Menadione (vitamin K3)

Vitamin K, K1, K2 and K3 are all class 2 methilo-naphthoquinone groups of derivatives and the vitamins that come under these are phytonadione, phylloquinone, phytonactone, menaquinones and menadione.

What are the benefits of these vitamins?

The benefits are many but the main benefit of vitamin K is that it helps regulate the normal flow of blood and also helps easy clotting of blood, prevents the calcification of the arteries and other soft body tissues apart from this it also helps improve the overall health of the body and reduces the wear and tear of the bone thus reducing the risks of fractures.

What is the minimum dosage and what are the sources of this vitamin?

The dosage is different for male and females so also with infants. For a male the recommended dosage is around 80mg/day while for females its 65mg/day and in case of infants its 5mg/day.

The sources of this vitamin are broccoli, cabbage, cow milk, cauliflower, spinach, soybeans and kale.

Deficiency of this vitamin can lead to bruises, gastrointestinal bleeding, epistaxis, hematuria and menorrhagia. As such there have been no reports of any side effects of an overdose of Vitamin K1.

Multivitamins and their essentiality in life

Vitamins and minerals along with antioxidants and other minerals play an important role in the human life. The combination of these help all the micronutrients to work as one to generate energy and improve the absorption capacity of the human body along with the assimilation and distribution to all the vital body organs. All these supplements have a variety of functions to do and help support the body organs.

Vitamin K3 or Menadione

A fat soluble vitamin it gets converted into menaquinone. As conversion takes place in the liver it does not come under the naturally occurring vitamin. While its counterparts both vitaminK1 and vitamin K2 are both considered as natural types of vitamin K. Vitamin K3 is a provitamin as it is a synthetic analogue. This is yellowish in color and it is a synthetic crystalline in form and gets converted to an active form of vitamin K2 in the animal body.

Menadione helps produce prothrombin and five factors which help in blood clotting. It also helps in regulating the bone calcification. The most important role of vitamin K3 is it helps in synthesizing hepatic prothrombin.

Deficiency of this vitamin leads to hemorrhages and hypoprothrombinaemia. Overdose leads to brain damage in newborns that can lead to restrictions of movements, seizures, and mental retardation and in some cases it can lead to death.

Vitamin K3 also acts on the capillaries of the endothelia as well as on the fibrinogen, vitamin K3 in the supplement form is used as a dietary means. The main function of Vitamin K is to help in the normal process of blood clotting as well as it helps in the playing a vital role in the calcification of the bones in the body. Vitamin K3 also helps in activating the reticulohistiocytic system which produces dieresis which stimulates the liver as well as the bone marrow functions.