CANBERRA (Dispatches) -- Scientists have found that vitamin K1 can help reduce the risk of fractures in older populations -- especially hip fractures.
In a study by Edith Cowan University’s Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute, and the University of Western Australia , researchers investigated the relationship between fracture-related hospitalizations and vitamin K1 intake in almost 1400 older Australian women over a 14.5-year period from the Perth Longitudinal Study of Aging Women.
They discovered that women who ate more than 100 micrograms of vitamin K1 consumption -- equivalent to about 125g of dark leafy vegetables, or one-to-two serves of vegetables -- were 31 per cent less likely to have any fracture compared to participants who consumed less than 60 micrograms per day, which is the current vitamin K adequate intake guideline in Australia for women.
There were even more positive results regarding hip fractures, with those who ate the most vitamin K1 cutting their risk of hospitalization almost in half (49 per cent).
Consumption of between 75-150g vitamin K1 daily , that is equivalent to one to two serves of vegetables such as spinach, kale, broccoli and cabbage, is ideal.