From eNewsletter 7/15/2019
DID YOU KNOW that a study from American Journal of Epidemiology confirmed that alcohol's effect on chronic diseases includes impaired epigenetic modification of DNA methylation (how genes are expressed)? Researchers found that the higher consumption of alcohol, the more adverse effect it had on methylation.
If you've read this newsletter over the last few years, you know how important it is to methylate properly.
VITAMIN K SHINES FOR VASCULAR HEALTH
Steve and Bonnie: For a while now, vitamin K has been touted as the next big thing, especially for bone health. Of course it has value as a nutrient, but except in specific cases, we believe you can get enough vitamin K from the vegetables you consume, especially leafy greens. That's assuming that you eat optimal amounts of leafy greens of course. If you do not, you can certainly supplement with vitamin K, with caveats. If you are on blood thinning medication, you cannot take vitamin K because it helps promote clotting. If you have a family history of excessive clotting disorders, then you do not want to take supplemental vitamin K.
Aside helping your bones, a surprising study from the Journal of the American Heart Association suggests that improving vitamin K status may boost cardiovascular health by reducing arterial stiffness and improving blood pressure.
Researchers focuses on desphospho-uncarboxylated matrix Gla protein (dpucMGP), which is a biomarker of poor vitamin K status. Data indicated that higher inactive dp-ucMGP was associated with a range of negative cardiovascular measures, such as higher pulse wave velocity (a measure of arterial stiffness) and central pulse pressure.
Interestingly, the researchers raised the question as to whether the current recommended dietary allowance for vitamin K intake is sufficient to prevent cardiovascular disease. Second, vitamin K supplementation reduced aortic pulse wave velocity in healthy postmenopausal women, highlighting the protective role of vitamin K to vascular integrity.
Hopefully, dpucMGP testing will become a more frequent test in the future for assessing cardiovascular disease risk.
In the meantime, eat your leaf greens, or if you want to supplement with vitamin K, please discuss with your knowledgable health professional.
STUDY LAUDS THESE LIFESTYLE FACTORS TO LOWER RISK OF MEMORY LOSS
Steve: A new study from Neurology purports that mentally stimulating activities...this article is reserved for NCI Well Connect Members. You can get this article by signing up here. You can get our free eNewsletter by signing up at the top of our website.
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