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Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox: How a Little-Known Vitamin Could Save Your Life [Paperback]

Kate Rheaume-Bleue
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)


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Book Description

November 7, 2011
The secret to avoiding calcium-related osteoporosis and atherosclerosis

While millions of people take calcium and Vitamin D supplements thinking they're helping their bones, the truth is, without the addition of Vitamin K2, such a health regimen could prove dangerous. Without Vitamin K2, the body cannot direct calcium to the bones where it's needed; instead, the calcium resides in soft tissue (like the arteries)—leading to a combination of osteoporosis and atherosclerosis, or the dreaded "calcium paradox." This is the first book to reveal how universal a Vitamin K2 deficiency is, and the risk (in the form of cancer and diabetes, among other ailments) the absence of Vitamin K2 poses.

Written by Dr. Kate Rheaume-Bleue, a popular health expert on Canadian television and radio, Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox sounds a warning about the popularity of the calcium and Vitamin D craze, while illustrating the enormous health benefits of Vitamin K2 in making the body less susceptible to dental cavities, heart disease, prostate cancer, liver cancer, diabetes, wrinkles, obesity, varicose veins, and other ailments.

  • The book demystifies this obscure supernutrient—a fat soluble vitamin that humans once thrived on, ignored by scientists for almost seventy years
  • Details how the consumption of grass-fed animals led to adequate Vitamin K2 intake—while grain-based animal feed helped eradicate Vitamin K2 from our diets
  • Describes how doctors are raising recommended doses of calcium and Vitamin D—without prescribing Vitamin K2
  • Details more damning facts about transfats—and how the creation of a synthetic Vitamin K interfered with the body's Vitamin K metabolism

An essential book for anyone interested in bone health, or maintaining their overall health, Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox is the guide to taking the right combination of supplements—and adding Vitamin K2 to a daily regimen.



Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Are you taking calcium or vitamin D? This book could save your life!

Learn the secret to avoiding osteoporosis and heart disease.

Millions of people take vitamin D and calcium supplements for bone health. New research shows that this actually increases the risk of heart attack and stroke because the added calcium builds up in arteries—the calcium paradox. The secret to keeping bones strong and arteries clear is vitamin K2, a little-known supernutrient that humans once thrived on and that has been ignored by scientists for almost 70 years.

Inside this book, you'll find:

  • How consumption of grass-fed animals traditionally provided us with ample quantities of vitamin K2—while grain-based animal feed contributed to the eradication of vitamin K2 in our modern diet

  • How K2 is the most important anti-aging nutrient for fighting wrinkles, Alzheimer's, heart disease, osteoporosis and more

  • The health benefits K2 promotes for straight, cavity-free teeth and strong bones in children

  • Which delicious "sinful" foods are brimming with heart-healthy K2

  • Ways you can safely get the most benefit from your calcium and vitamin D supplements

Also available as an e-book through online retailers.

About the Author

Naturopathic Doctor Kate Rhéaume-Bleue is an expert in natural health. A sought-after and engaging speaker, Dr. Kate is a frequent guest on radio and television and a leading authority on vitamin K2.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (November 7, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1118065727
  • ISBN-13: 978-1118065723
  • Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,564 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kate Rhéaume (1974-) was born and raised in the West Island of Montreal, Quebec. She followed her lifelong interest in health and nutrition to McMaster University, where she completed an honors degree in Biology, with an intention to pursue a career in conventional medicine. After spending much time in the University hospital Kate decided that something was missing from the conventional paradigm of medicine. Upon successfully resolving her own health challenges with natural medicine, Kate turned to Naturopathic medicine as a career and never looked back. She graduated from Toronto's Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in 2002 and was selected for the coveted residency program. Kate spent two and half years on the CCNM Academic and Clinic Faculties as a teaching assistant, guest lecturer and clinic supervisor. After a maternity leave Kate joined Natural Factors Nutritional Products as an educational spokesperson. In this capacity Dr. Kate travels across Canada lecturing on many topics related to natural health. She is a frequent guest on television and radio and a sought-after, engaging speaker. Dr. Kate now makes her home in Ancaster, just west of Hamilton, Ontario with her husband, son and Great Dane.

Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5 stars
(71)
4.9 out of 5 stars
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This book was very informative and well written. Carolyn M. Scorpio  |  36 reviewers made a similar statement
Please get it and read it. Michael A. George  |  16 reviewers made a similar statement
In the "Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox" book we are getting much important, and helpful, information. Gert Bo Thorgersen  |  9 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
170 of 174 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars CAUTION: misleading bias on supplements August 14, 2012
Format:Paperback
I want to emphasize that this book is fantastic -- for the most part. Everyone needs to know about vitamin K2. This book is eye opening for many, many reasons. Please get it and read it.

However, if you go beyond food souces, her advice on supplement choices seems to gloss over, and perhaps even mislead, with some of the facts in regard to her recommendation for the MK-7 version of vitamin K2 instead of the MK-4 version.

Her main criticism of MK-4 is the that it is `synthetic.' That `synthetic' word is a red flag for many, myself included. However, all the supplements are made in a factory/laboratory. The MK-4 is still made with natural occurring ingredients, just like the MK-7.

But even more important, which one is really going to work for you!

My personal experience:
I have yet to hear from anyone that the MK-7 supplements will dissolve the calcified plaque that forms behind the lower front teeth. In 2 days, the Thorne MK-4 supplement completely removed the krud behind my teeth. I was amazed by this. Ever since, I don't need a teeth cleaning at the dentist. I had been taking the Jarrow MK-7 for more than a year without this dramatic effect.

This proves to me that this supplement is taking calcium away from someplace it's not supposed to be and, hopefully, putting it someplace that it IS supposed to be. Which is the major idea presented in this book.

I switched to the MK-4 as an experiment after reading Richard Nikolay's post on Free the Animal blog where he was surprised to notice this same teeth cleaning effect. And I had read about it along time ago in the Track Your Plaque blog of Dr. William Davis.

Why does this author emphasize that MK-7 is better than MK-4?

Please read the studies directly. The abstract googles up easily.
The frequently referenced study that concluded "A high intake of menoquinones, especially MK-7, 8 and 9 . . . could protect against CHD " was a study with data that was "estimated with a food frequency questionnaire." As if it were easy and/or accurate to isolate the effects of either MK-4 versus MK-7 from foods which often contain both.

Is it true that the Rotterdam study mentions that MK-7 seems to be better at preventing/reducing arterial calcification than MK-4? In fact, the Rotterdam study didn't indicate which of the menaquinones was responsible for the association, although supplement manufacturers tried to twist the interpretation into supporting their product after the fact. All the Rotterdam study showed was that a higher K2 intake (all forms) was associated with a lower CHD risk and arterial calcification.

What about the 'half-life' argument?
The reason MK-7 has a longer half-life in the blood is because it has a longer side-chain, is thus more fat-soluble, and thus is located more in the core of the lipoproteins that carry it in the blood then the surface, thus having less interaction with enzymes that would bring it into the cells. MK-4 is therefore more easily absorbed into cells.

But major studies are underway using MK-7?
The large studies currently in progress in Europe that the author is fond of mentioning are simply comparing the MK-7 menaquinone to Vitamin K1. They are not comparing MK-7 to MK-4. For the author to implicate that study as a factor to suggest MK-7 is better than MK-4 supplementation can be misleading.

Read more of this where I got it, without the book author's bias, at the Whole Health Source blog by Stephen Guyenet in a post, "Are the MK-4 and MK-7 Forms of Vitamin K2 Equivalent?"

A final comment from the above blog post by Chris Masterjohn, who is cited within this book for his article titled, "On the Trail of the Elusive X-Factor: A Sixty-Two-Year-Old Mystery Finally Solved"(highly recommended) which you can search for and read directly on the Weston A Price Foundation website:

"I think it makes more sense to go for MK-4 given the choice between the two . . . . The plasma half-life reason is utterly absurd, considering the reduction in plasma half-life is due to the MK-4 being delivered to the tissues where it carries out its functions! It's also much easier to get MK-7 from the diet in amounts comparable to the supplements, since fermented foods can be quite high in it and the supplements are quite low in it.

"MK-4 is cheaper than MK-7! All of the MK-7 being sold comes in much lower doses. I think Thorne is the most cost-effective source of MK-4, especially with my suspicion that it has much higher bioavailability than solid capsules loaded with binders and fillers"

This may confuse you a little at first. The science hasn't answered all our questions yet. Until then, some of what this book has avoided telling you may help you make better decisions in your choice of K2 supplements.

That said, my criticism is a little nit-picky thing. Beyond that, this book is loaded with enlightening material that you will want to share with everyone you know. I really hope you will read it.
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95 of 98 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars missing link April 4, 2012
Format:Paperback
Beware: taking calcium and/or vitamin D can kill you if you don't also supplement with K2!

This excellent book explained why more than 6 months of taking 10,000iu daily of vitamin D3 did nothing for me, even though I live way north of the 40th parallel (most people above that are deficient and, the further north, the more deficient we are). Calcium needs vitamin D3 and both need vitamin K2 (the author recommends K2 in the form of menaquinone-7 or MK-7 but apparently there is research indicating MK-4 is better)!
`
[later note: I did have problems with MK7. Thanks to warnings from two kind Amazon readers in the comments section about MK7 affecting the heart I switched to MK4. I had been wondering why my atrial fibrillations had worsened again recently - there are several kinds of af, mine feels like heart shivers, essentially the top half of the heart sometimes shudders like a jelly because it is not pumping in time with the lower half. I was despairing about the worsening because the af had finally started to get better - within a month of starting the combined treatment of my adrenal fatigue and low thyroid (undiagnosed for 20 years! PLEASE read Stop The Thyroid Madness if you suspect problems with either or both yourself). I just hadn't realized that the MK4 - which I had only started taking just a few weeks ago - was the reason! I stopped the MK4 as well, and my af reduced substantially within 24 hours of stopping the MK4. Perhaps anyone with heart issues should avoid K2 - or perhaps it's because I don't need to supplement with K2 because I eat mainly organic ("grass-fed") meat products, which provide K2, unlike commercially farmed meats?]

I read eight (yes 8) books on vitamin D3, most of them well researched, yet none of them explained this. All of them claimed many fabulous results just on high-dose D3, claims I'm now finding hard to believe.

Also, many of us have taken calcium religiously, only to find little or no improvement in our bones. For one thing, most calcium supplements are plain chalk, which the body cannot use. For another, calcium will just kill you faster if you don't also take vitamins D3 and K2.

Anyway, back to this book, which provides vital information about the interactions of calcium and magnesium with vitamins K, D, and A, as well as ground-breaking information about all three and about calcium. The major point of Dr Kate's book is that vitamin K2 (not K1, which is good mainly for blood clotting) is beneficial for diabetes, heart disease (K2 can reverse hardened arteries!), various cancers, bone and dental health (K2 is the missing link), kidney disease, alzheimer's and brain/nerve health, aging/wrinkles, varicose veins, arthritis and not least for fertility/pregnancy/prenatal development.

Well-written in a friendly, clear and organized way, Dr Kate explains that K2 deficiency can go unnoticed for years and that the gradual industrialization of our food supply reduced K2 in our supplies, further complicated by transfats like margarine and the decades-long crusade against the kinds of foods that are highest in vitamin K2 - egg yolks, cheese and butter - but they need to be organic. K2 tests and optimal amounts are covered. Vitamin A and the inadequacies of beta-carotene are addressed as well as the importance of magnesium. The only thing missing (as it is in 99% of health books) is the essential part potassium plays in health (food grade potassium bicarbonate powder is available cheaply - see "The XXL Syndrome", basically a booklet, for amazing info about this ignored mineral).

There's fascinating information about how our bones produce essential hormones as well as holding us up and about the suppressed health discoveries of Dr Weston Price on our need for truly organic and unrefined foods. I really enjoyed some of Dr Kate's turns of speech, such as: "blaming cholesterol for heart disease is like blaming firefighters when they show up for a fire" and "taking statins is like sending the firefighters home while the fire blazes on".
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53 of 54 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Very clear, very well organized and referenced November 8, 2011
By JJC
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is very well written. It is clear, well organized, and referenced throughly in the back of the book for each chapter. It is written at about the level of Scientific American, easy enough for the intelligent layman to understand. It has particular relevance to anyone on a vegan diet, since most vegans do not eat the only vegan source of Vitamin K2, namely natto (fermented soybeans). For meat eaters, it explains very well the benefits of eating grass fed beef, because vitamin K2 is made in the steer's stomach from the grass.

The blood test for K2 deficiency is indirect, in that it measures the amount of osteocalcin (a protein activated by Vit. K2) that has not be carboxylated (activated). It is called the ucOC test (undercarboxylated osteocalcin) test is not readily available. When it does become available it is very likely that vegans and many meat eaters will be found to be deficient in this vitamin and will suffer the long term consequences, if they do not supplement. One possible consequence of insufficient K2 is stenosis of the aortic valve with calcium. Jack LaLanne had an operation for correction of a stenosed aortic valve (he was a vegan most of his life), and he died shortly thereafter from pneumonia in his weakened condition. Vitamin K2 supplementation might have allowed him to live well past 100.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars K2, not to be confused with K1 found in leafy greens
Amazing information that is not yet well known even by most health buffs. Many people eat and love ghee but do not understand the significance of grassfed animal and dairy... Read more
Published 2 days ago by Jameson
5.0 out of 5 stars The "go to" book on calcium, K2, bone and cardiovascular health
Kate Rheaume-Bleue gives credit where credit is due. She covers the history and hard work of Weston A. Price, who was truly a pioneer in his time. Read more
Published 21 days ago by Nathan
5.0 out of 5 stars It just makes sense
For someone who suffer from arteriosclerosis and osteoporosis at middle age it just makes sense. I've started k2 and eating Natto 3 times a week.
Published 29 days ago by aace
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read ,I loved it
Very interesting and informative and in lightening a must read! I am recommending it to all my family members and friends.
Published 1 month ago by Lauren Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific book
This book was very informative and well written. I am following all recommendations because it all sounds so reasonable and easy to do.
Published 1 month ago by Carolyn M. Scorpio
4.0 out of 5 stars Who knew you needed Vitamin K
Most people have been taking Calcium for years and like myself did not know what they were doing to their bodies. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Wini
5.0 out of 5 stars Very Useful Information About A Little Known Vitamin
Before you start or continue taking calcium supplements, read this book. Before you start taking dangerous prescription drugs to increase bone density, read this book. Read more
Published 1 month ago by B. Dehart
5.0 out of 5 stars Best book on nutrtion...can save your life !!!
I just finished this well-written book....the book clearly explains why a good diet may not cut it when it comes to vitamin K2... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Edward J. Aleo
5.0 out of 5 stars This book really may save your life.
This book is a must read if you value your life. This is information you will never hear from your doctor, because, smart as they are, they just never learned this. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Janie
5.0 out of 5 stars Vitamin K2
This material is researched well, with many references for follow up. It is presented in a way that is very easy to understand.
Published 2 months ago by PB
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