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How is K2VITAL™ raising the bar in bone and heart health for women?

Discover how K2VITAL™ is addressing quality concerns in the vitamin K2 market, empowering brands to confidently meet the growing demand for bone and heart health solutions for women.

Women’s sports are finally having their moment, with women's football now the fastest-growing sport in the world. As more female athletes step into the stadium, women and girls around the world are being inspired to lead active lifestyles. But staying active requires more than motivation – it takes strong bones and a healthy heart. This is particularly important for women, as they are at greater risk of developing bone-related issues like osteoporosis in later life.^[i],[ii] One ingredient gaining momentum for its cardiovascular and bone health benefits is vitamin K2. But with quality concerns shaking up the market – how can brands ensure they choose effective ingredients? We sat down with Dominik Mattern, VP Science, Business Development and Marketing, Balchem Human Nutrition and Health, to find out more.

First of all, can you explain what the benefits of vitamin K2 are for bone and heart health?

“Healthy bones and a strong heart form the foundation of an active lifestyle. We all know that calcium is essential for bone health – but vitamin K2 is important too. It works hand-in-hand with vitamin D to deposit calcium into the bones. Vitamin D3 helps absorb calcium and synthesize vitamin K dependent proteins, while vitamin K2 activates proteins like osteocalcin, which deposits calcium into the bone.^{[iii],[iv],[v],[vi]} This, in turn, supports strong bones. Vitamin K2 also contributes to cardiovascular health by supporting healthy blood vessel function.[vii] Moreover, vitamin K2 plays a role in the production of ATP, the molecule on which your heart and muscles rely on.^[viii],[ix]”

How is Balchem raising awareness of vitamin K2 for women?

“We’ve recently entered a multi-year partnership between K2VITAL™ and FC Bayern Women, one of the most iconic and successful women’s football teams in the world. The team has a strong social media reach and multichannel presence, appearing more frequently on national free-to-air broadcasts and reaching an impressive 9.18 million viewer’s last season. By tapping into the team’s widening audience, we aim to raise awareness of K2VITAL™ and its role in supporting strong bones and healthy hearts. Through this partnership, we’re proudly championing our K2VITAL™ brand promise 'To Build Inner Strength' on a global scale.”

Why is quality a big concern in the vitamin K2 market?

“We recently identified a quality issue that alarmed the vitamin K2 market. In partnership with Alkemist Labs, an ISO accredited natural product testing laboratory, we’ve exposed misleading label claims and a concerning quality gap in vitamin K2-containing products. An alarming 71% of the 38 vitamin K2 products tested fell short of the established quality benchmarks concerning K2 MK-7 content or isomeric purity.

“A significant proportion of products did not meet their label claims due to excessive levels of the less biologically effective cis isomers of MK-7 vitamin K2 (compared to all-trans isomers), resulting in low isomeric purity. This highlights that the quality issue lies at the ingredient level. Vitamin K2 is also highly sensitive and can degrade rapidly in certain conditions or when combined with other ingredients. Our investigation revealed that out of 38 vitamin K2 supplements tested, only 29% met MK-7 content and isomeric purity standards. This means that many consumers are often paying for ineffective solutions – impacting trust and credibility within the dietary supplements industry. As such, there is a pressing need to address the vitamin K2 quality gap.”

How is K2VITAL™ addressing the vitamin K2 quality gap?

“At Balchem, we understand the urgency of raising quality standards in the vitamin K2 space, which is why we are already leading the change. We’ve taken proactive steps to set new industry standards by rigorously testing our own vitamin K2 ingredients. Our results speak for themselves – our all-trans bioactive form of vitamin K2 MK-7, K2VITAL™, offers typically 99.7% isomeric purity. And for even greater stability, we developed K2VITAL™ DELTA, the world’s only patented double-microencapsulated K2, offering endless formulation possibilities. To prove its stability, analysis has demonstrated that after three months, 100% of all K2VITAL™ DELTA-plus-minerals products met their label claim.”

To find out more about Balchem’s commitment to advancing bone and joint health with K2VITAL™, meet the team at this year’s Vitafoods event. Balchem is the Official Premier Ingredients for Athletes Sponsor of Vitafoods 2025 and will be present at stand number 3G30.

Explore more benefits of K2VITAL™ here.

This piece of content is provided by an advertiser or created on behalf of an advertiser. The views or opinions expressed in this piece of content do not reflect those of Informa.

References

[i] Bone Health and Osteoporosis. What Women Need to Know. Available at: https://www.bonehealthandosteoporosis.org/preventing-fractures/general-facts/what-women-need-to-know/

[ii] Willers C, Norton N, Harvey NC, et al. (2022) Osteoporosis in Europe: a compendium of country-specific reports. Arch Osteoporos.17(1):23. doi:10.1007/s11657-021-00969-8

[iii] Theuwissen E. Br J Nutr 2012 Vol. 108 Issue 9 Pages 1652-7

[iv] National Institutes of Health. Vitamin K Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. Available at https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminK-HealthProfessional/

[v] Mandatori D et al. Nutrients 2021 Vol. 13 Issue 4

[vi] van Ballegooijen AJ et al., The Synergistic Interplay between Vitamins D and K for Bone and Cardiovascular Health: A Narrative Review. Int J Endocrinol. 2017;2017:7454376

[vii] Hariri E. Open Heart 2021 Vol. 8 Issue 2

[viii] Vos M, Esposito G, Edirisinghe JN, et al.. Vitamin K2 is a mitochondrial electron carrier that rescues PINK1 deficiency. Science 2012;336:1306–10. 10.1126/science.1218632

[ix] Rønning SB, Pedersen ME, Berg RS, Kirkhus B, Rødbotten R (2018) Vitamin K2 improves proliferation and migration of bovine skeletal muscle cells in vitro. PLoS ONE 13(4): e0195432. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195432