I am going to try to explain the connection between vitamin D3 and vitamin K2. As I wrote earlier when you optimize your vitamin D3 dosing and blood levels to optimal levels you start turning on all sorts of cellular functions that require you up the doses of these other vitamins, minerals and cofactors. Optimal dosing of vitamin D3 is like taking a physical work out in a pill. Think back to when you first started an exercise program. It took time for your body to “get in shape” basically for all the organs, muscles and bones to adapt to the increase in exercise, you were subjecting it too. The longer it was since you last exercised consistently to a degree the longer it took to “get in shape”. The same is true when you start taking optimal dosing of vitamin D3. One of the important substances beyond magnesium is vitamin K2.
Vitamin K2 though is something, as people are becoming more aware of the benefits of what I content are appropriate, others would say high dosing of vitamin D3, you are seeing a lot mention of and often in a scary way. Basically, those promoting vitamin K are arguing if you take high doses (which those who wrote this claim do not define) of vitamin D3 you will die if you don’t have additional vitamin K2. As I found in my research or better yet didn’t find is anyone who died from taking optimal doses of vitamin D3. Optimal dosing may be consider a high dose of vitamin D3 by some, so you have an idea of why I am mentioning it. Not one person that I am aware of and I tested every patient I cared for did I find it drove their blood levels to such a high level that they developed hypercalcemia. Can you take too much vitamin D3 of course, do you want to harm yourself by overdosing on it, I truly hope not and if you do PLEASE seek professional help now. As I am here to try to help you.
Yes, I would like to sell more of my books but not at the risk of your health. As I put at the bottom of each blog posting this is not medical advice and please work with a doctor who understands before trying optimal doses. As I wrote about toxicity before I will not rehash it here but once you start taking extremely high doses like above 40,000, 50,000 or higher IU doses a day for prolong periods you may get in trouble. I have no idea why you would want to take that high of a dose as at optimal dosing I saw no issues. That was in thousands of people over 6 years. Obviously more study is needed but with using realistic, optimal doses not those currently recommended by the medical associates or government that were apparently developed to only treat rickets, people saw a significant improvement in their health.. We have come a long way since the 19320’s and 30’s when much of this initial research on vitamin D3 was done.
One-point is when you first start taking higher doses you are probably initially extremely vitamin D3 deficient. Remember it may have been decades since you had any prolonged sun exposure and unless you eat many pounds of wild caught salmon a day it is almost impossible to acquire enough vitamin D3. So, as your body uses the vitamin D3 you have thus depending on how much you consume in your diet or generate from the sun your blood and body levels will continue to drop thus, it will take time to eliminate that deficit. I estimate most people are close to a million units deficient. What is the minimum we use a day? Probably we can survive, I did not say thrive but survive at the rickets dose of 600IUs a day. Like I have written before this low dose results in winter syndrome so not much of a survival. So, once you eliminate that deficit or perhaps sooner as your body adjusts to continual consistent optimal daily doses the Madison-HannaH effects start turning on. It is like starting an exercise program where your body starts creating enzymes to function in this new state of consistent optimal daily dosing. Bit by bit the cells adjust and start building more enzymes to boost your immune system, chemicals to assure deep restorative sleep and repairing cellular damage to your body. This takes time. As we all consume some vitamin K in our diets typically and as a fat-soluble vitamin we may have stores of it we are not aware. As the vitamin D3 at extremely high dosing soon strips away that stored and we need to make sure we take more. At optimal dosing I believe we consume enough in our diets but until further study it might be wise to take additional though I am being over protective as in all the years I have taken optimal dosing as did the patients I did treat none of us ever had issues with hypercalcemia. beyond those that with the vitamin K2 you receive in your diet can handle you can and will develop hypercalcemia. Why you would want to do this is an area for further study.
See just because it doesn’t make sense to me doesn’t mean that it may and could have beneficial effects like eliminating cancer, TB or a case where due to prolonged sub optimal vitamin D3 levels you acquired a genotype change resulting in serious illness. That these what are doses of vitamin D3 without supplemental and at significant doses of vitamin K2 are needed to prevent hypercalcemia but that will possibly right the wrong in your body. I found that I in taking vitamin D3 at much higher doses then discussed in my book for over several years developed symptoms of calcium deposition in my tissues. Remember as I discussed in my book I can experiment on myself as only way to sometimes fully understand our bodies but not harm others. Many other scientists in the past have done so. Well I then stopped for a few weeks, started taking vitamin K2 the MK-& type and gradually all these symptoms resolved. I accidently bought the MK-4 type and my symptoms returned. Again, only to resolve when I went back to the MK-7 type. In some the MK-7 type apparently causes chest pain. What I think is different people are genetically wired to function better with the MK-4 or MK-7 type. Again, more study is needed. So, until recently the difference between vitamin K1 and K2 wasn’t differentiated. Vitamin K1 comes from leafy green vegetables mostly and vitamin K2 from fermented foods like Japanese Natto-fermented soy beans for instance. In many studies higher levels of vitamin K2 are associated with lower calcium issues, cancer and blood sugar issues. Also, its most important function is in assuring that calcium in the body is deposited in the correct place and not in wrong place. It is becoming clearer to me that there is a group of vitamins and minerals that are needed to optimize your health. Though the literature states that you may receive enough vitamin K2 in your diet if you want to optimize your health it may be wise to increase the amount you take. Can you over dose on vitamin K2? One study in rats found minimal changes in doses up to 14 mg/kg which in a standard adult who is 70kgs that would be 980 mgs a day and it was lethal at dose above but not clear how far above 2,000mg/kg which again in standard adult would be 14,000 mgs of vitamin K2 a day.1 It has been shown that vitamin K1 and K2 are similar but to be safe I would make sure you get enough vitamin K2 MK-& type as it appears to be the more difficult type to acquire.
- Pucaj, K., Rasmussen, H., Møller, M., & Preston, T. (2011). Safety and toxicological evaluation of a synthetic vitamin K2, menaquinone-7. Toxicology mechanisms and methods, 21(7), 520-32.
*The information posted above is for educational purposes only. Always check with your doctor before initiating any changes in your medical treatment. If you do not, then The Two-Minute Health Fact, Dr. Judson Somerville, nor The Optimal Dose is responsible!
3 Comments
Adir · January 16, 2019 at 2:49 pm
Do you recommend taking also vitamin k2? in your book you didn’t mention vitamin k2 and didn’t recommend about it in addition to viamin d. Does taking 30’000 vitamin d daily without vitamin k2 is dangerous?
Suleyman S Coruh · May 2, 2019 at 1:30 pm
Hi Adir,
I must add personal experience here for somebody taking Jud’s optimal dosage advice. If you take it with K2 you are safe, as it ends the calcification risk. K2 is a lesser researched vitamin then others, however in Japan they use very high doses to cure ostreaposis. I know for a fact that women with not enough K2 do not see the same effect of cure or betterment even if they take D3. I personally found 100 mcg of mk-7 form of K2 for every 5000 IOU of D3 is the way to go.
Dr. Judson · May 6, 2019 at 7:20 pm
I agree with you! When I was practicing medicine I saw about half my patients osteoporosis resolve with optimal doses and blood levels of vitamin D3 alone. But they probably had sufficient vitamin K2 in their diet and formed in their gut. I probably would have seen all of them have their osteoporosis resolve if I would have added the vitamin K2. I agree with you on dosing and believe the MK-7 type is by far the best. It is also the only type I recommend.
The purpose of book was to introduce people to vitamin D3, explain how current dosing was harmful and that what I found to be the optimal doses and blood levels were not only safe but could and would significantly improve your health. Like I mentioned in my book much more research is needed but at doses that are optimal not those so low they were likely to fail. So in an abundance of caution I recommend it people take vitamin K2 the MK-7 type with optimal doses of vitamin D3. But also take magnesium.
One of the reasons I write the blog posts is to try to explain how vitamin D3 doesn’t work alone. Also, that it is important to educate oneself on it and related subjects since new information is constantly becoming available. My book I believe is a great starting point for most but it is a snapshot so learning never ends. My blog is like a movie in that it attempts to carry the story alone and fill in more details. I hope this helps!