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Francesco Lo Monaco: When Calcium Goes to the Wrong Place – Vitamin K and the Mechanisms of Vascular Calcification
Francesco Lo Monaco/LinkedIn
Feb 3, 2026, 17:26

Francesco Lo Monaco: When Calcium Goes to the Wrong Place – Vitamin K and the Mechanisms of Vascular Calcification

Francesco Lo Monaco, Cardiologist and Founder of The National Heart Clinic, posted on LinkedIn:

“Most people think heart disease starts with cholesterol.

In reality, one of the earliest problems is something else: arterial calcification.

Calcium is essential.
But calcium without direction becomes a problem.

When it’s not guided into bone, it often ends up in the artery wall – making vessels stiffer, older, and more fragile.

This is where vitamin K matters.

Vitamin K activates Matrix Gla Protein (MGP), a key protector of our arteries.

Its role:

  •  keep calcium out of arteries
  •  prevent vessels from becoming “bone-like”
  •  preserve arterial flexibility

Without enough vitamin K, this system fails silently.
The calcium doesn’t disappear.
It just goes to the wrong place.

Where do we get vitamin K from?

Vitamin K1 (mainly for clotting):

  • leafy greens (spinach, kale, broccoli)
  • herbs like parsley

Vitamin K2 (crucial for arteries and bones):

  •  fermented foods (especially natto)
  •  aged cheeses
  •  egg yolks
  •  liver
  •  grass-fed dairy

K1 can be converted into K2 – but this process is limited, highly individual, and declines with age.

Which means you can eat ‘well’ and still develop arterial calcification over time.

Today, we can even detect vitamin K deficiency inside the vessels using specific blood markers – long before symptoms or events.
Prevention isn’t about chasing supplements.

It’s about understanding biology.

Sometimes longevity starts with asking better questions.”

Francesco Lo Monaco: When Calcium Goes to the Wrong Place - Vitamin K and the Mechanisms of Vascular Calcification

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Arterial Calcification Francesco Lo Monaco Health Heart Disease Hematology Hemostasis Hemostasis News Hemostasis Today Medical News Medicine thrombosis Vitamin K
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