Found some interesting news about Vitamin K on a blog I stumbled across by Marc Joseph. Reading it really makes you ask yourself, “Do I eat enough vegetables?”. His post references a recent paper in the journal Thrombosis and Hemostasis regarding vitamin K and how deficiencies in people may be much more common than previously thought. The key term here is actually “sub-clinical” deficiency which essentially means you present with no clinical symptoms or indications of malnourishment yet low levels in the body are nevertheless having a deleterious effect; which may result in symptoms later in life.
I’ve usually associated Vitamin K with the clotting mechanism in blood but it is also important in bone maintenance and cardiovascular health. Having a chronic sub-clinical deficiency may increase your risk of developing various conditions such as osteoporosis or calcification of blood vessels (which can lead to heart attack and stroke).
Chalk up one more reason to eat your leafy greens, eh?
It’s great to see posts like this one recently blogged over at NutritionData.com. Salt (and more specifically sodium or Na) is one of my nutritional pet peeves. The nutrient is so pervasive in our N. American diet and has been for decades. Thanks largely to our obsession with eating highly preserved foods, people classified as “salt sensitive” are highly challenged when adopting a “low-sodium” diet (1-2g of sodium per day). Indeed, even for the average person it is difficult to not exceed the RDA (recommended daily allowance) of 2.3g/day. To that end, many clinicians adopt a more conservative approach and advise a “No-Added Salt” diet which includes 2.3-4.0g/day; something that I personally follow.
If ever you’re concerned about your Sodium intake the first thing you should do is consult the nutrition facts table on any food item you buy. The more likely high-salt culprits are:
- Anything that is canned (soups, sauces, beans/lentils/corn etc)
- Frozen meals (pizza, single serve meals)
- Junk food (chips, pretzels)
See anything familiar? Most of the items listed above aren’t particularly good for you anyway; regardless of salt content. However, the insidiousness of Sodium is seen when you look at healthy foods such as canned vegetables/legumes. Here salt is again used as a preservative (very necessary) but can be easily rinsed off (recommended) prior to using. Further, Sodium isn’t just found in items that contain salt. For example, the preservative Sodium Benzoate is quite often used in items such as Soy Sauce or BBQ sauce. That’s why I recommend always looking at the Sodium content itself and ignore any messages on the label that claim “Salt Free”.
Lastly, even if you aren’t classified as “salt sensitive” you should still be aware of how much Sodium you consume. Recent research is indicating that diets high in Sodium and low in other nutrients such as Potassium may increase the risk of hypertension. Therefore, as with Omega 3 and Omega 6, it is important to achieve a good ratio of Sodium : Potassium in your diet. No specific recommendations on this ratio exist but you can always just follow the RDA in order to be satisfied the ratio is acceptable. For your reference, the RDA for Potassium is 4.7g/d.