Migraine, Heart Disease, and Vitamin K2

A study published last year in the journal Headache is introducing many to a vitamin that we don’t talk about very much: Vitamin K2.

Most of us know about the common suspects when it comes to vitamin deficiencies in migraine patients. Vitamin D is one – getting all the more attention these days because of its use in treating patients with COVID-19. Then, of course, riboflavin, or vitamin B2. The connection between B2 and migraine is well known.

But what about K2?

The recent study was actually concerned with arterial stiffness – a condition of the stiffening of arteries around the heart, which leads to a lot of cardiovascular problems, including stroke. Since migraine has been associated with a higher risk of heart disease, researchers wanted to know if arterial stiffness in particular was a connection.

But arterial stiffness is also associated with a vitamin K2 deficiency. Vitamin K2 is very important for your cardiovascular health.

The researchers found that migraine patients were indeed more likely to have some arterial stiffness, and also a K2 deficiency – especially in migraine with aura patients.

Whether or not the lack of K2 is directly contributing to migraine symptoms (something that deserves some study), there is a solid connection between the K2 and the cardiovascular risk. One of the study’s authors, Dr. Aoun Bahous, comments:

Our study presents a plausible hypothesis that vitamin K2 deficiency in patients with migraine with aura may contribute to the increased cardiovascular risk observed in this patient population. Furthermore, patients with migraine in general have more vitamin K2 deficiency than their matched controls. Whether supplementation with vitamin K2 confers cardiovascular protection or reduces migraine episodes remains to be explored; nonetheless, discussing this potential relationship with patients with migraine may guide their dietary habits toward improving vitamin K2 status.

Vitamin K2, Arterial Stiffness, & Migraine

We often talk about the importance of getting your vitamins and minerals from food whenever possible, and this is especially true when it comes to K2. If you eat natto, you have a head start on everyone – natto is an excellent source. Here are some other great sources:

• Natto (sorry, had to mention it again. It’s a K2 powerhouse.)
• Beef or Goose Liver
• Chicken (dark meat)
• Certain Cheeses (such as Jarlsberg, Gouda, and Munster)
• Ground Beef
• Eggs (yes, eggs for cardiovascular health. Who knew? And oddly, eggs seem to be coming up again and again in my research these days – in a good way. Try to go organic if you can.)
• Canadian bacon/back bacon
• Sauerkraut

You can augment your diet with a supplement. One very highly rated supplement combines D3 and K2, from Sports Research: Vitamin K2 + D3 with Organic Coconut Oil. These are plant-based – vegan, in fact.

Also see:

• Vitamin K2 Foods Benefit Cardiovascular Health
• The Importance of Vitamin K2 for Cardiovascular Health