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I personally use this brand of vitamin K, which is MK-7 (Menaquinone-7), because Life Extension is a highly reputable company. However, I have also used the Jarrow brand of MK-7 and recommend that brand as well because they are a reputable company, too.
Although the exact dosing of this supplement has not been entirely agreed upon, Dr. Cees Vermeer, who is one of the world's top researchers on vitamin K, recommends between 45 mcg and 185 mcg daily for adults. If you are taking anticoagulants, the lower end of dosage is recommended. If you are generally healthy, recommendations are between 45 mcg and 150 mcg daily. I myself take one of these softgel tablets per day, which is 45 mcg. It can be taken with food or on an empty stomach.
There are two forms of vitamin K, K1 and K2. K2 is the most bioavailable, and there are also two types of K2:
K1 is found in small amounts in vegetables such as spinach. The body converts K1 into MK-4 (Menaquinone-4), or MK-4 can be produced in a lab. Unfortunately, MK-4 has a very short half-life in the body of only one hour, so it is not very useful as a dietary supplement.
MK-7 is extracted from the fermented soy product, natto. It has a half-life of three days, so when taking it daily as a supplement such as this one, you have a much better chance of keeping a steady level in the blood stream.
MK-7 has been shown by research to prevent inflammation in the body, which is implicated in either causing or augmenting virtually every disease process in the body, especially cancer, heart disease and stroke. MK-7 is especially useful for helping the body move calcium where it is needed, in bones and teeth, and keeping it away from where it does not belong, calcifying the lining of, and thereby potentially blocking, veins and arteries, especially in the heart and brain.
MK-7 helps promote bone health by helping the body naturally--with no side effects--to build bone by, as stated above, moving calcium into them. This is an essential factor in preventing osteoporosis. Research has indicated that the bone growth that MK-7 promotes can be additionally augmented by taking it in combination with Vitamin D3. Multiple studies have demonstrated synergistic benefits when vitamin MK-7 and D3 are combined. Both MK-7 and Vitamin D3 encourage calcium uptake where it needs to go. There is enhanced osteocalcin accumulation in bone cells which leads to increased bone mineral density.
For those that might be interested, let me further state that this supplement, particularly when combined with D3, stands in strong contrast to Big Pharma's "bone-protecting" drugs. They, in fact, do not build bone. The drugs doctors most often prescribe for a DEXA-based diagnosis of "osteopenia" are from a class called "antiresorptives." These drugs attempt to slow bone loss by decreasing the rate of absorption of bone by osteoclast cells. Examples include: bisphosphonates (Fosamax, Boniva, Actonel, Reclast), calcitonin (Fortical and Miacalcin), estrogen therapy or hormone therapy (Premarin, Prempro), and estrogen agonists/antagonists (Evista). There's a huge problem with these drugs, over and beyond their dangerous side effects. Stopping resorption works entirely against the body's bone-maintenance system. In a natural state (untampered with by drugs), there is a constant uptake by osteoclast cells of old bone tissue (resorption) which triggers a signal to the osteoblast cells to create new bone tissue. Both sides of the equation are essential for new bone to be created. In short, if there is no resorption of old bone by osteoclasts, then the osteoblasts will NOT make any new bone. This means that if I take bisphosphonates my body stops making any new bone. My conclusion is this: Yes, during the relatively short-term testing of two years or less Big Pharma has done on these drugs, it has concluded and proclaimed that bone is spared, rather than lost. Unfortunately, due to how the body works, this type of medication cannot prevent osteoporosis over the long term. In fact, tragically, it is actually creating a form of osteoporosis, which is defined as a body filled with old, fragile bone tissue that is susceptible to breakage. Recent research has also indicated that the bisphosphonates in particular can create osteonecrosis (bone death) of the jaw and spontaneous femur fractures. There are major class-action lawsuits going forward on this health tragedy right now.
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