Whenever we think of nutrients, vitamins are the first things that come to our mind, and when we think of vitamins, the names that first crop up are Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin B Group and Vitamin A. While all these vitamins have their own critical roles in ensuring health, new research is pointing out an even greater role for another vitamin, especially in ensuring longevity.
This longevity vitamin is Vitamin K, which plays a critical role in the clotting of blood. However, this new study led by researchers at Tufts University in USA, says Vitamin K plays much larger roles in the body. These scientists found out that Vitamin K is critical in cutting mortality and ensuring longevity.
They say Vitamin K, found abundantly in vegetables like kale, cabbage, broccoli, spinach and other leafy vegetables as well as in milk, eggs and meat in smaller quantities, work by enabling the function of a natural protein in the body that prevents calcium build-up in arteries that cause heart disease or more specifically atherosclerosis, which is a leading cause of death, worldwide.
This study, published recently in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that among those in the age group of 54-76, those with the least amount of Vitamin K in their diets are 19% more likely to die prematurely than those with the maximum Vitamin K intake.