The Vitamin You Never Heard Of That Your Arteries Need To Fight Fat

That is, people who get too much calcium are at risk of developing atherosclerosis unless they get adequate supplies of a vitamin known as vitamin K2. Vitamin K2 activates a substance known as matrix gla protein (or matrix g-l-a protein, also known as MGP). Matrix gla protein soaks the excess calcium out of the bloodstream and makes saturated fat, trans- fat, and cholesterol harmless.

Vitamin K2 isn't the vitamin found in leafy greens. Just about the only vegetable that is a useful source of vitamin K2 is natto, which is a special kind of fermented soybeans. (Tofu, miso, and tempeh won't do.) Vitamin K2 is, however, found in whole milk, rich cheeses such as Camembert, butter from milk from grass-fed cows, and free-range eggs, gathered from hens that eat grasses as well as grains.

The kind of vitamin K that you get in other vegetables is vitamin K1. Actually, if you got enough vitamin K1, that vitamin would protect you against cardiovascular disease as well. Unfortunately, the amount of vitamin K1 you would need for cardiovascular protection is roughly equivalent to 200 servings of leafy greens per day, an amount absolutely nobody can or should eat. It's a lot easier to get your daily vitamin K2 from two delicious farm fresh eggs, the kind your doctor probably tells you that you should avoid for your health.

If all this is a little hard to follow, don't feel bad. Most scientists have a little difficulty getting their minds wrapped around it, too. But here's the basics of what you need to know if you want to protect your health.

• Saturated fat, trans- fat, and cholesterol are not dangerous until they are activated.
• Dangerous fats are activated by calcium.
• Vitamin K2 activates proteins that protect arteries from calcium.
• Ironically, vitamin K2 isn't found in vegetables, but in butter, rich cheeses, whole milk, and a Japanese soybean dish called natto (and not other forms of soy).

Eating eggs and butter and cheese can actually be good for you, despite their poor reputations. Just don't eat the cheap stuff; opt for free-range dairy products. If your butter is spreadable at room temperature, if your eggs are fresh and their egg yolks are bright orange, or if you have an adventurous appetite for Japanese food and include natto in your diet several times a week, then you don't need to worry so much about fat. Fatty foods — but not cheap fatty foods — can actually be good for you, and you will want to look for the best sources of healthy and natural fats.