Nutrition Science and Everyday Application - beta v 0.1

VITAMINS AND MINERALS INVOLVED IN BLOOD HEALTH 539
that results in bleeding, like a small tear, the body can stop this bleeding through a cascade
of reactions. Without adequate vitamin K, blood does not clot properly, and this small bleed
can turn into a larger problem, causing excessive bleeding or hemorrhage. People at risk are
those who have malabsorption and other gastrointestinal disorders such as celiac disease.
Newborns are also at risk for vitamin K deficiency during the first few months of life, as there
is poor transfer of vitamin K across the placenta, and breastmilk is also low in vitamin K.
Therefore, it has become a routine practice to inject newborns with a single intramuscular
dose of vitamin K to prevent hemorrhaging, as bleeding within the skull is especially lifethreatening.
The Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) has not established a UL for vitamin K because it has
a low potential for toxicity.
Self-Check:
An interactive H5P element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/nutritionscience/?p=1496#h5p-52
Attributions:
Resources:
• Zimmerman, M., & Snow, B. Blood’s Function in the Body and in Metabolism
Support. In An Introduction to Nutrition (v. 1.0). https://2012books.lardbucket.org/
books/an-introduction-to-nutrition/index.html, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
• Lindshield, B. L. Iron Deficiency and Toxicity. Kansas State University Human
Nutrition (FNDH 400) Flexbook (2018). NPP eBooks. 19. http://newprairiepress.org/
ebooks/19 CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
• 1 National Institutes of Health of Dietary Supplements. Iron – Health Professional Fact
Sheet. Retrieved April 29, 2020 from https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-
HealthProfessional/
• 2 Richard Hurrell, Ines Egli, Iron bioavailability and dietary reference values, The
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 91, Issue 5, May 2010, Pages