The Synergistic Interplay between Vitamins D and K for Bone and Cardiovascular Health: A Narrative Review

Abstract EN

Vitamins D and K are both fat-soluble vitamins and play a central role in calcium metabolism.

Vitamin D promotes the production of vitamin K-dependent proteins, which require vitamin K for carboxylation in order to function properly.

The purpose of this review is to summarize available evidence of the synergistic interplay between vitamins D and K on bone and cardiovascular health.

Animal and human studies suggest that optimal concentrations of both vitamin D and vitamin K are beneficial for bone and cardiovascular health as supported by genetic, molecular, cellular, and human studies.

Most clinical trials studied vitamin D and K supplementation with bone health in postmenopausal women.

Few intervention trials studied vitamin D and K supplementation with cardiovascular-related outcomes.

These limited studies indicate that joint supplementation might be beneficial for cardiovascular health.

Current evidence supports the notion that joint supplementation of vitamins D and K might be more effective than the consumption of either alone for bone and cardiovascular health.

As more is discovered about the powerful combination of vitamins D and K, it gives a renewed reason to eat a healthy diet including a variety of foods such as vegetables and fermented dairy for bone and cardiovascular health.