If you consume a well-balanced, healthy diet containing adequate amounts of fruit and vegetables, you are probably meeting your body's vitamin K requirement. If you are not a regular consumer of fruit, you can easily increase your intake by adding small amounts to each meal. Ensuring that you consume enough vitamin K-rich foods can be fun and tasty.
Best Fruit Sources
Many fruits are good sources of vitamin K. For example, avocados contain 38.8 percent of the daily value, and blueberries provide 35.7 percent. A small taco salad with guacamole followed by a scoop of vanilla ice cream topped with blueberries is an example of a delicious summer meal that provides nearly all the vitamin K you need for that day.
Other Fruit Sources
Though not as high in vitamin K as avocados or blueberries, many other fruits contain adequate amounts of this substance. Some fruits that contain between 10 to 20 percent DV include tomatoes, grapes, raspberries and pears. While these fruits contain vitamin K and can help meet your daily requirement, the most excellent source of K is found in leafy, green vegetables. For example, the highest level of vitamin K found in fruit is approximately 39 percent DV, while spinach supplies a whopping 1,110 percent of the DV for vitamin K.
Intake Requirements
The Institute of Medicine's suggested adequate intake for adult males is 120 micrograms a day, and adult women are advised to take in 90 micrograms. To put this in context, one avocado, the highest vitamin K fruit source, contains 42 micrograms of vitamin K.
Considerations
Vitamin K is critical in your body's blood clotting process and regulating blood calcium levels. You can help prevent health problems caused by vitamin K deficiency such as easy bruising, excessive bleeding and blood vessel calcification by ensuring a regular intake of this vitamin. Adding fruit to your diet is one easy way to accomplish this goal. A blueberry smoothie, a pear and cheese snack plate or a cut tomato drizzled with olive oil and served with mozzarella cheese are all tasty ways to consume this necessary substance.
