The nerve cells in your brain are huge energy consumers that require a steady source of fuel to keep your thoughts coherent, your physical movements well-coordinated and your memory intact. When that energy system falters, your brain power falters and the dread problems of Parkinson’s disease can ensue.
Your body can protect this energy system with a nutrient that you probably have heard very little about: vitamin K2.
The power units that enable the cells in your body to function fluently are the mitochondria. Among the brain cells, mitochondria facilitate the flow of electrons that keep brain signals orderly and consistent.
When Parkinson’s disrupts this function, the brain suffers a power failure. That’s when brain cells start to die off. The results are the usual signs of Parkinson’s: rigid and difficult movements (known as akinesia), muscle stiffness and uncontrollable tremors.
A study at the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology shows that vitamin K2 may help people who have genetic defects that lead to Parkinson’s. The lab tests shows that vitamin K2 can restore the energy production that fails during Parkinson’s.
And this is now just one in a growing list of K2’s benefits.
Although vitamin K2 doesn’t get talked about very much, researchers are beginning to better understand its important roles in the body. Aside from its possible benefits for Parkinson’s, it improves heart health and can help the body resist cancer. It’s also the nutrient “glue” that holds your bones together.
Vitamin K is available in food as both vitamin K1 and K2. K1 is found in leafy green vegetables and helps your blood clot. But K2, found in organ meats, egg yolk, natto (a fermented form of soy) and cheese, is now being viewed as a much more important nutrient.
Your body can make K2 from K1, but researchers don’t think that this happens enough to be very beneficial.
If you decide to take a K2 supplement, experts recommend taking it with calcium and vitamin D. Together, all three of these nutrients can help give you bones of steel … and a powerful, healthy brain.
