A new study by researchers in Spain have found that increased ingestion of Vitamin K1 can help reduce your risk of developing diabetes by as much as 51%. In fact, scientists say that for every additional 100 mg of Vitamin K1 in your daily diet, your risk of developing diabetes is reduced by 17%.

Researchers have long been studying the effects of Vitamin K intake as well as Vitamin K deficiency and these new findings have identified a great new reason to add Vitamin K supplements to your diet.

The study was performed on 1,069 elderly participants with a high cardiovascular risk over the course of 5.5 years. After analyzing years of data, scientists found that added levels of Vitamin K1, the most common type of Vitamin K typically found in green vegetables, helped reduce the risk of developing diabetes by as much as 51% over the 5.5 years compared to people with the lowest Vitamin K intake. Scientists suggest this is likely because of the role that Vitamin K plays in helping your body regulate calcium and metabolize insulin.

This study further supports the need to add Vitamin K supplements to your diet but other studies claim that Vitamin K deficiency, previously considered rare in adults but commonly found in newborns, is actually more widespread than previously thought because of inefficient Vitamin K absorption. People who suffer from liver disease, bowel disorders, or abdominal problems and people who use drugs are at highest risk of Vitamin K deficiency. Deficiency can lead to blood disorders, anemia, osteoporosis, heart disease, and other problems.

Though Vitamin K1 is the more common, Vitamin K2 is generally more beneficial and is produced by the body when it converts Vitamin K1. Menaquinone-4 (MK4), a type of Vitamin K2, has been shown to stop arterial calcifications which is a key contributor to heart disease. The same study showed that Vitamin K1 did not have the same preventative property.

These new findings on increased Vitamin K deficiency as well as the positives of adding extra Vitamin K to your diet further reinforce the need to add supplements to your daily diet. Although Vitamin K is found in green leafy vegetables like kale, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, and others as well as small amounts in certain dairy and meat products, more Americans are not getting the amount they need in their diet alone than previously thought.