 0 to 6 months	2 mcg
Infants with ages between 6 months to 1 year	2.5 mcg
Children with ages between 1 to 3 years	30 mcg
Children with ages between 4 to 8 years	55 mcg
Children with ages between 9 to 13 years	60 mcg
Children with ages between 14 to 18 years	75 mcg
Men with ages between 19 years and older	120 mcg
Women with ages between 19 years and older	90 mcg
Women who are currently breastfeeding and aged over 19 years	90 mcg

What are the Sources of Vitamin K?

Vitamin K can be obtained by individuals from a number of sources. These include both food sources and dietary supplements.

Food sources of phylloquinone are vegetables, and this includes especially the green leafy ones, some fruits and vegetable oils. Dairy products, eggs and meat consist of a less amount of phylloquinone but decent amounts of menaquinone. Menaquinone can also be found in fermented foods like cheese.

But the amounts and forms of vitamin K present in these foods vary on certain factors. Animals synthesise MK-4 from a synthetic form of vitamin K known as menadione, which can be utilised in swine feed and poultry. Hence, pork and poultry products consist of MK-4 if the animal feed contains menadione.

There are some foods that are fortified with vitamin K like meal replacement bars and shakes.

Listed below are some foods, which act as good sources of vitamin K:

Cooked kale
Cooked mustard greens
Raw Swiss chard
Cooked collard greens
Natto
Raw spinach
Cooked broccoli
Cooked Brussels sprouts
Beef liver
Pork chops
Chicken
Goose liver paste
Cooked green beans
Prunes
Kiwi
Soybean oil
Hard cheese
Avocado
Cooked green peas
Soft cheese
Fresh parsley
Cooked beet greens
Cooked cabbage
Ground beef
Bacon
Pork liver
Beef kidneys
Duck breast
Egg yolk
Butter
Whole milk

The above list of foods can help greatly after knowing which vitamin helps in blood clotting.

Are There Any Side Effects of Excessive Consumption of Vitamin K?

When vitamin K is consumed orally, the fat-soluble vitamins K1 and K2 do not result in symptoms of hypervitaminosis K. Even if taken in large amounts, they don’t turn out to be toxic in nature. But toxicity can occur due to menadione, which is sometimes referred to as vitamin K3.

Though this vitamin is needed for blood clotting, normal individuals must also take this vitamin in appropriate quantities as an excessive amount of vitamin K3 might cause a reduction in blood sugar levels.

Therefore, individuals who have diabetes must monitor these levels if they are being administered with a supplement of vitamin K. There can be other effects of toxicity of vitamin K, such as jaundice and anaemia (because of red blood cell rupture).

Now that you know which vitamin is necessary for blood clotting, visit a nutritionist and optimise your diet. He/she can help you receive the desired vitamin K, avoiding both deficiency and toxicity.

Frequently Asked Questions

✓ Why does every baby need a vitamin K shot?

All babies have low levels of vitamin K when they are born. This particular vitamin cannot cross the placenta, leading to deficiencies. Also, breast milk contains minimal amounts of vitamin K.

Since all newborn babies have low vitamin K levels, there is a requirement for this vitamin from some other source. Hence a shot for vitamin K is necessary as it is the best way to ensure sufficient levels of this micronutrient in infants.

✓ Where is vitamin K stored and absorbed in the body?

Primarily in the form of phylloquinone, vitamin K is absorbed in a particular form which, after solubilisation, remains unchanged. The absorption occurs in the intestine’s proximal parts after the products of pancreatic lipolysis and bile salts form micelles with phylloquinone’s soluble form.

Since these vitamins are fat-soluble in nature, they are stored commonly in fatty tissues.

✓ What are some vitamin K deficiency symptoms?

Following are the symptoms of vitamin K deficiency:

Bleeding in the digestive tract
Bruising easily
Nose bleeding
Bleeding of gums
Heavy bleeding during menstruation
Haemorrhaging

✓ What vitamins are blood thinners?

While vitamin K helps in clotting, vitamin E is known as a blood-thinning vitamin. Therefore, in case of excessive clots, knowing what vitamins thin your blood can help.