Garden of Life Living Calcium

[Guest guest]

As those who have been around for a while know, I believe taking Magnesium is very important . .. I've been taking Garden of Life Living Calcium for years . .. It really does work to keep my feet from burning.

What I didn't pay attention to was the amount of Vitamin K it has. Since it's made from whole foods, it's only natural that Vitamin K would be present. . . The recommended amount of Living Calcium (six capsules) amounts to 156% of the recommended daily allowance.

While I'm not completely blaming LC for my pulmonary embolism, I'm sure it played a role because Vitamin K decreases blood clotting. Vitamin K is also a fat-soluble vitamin. That means your body stores any excess! . . .

Pulmonary embolisms are blood clots (usually start in the legs) that travel through the heart to the lungs. . . The fatality rate of PE is about 30% at the time of attack. It was fortunate that I sought medical attention when I did. I didn't feel very bad at all . . . I just felt there was something wrong. I expected to get checked out and be back square dancing in a couple hours.

It has taken about four weeks of a high dose of Coumadin to finally get my INR (clotting time) to the target range. . . The doctors have been amazed at how long it's taken.

While I like GOL products and don't want to bash them, I do urge caution about taking Living Calcium, or any vitamin with significant vitamin K if you have a history of blood clots or deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

Even if you don't have a history of clots, you may find it better to rotate brands, or take a break from vitamins, from time to time so you don't build up toxic levels of fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K). . .

Interestingly, Vitamin E increases clotting time, Vitamin K decreases it.

Rogene