About Liz Seegert
Liz Seegert is an independent health journalist and AHCJ’s topic leader on aging. She covers older adults, baby boomers, health policy, and social determinants of health, as well as many other health issues. Her bylines include stories for PBS/NextAvenue.org. the American Journal of Nursing, TIME Health, Medscape, Consumer Reports, and Medical Economics, as well as dozens of other trade and mainstream media. Her articles have been syndicated in Forbes.com, the Los Angeles Times, the Hartford Courant, the Saturday Evening Post and other major outlets.
Be like Popeye. Eat your spinach. And kale. And lettuce. That’s the takeaway from a recent multi-ethnic meta-analysis by researchers at Tufts University.
While the study didn’t prove cause and effect, it did show that the risk of death was nearly 20% higher for older adults with low vitamin K levels compared to those whose levels were adequate. The results suggest vitamin K, a nutrient found in leafy greens and vegetable oils, may have protective health benefits as we age, according to the researchers.
The meta-analysis involved nearly 4,000 Americans between the ages of 54 and 76. One-third of the participants were non-white. Researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) and Tufts Medical Center categorized participants according to their vitamin K blood levels. They then compared the risk of heart disease and risk of death across the categories over approximately 13 years of follow-up. Continue reading →
Liz Seegert is an independent health journalist and AHCJ’s topic leader on aging. She covers older adults, baby boomers, health policy, and social determinants of health, as well as many other health issues. Her bylines include stories for PBS/NextAvenue.org. the American Journal of Nursing, TIME Health, Medscape, Consumer Reports, and Medical Economics, as well as dozens of other trade and mainstream media. Her articles have been syndicated in Forbes.com, the Los Angeles Times, the Hartford Courant, the Saturday Evening Post and other major outlets.