Vitamin D, or “the sunshine vitamin” has received quite a bit of attention over the past few years. Recently, the recommended amounts for Vitamin D increased for people of all ages. This is of great concern as Vitamin D is not found in many foods and virtually all North Americans are deficient.

Vitamin D is a nutrient that helps your body function, ward off disease and absorb calcium. Calcium and vitamin D work together to help you maintain healthy bones and teeth. Vitamin D also helps your muscles, nerves and immune system work properly. Recent research has shown that vitamin D may be linked to lowering the risk of diseases such as multiple sclerosis and some cancers.

When sun exposure presents a health risk to sensitive skin, how can you obtain the Vitamin D necessary to build strong bones and teeth and to ward off disease? Health Canada and the Canadian Medical Association agree that supplementation is the safest, most effective way for you to receive this important nutrient without risk of overexposure to sun.

BUT….

Vitamin D is not the whole story. Vitamin D needs some help to be truly effective. Yes vitamin D helps move calcium from your gut into your bloodstream, but it has no impact on where the calcium goes from there. This can actually be a problem if calcium ends up where you don’t want it to be. Calcium buildup in arteries leads to atherosclerosis. This is the condition where the calcium lines arteries, narrowing them and causing them to stiffen, a leading cause of heart disease and death across North America.

Here’s where Vitamin D’s tag-team partner comes in. Vitamin K2 takes the calcium both from the bloodstream and the arteries, and packs it in to bones and teeth. K2 is so efficient at this process that it can actually reverse atherosclerosis.