Meals affect absorption of phylloquinone in people
What it found
In 12 healthy adults, more phylloquinone was absorbed when taken with a cosmopolitan or animal-oriented meal than with a convenience meal.
The study measured how much of a labelled dose of phylloquinone got into the blood.
What they found
Studies in people
Absorption from capsule
More labelled phylloquinone was absorbed when taken with the cosmopolitan and animal-oriented meals than with the convenience meal. There was no significant difference between the cosmopolitan and animal-oriented meals.
Relative availability
The relative availability of phylloquinone from the meals was 1.00 for the convenience meal, 0.31 for the cosmopolitan meal and 0.23 for the animal-oriented meal. When combined with the meal effect, the overall relative availability values were 1.00 for convenience, 0.46 for cosmopolitan and 0.29 for animal-oriented.
Effect of snack
A snack given after 5 hours did not change the differences in absorption between meals. Some people showed a second peak in blood levels after the snack.
Individual variation
The absorption pattern was generally consistent within each person across the different meals, but some people showed large differences. The authors suggest this may be due to genetic or physiological differences.
Other findings
Phylloquinone in meals
The measured phylloquinone content was 19.9 micrograms in the convenience meal, 26.3 micrograms in the cosmopolitan meal and 33.0 micrograms in the animal-oriented meal. These values differed from what was calculated from food tables.
What the authors conclude
- They conclude that different meals can affect the absorption of free phylloquinone, though the mechanism is unknown.
- They suggest that phylloquinone may be more available from oils and fats than from vegetable sources.
How it was done
The authors wanted to understand how much phylloquinone people absorb from meals, because this affects how much they need to eat to get enough. They also wanted to test a new method using a labelled form of the vitamin.
Twelve healthy, non-obese adults took a capsule containing 20 micrograms of labelled phylloquinone with one of three meals (convenience, cosmopolitan, animal-oriented) on three separate days, at least two weeks apart. Blood samples were taken over 8 hours to measure how much labelled phylloquinone appeared in the blood.
What it can’t tell you
- This was a small study in 12 people, so the results may not apply to everyone.
- The study measured absorption over 8 hours, but the long-term effects of different meals on vitamin K status are not known.
- The authors note that the phylloquinone content of foods is highly variable and can be affected by heating, so the exact amounts in meals may differ.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by Medical Research Council (from the PubMed record).
- Authors work at
- Elsie Widdowson Laboratory, UK
The paper
- Title
- The effect of different meals on the absorption of stable isotope-labelled phylloquinone
- Type
- Randomised controlled trial
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Jones KS, Bluck LJ, Wang LY, Stephen AM, Prynne CJ, Coward WA (2009). The effect of different meals on the absorption of stable isotope-labelled phylloquinone. The British journal of nutrition. doi:10.1017/S0007114509371688Free full textPubMed 19538810DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error