Menaquinone-7 and bone loss after menopause
The question: What does vitamin K2 do for bone?
- Study type
- Randomised controlled trial
- Participants
- 244
- Population
- Healthy postmenopausal women in the Netherlands
- Intervention
- Menaquinone-7 180 mcg daily
- Compared with
- Placebo
- Duration
- 3 years
- Published
- Osteoporosis International, 2013
- Funding note
- Ingredient manufacturer sponsorship reported
What was measured
Bone mineral density, bone strength and vertebral height.
What was found
Women taking MK-7 lost less bone mineral density at the spine and hip and less vertebral height than those on placebo.
Limitations
Sponsored by an ingredient manufacturer. Fracture reduction was not tested, and wider reviews rate the certainty of evidence as low.
What it means
A plausible mechanism with a supportive trial on bone density. Fracture benefit remains unproven. People taking warfarin should not take vitamin K without medical advice.
Source
Knapen MHJ, Drummen NE, Smit E, Vermeer C, Theuwissen E. Three-year low-dose menaquinone-7 supplementation helps decrease bone loss in healthy postmenopausal women. Osteoporos Int. 2013;24(9):2499-2507.
Read the original (DOI 10.1007/s00198-013-2325-6) · Source verified 8 October 2026
Study summaries describe published research for education. They are not claims about any product and are not medical advice.