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Vitamin K has an essential role in the synthesis of blood clotting factors and has been shown to be a factor in the carboxylation of osteocalcin, a bone protein. High serum undercarboxylated osteocalcin and low serum Vitamin K have been associated with low bone mineral density and high risk of hip fractures.
This study investigates the relation betwen dietary vitamin K and risk of hip fractures in women using data from the Nurses' Health Study.
This study included women who had completed the 1984 Food Frequency Questionnaire, excluding those who reported certain health conditions that might have altered their eating patterns. The 72,327 women were grouped into quintiles according to vitamin K intake and also grouped according to consumption of lettuce, broccoli, and spinach as contributors of dietary vitamin K. During the 10 years following the Questionnaire, 270 hip fractures occurred.
Women with higher intake of vitamin K (quantities 2-5) were significantly less likely to fracture hips than women in the lowest quantile for vitamin K intake. Risk did not change significantly between quantiles 2 and 5. These relations were not altered by calcium and vitamin D intake.
Hip fracture was also reduced in high consumers of lettuce, the greatest contributor of vitamin K in these diets, with a 45% reduced risk for daily consumers of lettuce compared to weekly consumers. While no differences were observed for consumption of spinach and broccoli, the authors suggest this may have been due to similarity in eating patterns for those foods.
Vitamin K and hip fractures in women a prospective study.
Am J Clin Nutr, 69 (1999)
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