Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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Just curious to know what the current wisdom on this supplement is. I've been taking a few drops under the tongue of Thorne's liquid K2 and just want to be sure that it is still considered "safe" and "beneficial". Just worries me a bit seeing the constant news about calcium supplementation now being considered risky, and I wanted to check in to see if there were any updates or recent medical literature about K2 (re it's efficacy, safety, etc...)

Also, how many of you are supplementing with K2?

flag	asked May 29 2012 at 16:02 Domtx008 437●2●10

Taking supplements is a low-risk low-reward game. I'm not supplementing. – Kasra May 29 2012 at 16:06

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Kasra: you aren't eating fat either, from what I've gathered. Do you not feel that the fat soluble vitamins have value in our diet? – raney May 29 2012 at 16:31

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I eat fat . – Kasra May 30 2012 at 2:31

Whats it for/why does one need it? (Cant you eat food for that?) – Jamie Jun 20 2012 at 9:22

fyi youtube.com/… – anonymous Nov 28 at 0:49

Eugenia · Answer 1 · 2012-05-29 16:06:00Z UTC

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I do 3-4 times a week.

answered May 29 2012 at 16:06

Eugenia
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andrew · Answer 2 · 2012-05-29 16:07:40Z UTC

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I do too. And I believe that calcium is not (or is much less) a risk if K2 IS supplemented?

answered May 29 2012 at 16:07

andrew
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Yes. The reason calcium supplementation is risky is because people are flooding themselves with Ca but NOT also upping their intake of magnesium, vitmain D, K2, or any of the other cofactors that help calcium stay in the bones and teeth and keep it out of the soft tissue, where we don't want it to go, like our kidneys, blood vessels, and joints. – Amy B. May 29 2012 at 16:26

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This is one of my main issues with supplementation. There are always piles and piles of co=factors, and often excess consumption of one nutrient (see beta-carotene for classic example) cause problems when not balanced by others. It makes better sense to me to eat a wide variety of highly nutritious foods, and periodically check with Cron-o-meter to see if you have a tendency to unbalance certain nutrients. Otherwise the pill bottle collection gets huge and unwieldy with the accumulation of new nutrients of the week. – Karen May 29 2012 at 17:01

what is the beta-carotene example? – Domtx008 May 30 2012 at 4:33

Amy,ru certain about this? That that is the actual mechanism? If so, then calcium supplementation could be safe as long as you also supplement K2, D, and Mg. My understanding is that you should supplement with K2, D and Mg but ANY calcium supplementation is superfluous and/or dangerous. In other words, any exogenous Ca supplementation will just increase CVD risk by stiffening up arteries. – Mambo May 30 2012 at 16:53

Karen · Answer 3 · 2012-05-29 16:14:18Z UTC

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I upped my pastured eggs and grass fed ghee intake. Does that count?

answered May 29 2012 at 16:14

Karen
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Alex · Answer 4 · 2012-05-29 18:36:30Z UTC

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I take a Life Extension Super K every day. It has K1, K2 MK-4, and K2 MK-7.

answered May 29 2012 at 18:36

Alex
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That's what I do as well - there's so much disagreement on MK-7 vs Mk-4 that I decided to get one that has both. – Wisper May 30 2012 at 8:36

Dragonfly · Answer 5 · 2012-05-29 19:09:16Z UTC

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I eat gouda cheese, pastured butter & free-range eggs frequently. Haven't felt a need to supplement.

answered May 29 2012 at 19:09

Dragonfly
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Adam · Answer 6 · 2012-05-29 19:48:34Z UTC

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I only supplement with it in the Winter time around here (when cows and chickens go into the barn all season.)

Otherwise, I devour pastured butter, eggs, cheeses, etc in Spring/Summer/Fall months.

answered May 29 2012 at 19:48

Adam
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Lily_7 · Answer 7 · 2012-05-29 21:31:05Z UTC

I have celiac/wheat allergy and my digestion was wrecked for a while. I definitely saw the effects on my nails (weird ridges, more prone to breakage, random indents and spots). Right now, I'm taking a d3/k2 supplement that comes in a coconut oil base + magnesium, as well as zinc, which my endo told me I was deficient in. It hasn't been long enough to make any sort of judgement just yet but I'll update my progress in a couple of months.

primallykosher · Answer 8 · 2012-05-30 01:29:02Z UTC

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Most K2 supplements at vitamin shoppe I have seen are natto (soy) based. It would be nice to have alternatives to that.

answered May 30 2012 at 1:29

primallykosher
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Anondson · Answer 9 · 2012-05-30 02:28:57Z UTC

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Green Pastures cod liver oil/butter oil blend based on a Chris Kresser post that this had K2 plus D3, A, other omega-3 fats coming from a food source rather than pill.

answered May 30 2012 at 2:28

Anondson
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Joshua · Answer 10 · 2012-05-30 02:29:34Z UTC

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I take a K1/k2 supplement.

I also take 1/2 dosage of a multi, and ZMA at night (Zinc, Magnesium, B6).

answered May 30 2012 at 2:29

Joshua
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D.K. · Answer 11 · 2012-05-30 02:48:48Z UTC

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I take K2 MK7 on a daily basis along with magnesium.

answered May 30 2012 at 2:48

D.K.
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Alec · Answer 12 · 2012-05-30 11:25:46Z UTC

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I have been taking one drop of d3/k2 daily for about a year now.

I noticed a positive change in my skin (much clearer) within about a week.

answered May 30 2012 at 11:25

Alec
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	Can you only get that brand through a doctor? Doesn't appear to let you order it through the site. – Shawn May 30 2012 at 11:47
	I ordered from healthdesigns.com which shipped to Australia. Very cheap, still have more than half the bottle left. – Alec May 31 2012 at 6:34
	Turns out you can order it on Amazon – Shawn Jun 14 2012 at 1:24

Robin · Answer 13 · 2012-05-30 13:19:05Z UTC

I have experimented with the Thorne drops and with the Green Pastures Butter Oil. I find that any supplemental K2 makes my skin dry (and dry in a weird, papery kind of way) -- have seen others here say the same, but still don't understand the mechanism since it's widely reported to help dry skin, not cause it. It may be that I get enough K2 already from pastured butter and aged raw milk cheese.

Cynthia L. · Answer 14 · 2012-06-20 08:38:22Z UTC

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Is that true? I also take K2 supplements.

answered Jun 20 2012 at 8:38

Cynthia L.
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Karen · Answer 15 · 2012-06-20 09:52:43Z UTC

I am really interested in getting this right as I have mild, early onset osteoporosis. Currently I supplement magnesium and d3 but not calcium or k2. I'm torn between adding butter oil to the dairy and eggs etc I eat versus a k2 supplement. Also having briefly read some (ok, controversial) Ray Peat stuff I'm not sure I even get enough calcium. Help!

K2- how many of us are supplementing

15 Answers