Can You Lower Your Risk of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma with Vitamin K?
Results of a Mayo Clinic study suggest that higher levels of vitamin K in your diet may reduce the risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. This type of lymphoma is the most common cancer of the blood and immune system in the United States.(42)
Scientists compared how much vitamin K was consumed by two groups for 2 years:(42)
- One group of 603 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients before they were diagnosed.
- A group of 1007 participants with no cancer.
Those who took in more than 108 mg/day of vitamin K had about a 45% lower risk of developing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma than those who ingested under 39 mg/day. The association of vitamin K with lower cancer risk is not definitive. However, the potential benefit remained even after adjusting for other risk factors.(42)
Interestingly, while vitamin K derived from supplements was also linked to a lower risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, the highest dosages were not linked to lower risk. The Mayo researchers note that the form of vitamin K evaluated in the study was that found primarily in green leafy vegetables (vitamin K1).(42)
How might vitamin K work to help prevent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma? One of vitamin K's anticancer effects is blocking CDC25 proteins. Abnormally high levels of CDC25 are found in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Recent research suggests that regulating the production of this protein may help keep normal tissue cells stable and prevent tumors from developing. In addition, chemical compounds made with from vitamin K slow tumor growth in lab, animal, and human studies for various cancers.(79)