Maintain Your Independence at Any Age! (Seniors Only)

It’s something many seniors don’t give much thought to until it becomes a problem… 

Maintaining their independence. 

What good is living longer (and avoiding disease) if you need help bathing… if you can’t put on your shoes… or if you’re not allowed to drive a car? 

It’s not just a life issue… it’s a quality of life issue. 

If you plan to stay mobile and avoid disability well into your senior years, there’s ONE KEY VITAMIN you need to make sure you’re getting plenty of. 

Fortunately, it’s easy to get your hands on… if you know where to look.  

Let’s take a quick mobility test. Just answer these two questions:  

• Can you walk a quarter of a mile without difficulty? 

• Can you climb 10 steps without stopping for a rest? 

Knowing the answer to those questions is important because they were the basis for defining mobility limitations – or outright disability – for this study. 

Having difficulty performing those tasks was defined as having a “mobility limitation.” The inability to do them was defined as “mobility disability.” 

The study, published in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, evaluated data from over 1,300 seniors. The researchers assessed their mobility every six months for 6-10 years through annual clinical visits and phone interviews.  

Then they compared the results with the circulating levels of vitamin K – meaning the amount of vitamin K in the blood. 

The connection was undeniable. 

Compared to those with sufficient vitamin K levels, seniors who had low levels were almost 1.5 times more likely to develop a mobility limitation… and about TWICE as likely to develop a mobility disability. 

Other studies have tied this critical nutrient to specific mobility issues like slower gait speed and a higher risk of osteoarthritis. 

But this is the first study to look at vitamin K as a biomarker for the onset of mobility issues in seniors. 

To get more vitamin K, be sure to include plenty of spinach, kale, broccoli, and dairy products in your diet. 

And of course, try to stay as active as possible because the more active you are, the more active you’ll stay.