Leafy vegetables are a good source of vitamin K, which is important for blood clotting.
Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin that’s important for blood clotting and bone health.
Vitamin K is found in leafy green vegetables such as kale, spinach and broccoli, as well as other foods such as liver and fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchi.
Vitamin K helps the body use calcium to repair bones and maintain strong teeth and healthy gums. It also helps prevent calcium from depositing in soft tissues like arteries and veins where it can cause calcification (which increases the risk of heart disease).
Some studies suggest that vitamin K may help prevent cancer by keeping the DNA from becoming damaged by free radicals (highly reactive molecules produced during metabolism).
The recommended daily intake of vitamin K varies based on age, but adults should aim for 90 mcg per day.
The richest sources of vitamin K are green leafy vegetables, such as kale, collards and spinach.
Which Vegetable Has the Most Vitamin K?
The following vegetables are all rich in vitamin K:
Spinach
Kale
Collard greens
Broccoli raab (also known as broccoli rabe)
Mustard greens
Green leafy vegetables are the best sources of vitamin K.
Vitamin K is essential for blood clotting and bone health, but it’s also important for heart health and brain function. Here are some of the best leafy greens you can eat to get your daily dose of vitamin K.
Kale
Spinach
Collard greens
Mustard greens
Swiss chard
Green leafy vegetables are rich in vitamin K. They are also a good source of folate, vitamin C, beta-carotene and potassium. The darker the green color, the higher amount of nutrients it contains.
Here are some tasty examples:
Arugula (Roquette) – 1 cup cooked contains 109 mcg vitamin K.
Collard greens – 1 cup cooked contains 116 mcg vitamin K.
Endive – 1 cup raw contains 105 mcg vitamin K.
Kale – 1 cup cooked contains 119 mcg vitamin K.
Mustard greens – 1 cup cooked contains 123 mcg vitamin K.
Leafy vegetables high in vitamin K include kale, spinach, collard greens and Swiss chard. These green leafy vegetables are excellent sources of vitamin K and should be eaten regularly.
Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin that plays an important role in blood clotting. It also plays a role in bone health, as it helps to maintain bone density by supporting calcium absorption from the gut by promoting its uptake into bones.
Other leafy green vegetables that are rich in vitamin K include bok choy, brussels sprouts, cabbage and mustard greens.
The DRI for vitamin K is 90 micrograms per day for women and 120 micrograms for men (1).
Vitamin K is a group of fat-soluble vitamins. Vitamin K1 (phylloquinone) and vitamin K2 (menaquinone) can be produced by intestinal bacteria or ingested through dietary sources. Vitamin K is essential to the synthesis of the coagulation factors II, VII, IX, and X. Vitamin K is also involved in bone metabolism, as it is required for the carboxylation of osteocalcin which promotes mineralization of bone matrix.
The best food sources of vitamin K are green leafy vegetables such as kale, spinach and broccoli, as well as cabbage and lettuce.
The leafy greens that are richest in vitamin K include:
kale
spinach
collard greens
turnip greens
mustard greens
broccoli rabe
arugula
watercress
As you can see, many of these vegetables are related to one another. They’re also all rich in vitamin C and other nutrients, but I’ll leave it to you to explore those connections for yourself.
Leafy greens are one of the best sources of vitamin K, a vitamin that plays an important role in bone health. Vitamin K is also important for blood clotting and cardiovascular health.
Vegetables are not the only food source of vitamin K; meat and dairy products also contain it. However, leafy greens contain high levels of this vitamin, especially when compared to other vegetables or fruits.
The following are some of the leafy green vegetables that contain a significant amount of vitamin K:
Spinach
Kale
Collard greens
Leaf lettuce
Green leafy vegetables are an excellent source of vitamin K. The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for vitamin K is 120 micrograms a day for men, 90 micrograms for women, and 90 micrograms for pregnant women.
The following table lists the most nutritious leafy greens:
Vegetable Amount Calories Total Fat (g) Sat Fat (g) Protein (g) Carb (g) Fiber (g) Calcium (mg) Iron (mg) Vitamin K1 (mcg/100 g) Spinach 1 cup cooked 45 0.5 0.1 5 2 3 1712 204 Parsley 1 oz raw 6 0.1 0.2 0 1 1 – – Arugula 1 cup raw 20 0.3 0.2 2 2 2 – – Chard 1 cup cooked 28 0.1 0.1 4 3 3 – – Mustard greens 1 cup cooked 40 0.6 0.2 7 5 5 867 302 Collards 1 cup cooked 50 0.8 0
1. Spinach
Spinach has more than twice as much vitamin K2 as any other food, and it’s one of the few foods that contain vitamin K1. In fact, a cup of cooked spinach has more than 100 percent of your daily value — that’s a pretty impressive nutrient profile for such a small serving size!
2. Green Beans
A cup of green beans provides about 20 percent of your daily value of vitamin K2. These beans are also a good source of both vitamins A and C.
3. Broccoli Rabe
Broccoli rabe (also known as rapini) is another green vegetable that’s high in vitamin K2; just one cup provides about 10 percent of your daily value of this nutrient. It’s also an excellent source of vitamins C and A, folate and fiber — what more could you ask for in one vegetable?
The vitamin K family is comprised of three different compounds: vitamin K1 (phylloquinone), vitamin K2 (menaquinones) and vitamin K3 (mixed function oxidoreductases). Vitamin K1 is found in plants, while the other two are synthesized by bacteria in the intestines. Vitamin K1 is also known as phylloquinone or phytonadione, while vitamin K2 is known as menaquinone or menatetrenone.
Vitamin K3 is produced by intestinal bacteria from dietary precursors, but it does not appear to have any biological function in humans. All three forms play a role in blood clotting, bone metabolism, and cell growth regulation.
The following leafy greens have a good supply of vitamin K:
Kale. One cup of kale contains about 60 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin K.
Collards. One cup of raw collards provides roughly 100 mcg of the vitamin. This number increases when cooking collards, which increases their digestibility.
Spinach. One cup of fresh spinach contains about 20 mcg of vitamin K1 and about 22 mcg of vitamin K2.
Arugula. A cup of arugula has about 35 mcg of both types of the vitamin.
Kale is the king of vitamin K, with a whopping 688 micrograms per cup. But it’s not the only green vegetable that has this nutrient.
Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin, meaning it can be stored in your body for long periods of time. It’s also known as coagulation vitamin because it helps blood clot properly. The body needs vitamin K for normal blood clotting and to keep bones strong.
A lack of vitamin K can lead to hemorrhage — or bleeding from an injury or surgery — or even death from internal bleeding
The best sources of vitamin K are leafy greens such as kale, spinach and romaine lettuce. If you’re eating a diet rich in these vegetables, you likely don’t need a supplement to meet your daily needs
If you eat lots of leafy greens every day, you probably don’t need a supplement to meet your daily needs
Kale has more than one type of carotenoid — phytonutrients that give plants their color and antioxidant properties
There are three types: alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and lutein
While kale is high in all three types of carotenoids