Super K with Advanced K2 Complex
Super K with Advanced K2 Complex provides the three forms of vitamin K that can be utilized by the body: vitamin K1 and dual forms of K2, MK-4 and MK-7. This comprehensive vitamin K formula promotes both bone and arterial health. So boost your vitamin K levels with the one-two punch of both K1 and K2, add Super K with Advanced K2 Complex to your nutrient regimen today!
Benefits at a Glance:
- Maintains bone density by facilitating calcium transport into bone
- Promotes a healthy heart and vascular system
- Includes the most bioavailable forms of vitamin K1 and K2
- Bioavailable over a sustained 24-hour period
The method by which vitamin K supports bones and arteries is related to its relationship with calcium. Research has shown that low vitamin K status interferes with the function of a protein called matrix Gla-protein (MGP). This protein is vitamin K dependent and must be carboxylated to function properly.
Without adequate vitamin K, MGP remains uncarboxylated. Studies have found that uncarboxylated MGP accumulates at the site of arterial calcification. Without normal levels of carboxylated MGP, calcium in the blood can bind to the arterial wall resulting in calcification.
Health benefits of vitamin K
The Rotterdam Heart Study, a large-scale, well-controlled clinical trial that tracked 4,800 subjects for seven years, revealed that people who consume the most dietary K2 have healthier hearts when compared to people who consume the least.6 Additional studies have shown that higher vitamin K levels also correspond to less calcium deposits in the aorta, and can even cause a 37% regression of preformed arterial calcification.
Different forms of Vitamin K
Unfortunately, obtaining enough vitamin K through the diet can be difficult. The most common form of vitamin K, known as K1, is present in leafy green vegetables. Not only do many people avoid these vegetables, the K1 is tightly bound to plant fibers and not easily absorbable.
In contrast, vitamin K2, which is found in meat, egg yolks, and dairy, is up to 10 times more bioavailable than K1 and remains active in the body for far longer.12 If you’re avoiding these foods for health reasons, it’s essential to take a K2 supplement.
Super K with Advanced K2 Complex makes it easier to get enough vitamin K by including two forms of vitamin K2, MK-4 and MK-7. The MK-4 form is the most rapidly absorbed type of vitamin K. However, it only lasts in the bloodstream for a few hours. In contrast, the MK-7 form is available to the body for a full 24-hour period14 at much higher levels.
A complete Vitamin K supplement
Combining two forms of vitamin K2 provides both rapid and sustained absorption of this critical nutrient, so your healthy blood levels are maintained throughout the day. Just one daily softgel of Super K with Advanced K2 Complex provides 200 mcg of vitamin K2 (MK-7); 1,000 mcg of vitamin K2 (MK-4); and 1,500 mcg of vitamin K1. This K2 complex, plus a strong dose of K1, makes this comprehensive formula an excellent way to get your vitamin K!
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- Atherosclerosis. 2012 Dec;225(2):397-402.
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- Thromb Haemost. 2008 Oct;100(4):593-603.
- Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2008 Sep;3(5):1504-10.
- J Nutr. 2004 Nov;134(11):3100-5.
- Blood. 2007 Apr 1;109(7):2823-31.
- J Vasc Res. 2003 Nov-Dec;40(6):531-7.
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- Blood. 2007 Apr 15;109(8):3279-83.
- Br J Nutr. 1996 Aug;76(2):223-9
- Nutr J. 2012 Nov 12;11:93.
Additional Information
Life Extension – Super K with Advanced K2 Complex – 90 Softgels
Life Extension Super K with Advanced K2 Complex promotes arterial health and healthy bones. This formula includes Vitamin K1 which is the form found in plants and vegetables and should be part of most people’s daily supplement regimen. Even more important is the inclusion of the MK-4 and MK-7 forms of vitamin K2. The virtue of this formula is that it provides the precise amount of the long-acting MK-7 form of vitamin K2 that recent human studies have shown provides optimal K2 levels over a 24-hour period. The MK-4 is included to provide the rapid increase in vitamin K blood levels that may account for its beneficial effects in certain studies.
Super K with Advanced K2 Complex Features:
• Promotes arterial health
• Supports healthy bones
• Vitamin K1
• Vitamin K2
Vitamin K
An abundance of human clinical data reveals that vitamin K plays a critical role in maintaining healthy bone density by facilitating the transport of calcium from the bloodstream into the bone. Vitamin K is also required by calcium-regulating proteins in the arteries. Matrix Gla-protein (MGP) is a vitamin K-dependent protein, and it must be carboxylated to function properly. Poor vitamin K status leads to inactive uncarboxylated MGP (ucMGP), which accumulates at sites of arterial calcification. Since MGP is a potent local inhibitor of arterial calcification, MGP is important in relation to the health of the entire cardiovascular system. Without adequate vitamin K, calcium in the blood can bind to the arterial wall resulting in calcification. As people age, even a subclinical vitamin K deficiency can pose risks to the vascular system. Poor vitamin K status also results in increased circulating levels of undercarboxylated osteocalcin that is shown to be associated with increased bone loss in postmenopausal women.
Humans get most of their vitamin K from green vegetables in the form of vitamin K1. The problem is that K1 is tightly bound to plant fiber and only a small fraction absorbs into the bloodstream.
Vitamin K2 (menaquinones) is found in meat, eggs, and dairy products and is also made by bacteria in the human gut, which provides a certain amount of the human vitamin K requirement. Human studies show that vitamin K2 is up to ten times more bioavailable than K1. Vitamin K2 remains biologically active in the body far longer than K1. For instance, K1 is rapidly cleared by the liver within eight hours, whereas measurable levels of K2 (MK-7) have been detected 72 hours after ingestion.
The Rotterdam Heart Study, a large-scale, well-controlled clinical trial that tracked 4,800 participants for seven years, revealed that participants who ingested the greatest quantities of vitamin K2 in their diet experienced a better cardiovascular condition than people who ingested the least. High intakes of vitamin K2 also corresponded to less calcium deposition in the aorta, whereas participants who ingested less K2 were more likely to show moderate or severe calcification. Animal studies suggest vitamin K intake not only blocks the progress of further calcium accumulation, but also induces 37% regression of preformed arterial calcification.
Ideal Forms of Vitamin K2
In recent years, two forms of vitamin K2 have been extensively researched and the findings reveal vastly improved effects compared to K1. The MK-4 form of vitamin K2 is the most rapidly absorbed and is now routinely used in Japan to maintain healthy bone density. MK-4, however, only remains active in the blood for a few hours. The MK-7 form of K2, on the other hand, remains bioavailable to the human body over a sustained 24-hour period and to higher levels (seven- to eightfold) during prolonged intake. Both MK-4 and MK-7 have demonstrated remarkable health benefits when studied in human populations.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Life Extension’s quality control standards?
Life Extension uses only premium quality vitamins and other ingredients. Their dedication to excellence insists that their nutritional supplements meet the highest standards and criteria.
That is why Life Extension insists on purchasing only the highest quality raw materials from all over the world, primarily from leading US, Japanese and European sources. Life Extension goes one step further by using advanced analytical methods, such as high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, to ensure their products meet label claims for potency and purity. Life Extension tests its raw materials using US Pharmacopeia and other exacting pharmaceutical assay standards.
Why are Life Extension’s nutritional supplements more advanced than other dietary supplements?
The unique ingredients included in Life Extension’s products are often years ahead of the products sold by commercial vitamin companies. Life Extension scientists analyze thousands of scientific studies every week to make sure their health-promoting formulas include the most advanced life extending ingredients in the world. The Foundation interacts with the world’s foremost gerontology researchers in order to obtain inside information about antiaging breakthroughs before these findings are published. The Life Extension Foundation funds the most advanced anti-ischemia laboratory in the world, where antioxidant vitamins, hormones, and pharmaceutical agents are used to prevent free radical induced cellular damage.
Are Life Extension vitamins natural or synthetic?
Life Extension carries a combination of natural and synthetic vitamins and supplements. Some advertising statements would have them believe that “natural” is better, but natural supplements in some instances contain impurities such as pollen and naturally occurring hormones that can cause problems for some people. Synthetic nutrients are manufactured to be chemically identical (with the exception of vitamin E) to those extracted from natural sources, and are the most pure nutrient vitamins.
What does Life Extension do to ensure the quality of its products?
They focus on three specific areas.
Raw Materials: Unlike other supplement companies, the natural ingredients that go into Life Extension’s supplements are not chosen based on cost. Instead they are chosen based on purity (to exclude contaminants such as microbes and heavy metals), potency, and usage in successful scientific research.
Validation of the Efficacy of Ingredients by Scientific Research: Life Extension uses ingredients and dosages that accurately replicate the most successful results obtained in scientific studies for maximum efficacy.
Manufacturing:Naturally, Life Extension is in strict compliance with current Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) for manufacturing, packaging, and storage.
Does the label accurately list exactly what’s in the bottle?
Yes. All active ingredients from patented, scientifically validated raw materials as well as final, finished products are verified using advanced analytical methods such as HPLC (high-performance liquid chromatography), MS (mass spectrometry), etc., to ensure each and every product accurately meets label claims in strict compliance with their demanding product specifications.
When it comes to supplements, is cost an indicator of quality?
Where Life Extension is concerned, yes. Patented materials validated in scientific studies cost more – period. In contrast with many commercial brands focused on driving up margins by using the cheapest raw materials available, Life Extension collaborates with raw material suppliers who invest in scientific validation of their ingredients, which increases material costs. With Life Extension products, you get the quality you pay for.
What are the “Other Ingredients” on the label, and why are they important?
They are inactive ingredients (excipients) that play a number of critical, essential roles in the manufacturing process including:
- Achieving uniform density for accurate dosing
- Dispersing the active ingredients evenly throughout a solid tablet, capsule, and softgel
- Protecting active ingredients from rapid inactivation due to heat and moisture
- Promoting tablet disintegration, as well as capsule and softgel dissolution
- Sustaining the release of active ingredients into the body over time
Why do some companies refer to these excipients as a threat to your health?
Claiming any product is “pure and free of excipients” can be deceptive advertising, too frequently used to draw attention away from inferior active ingredients! The right inactive ingredients used in the right way do important things… like ensuring that a tablet disintegrates in your GI tract rather than just passing through your system without benefit, or keeping a product from breaking down and being susceptible to microbes. Take Life Extension blueberry extract, for example. It contains AuroraBlue wild-harvested, Alaskan blueberries. To retain their nutritional complexity, these berries are freeze-dried and carefully milled for capsule formulation. But being a whole fruit raw material, it tends to want to reconstitute itself with moisture, which would make it a breeding ground for bacteria. So Life Extension uses a drying excipient to keep the milled blueberry material dry, so it can safely deliver its superior nutritional value compared with other, less costly blueberry extracts in most commercial formulations.
All of the excipients Life Extension uses have earned GRAS (“Generally Regarded As Safe”) status. In many cases not using them compromises final product quality! Excipients are used in nutritional supplements to ensure uniform density of complex active materials, to achieve even dispersion of active ingredients, and to promote appropriate disintegration and/or dissolution of active ingredients inside your body.
Should one be concerned about the use of stearic acid?
Stearic acid functions as a flow agent in the manufacture of quality products, and stearic acid also occurs naturally in the foods you eat. For example, four ounces of dark chocolate contain 3,625 mg of stearic acid; a cup of kidney beans contains 1,655 mg of stearic acid; an ounce of raw ground beef (grass-fed) contains 2,063 mg of stearic acid; and a half pound of lean raw turkey contains 1,642 mg of stearic acid. Even a tablespoon of allspice contains 1,513 mg of stearic acid! Life Extension supplements, on the other hand, typically contain no more than 10 mg per capsule. They always use the lowest level of magnesium stearate possible.
Should one be concerned that products with soybean oil or lecithin are a source of phytoestrogens?
While it is true that soy isoflavones are phytoestrogens, the amount in soybean oil or lecithin is so minute, the USDA lists it in foods as having zero value for isoflavones. To give you a frame of reference, Life Extension’s Ultra Natural Prostate contains 4 mg of lecithin which supplies only about 0.006 mg of soy isoflavones!
Should one be concerned with the usage of genetically modified plants (GMOs)?
Soybeans are an example of a crop that has used extensive genetic engineering to increase crop yield. The reality is that soybean oil and soy lecithin are highly processed derivatives of soy, far removed from their soy origin. Genetic modification doesn’t alter the entire plant, only a specific gene. Thus, specific molecules like soy lecithin are the same whether they come from a GMO or non-GMO soy source. However, due to their sensitivity to customer concerns, products with corn and soy-based active ingredients are in process of having the labels updated to list when soy and corn-derived active ingredients have been certified to be from non-GM food crops.
Does the gelatin used in softgels and capsules contain MSG?
Gelatin does not contain MSG, but does contain about 0.05 grams of glutamic acid in one softgel. You ingest about 120 times more glutamic acid in a serving of asparagus, cabbage or tomatoes!
What’s the difference between tablets, capsules and softgels?
Sophisticated products require sophisticated delivery systems. The best companies choose the most effective finished form based on the characteristics of the raw materials, and the desired disintegration or dissolution characteristics of the finished product and the active ingredients.
Why aren’t Life Extension products organic?
The word “organic” conveys the perception of quality to consumers. But it actually relates to foods that are grown rather than products that are formulated. Many of their scientifically validated raw materials are not produced organically. Rather, their mandate includes rigorous testing and scrupulous processing. The objective is purity, both in terms of their raw materials and finished products.
About Life Extension
Life Extension was officially incorporated in 1980, but the founders have been involved in antiaging research since the 1960’s. Life Extension’s long-range goal is to extend the healthy human lifespan.
Commitment to Scientific Research
Commercial companies have made huge profits on products such as coenzyme Q10, melatonin and DHEA, each of which was introduced to the U.S. market by Life Extension at considerable risk.Life Extension performed the research on these products, determined their validity and viability, and subsequently brought them to market based upon the strength of evidence behind them.
In the past seven years, Life Extension has funded over $21 million in research through their affiliations with such esteemed institutions as U.C. Berkeley and Mt. Sinai Medical Center. In 2004, Life Extension’s scientists were awarded a $900,000 grant to continue their pioneering work, and they collaborated with BioMarker Pharmaceuticals and scientists at the National Cancer Institute to develop new anti-aging therapies. This resulted in a recently accepted publication in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In addition, Life Extension has funded life span studies at the Universities of Wisconsin, California at Riverside, and Arkansas, gene transfer studies at the Gerontology Research Center in Baltimore, neurotransmitter studies to find the key to brain aging at the University of California at Berekely, and resveratrol studies BioMarker Pharmaceuticals in collaboration with Harvard Medical School and Critical Care Research.
Over 30 Years of History
Life Extension has a history of being several steps ahead of the competition, and in many cases, ahead of the mainstream medical establishment and the media in terms of uncovering and reflecting the newest science and research insights.
Life Extension’s Vision
Life Extensionists believe in taking advantage of scientific research to help slow aging and enhance their chances of living longer, healthier lives through the use of nutritional supplementation and an integrative approach to health.
The goal at Life Extension is to increase the quality and longevity of human life with science-based, “cutting edge” formulations. The unique ingredients included in Life Extension products are sometimes five to ten years ahead of the products sold by commercial vitamin companies.
Every week, Life Extension’s in-house research staff analyzes thousands of scientific studies, reviews dozens of the world’s leading peer-reviewed scientific, health, and medical journals, and interacts with leading anti-aging researchers to uncover the very latest breakthroughs as they relate to nutritional supplementation. This information is then passed on to their product development team which develops scientifically innovative, health-promoting formulations.
For over 25 years, Life Extension has developed nutritional supplements with the highest degree of quality, potency, and purity. Unlike discount supplement providers, Life Extension differentiates itself through quality, not price. Many discount products, for example, use low grade vitamin C imported from China that contains traces of arsenic, lead, and iron. Since the FDA does not believe anyone should take more than 100mg a day of vitamin C, the FDA permits the importation of this contaminated vitamin C. Many Life Extensionists take over 3,000 mg of vitamin C a day, so it is crucial that they use top-quality vitamin C that has gone through 18 purification steps to remove contaminants.
Life Extension’s complete line of nutritional supplements includes vitamins, minerals, amino acids, phyto-nutrients and standardized herbal concentrates.