Many new parents may be aware of the importance of vitamin K in helping the body's blood to clot nautrally. This is because some newborn babies are born without enough vitamin K, and therefore most health professionals advise administering a vitamin K injection at birth as a matter of routine, to ensure any child is capable of recovering from the birth safely.
Why is vitamin K important?
Vitamin K is vital in helping the blood clot normally. That is, from the tiniest scratch to a major cut or injury, the body should be able to normally start to control blood flow and heal through clotting, as soon as the injury occurs. People who have a disorder which prevents their blood from clotting normally need to be cared for under strict medication or treatment so that an unexpected accident does not cause them to bleed to death.
Vitamin K also helps build healthy bones.
What are good sources of vitamin K?
If a person is perfectly healthy, the body should be able to synthesize vitamin K itself. However, green leafy vegetables like broccolli and spinach are good sources, as well as sprouts and green beans (if sprouts prove too strong a taste).
Happily, vitamin K is present in much of a healthy diet and deficiency in vitamin K is quite rare.
