Kale,
parsley, broccoli, and spinach: according to new research, these leafy green
vegetables may hold even more health benefits than previously thought, as
vitamin K - found in abundance in all four - may contribute to a healthy heart.
A new study published in The Journal of
Nutrition examines the link between vitamin K levels and heart structure and functioning in young people.
Vitamin
K plays a key role in blood coagulation and bone health. Deficient levels of
the vitamin raise the risk of hemorrhage, osteoporosis, and bone fractures.
In its
dietary form, vitamin K is known as phylloquinone, or vitamin K-1. This is
abundantly found in leafy green vegetables such as kale, parsley, broccoli, spinach, iceberg
lettuce, and cabbage.
The new
research suggests that insufficient levels of the vitamin may affect the
structure of the heart, leading to a condition called left ventricular
hypertrophy (LVH).
The left
ventricle is the heart's major pumping chamber, and in LVH, this chamber is
enlarged to an unhealthy degree. As the authors of the new study explain, a
larger heart can malfunction with time, becoming less effective at pumping
blood.
LVH tends
to affect adults, but the researchers decided to study this heart structure in
young people because cardiac abnormalities that begin in childhood tend to
predict the risk of cardiovascular disease in adulthood. They found that teens
with the lowest intake of vitamin K1 from foods had triple the rate of LVH of
their counterparts who had the highest intake.
Your mom
was right…eat your greens.
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