Vitamin K Deficiency. Oh, and Juicing.

So I got a message yesterday from our geneticist saying that Payton's bloodwork shows that she has low Vitamin K levels. When we were at our appointment with the geneticist, I was telling her that we had run out of Nutrivene and needed to order more. As such, she hadn't been on it for a couple weeks when we had her bloodwork done.

So when the geneticist called yesterday, she wanted to know if we had restarted Payton on the Nutrivene by the time we had her bloodwork done. I haven't talked to her yet, but the answer to that question is no. And ... even if we had, Nutrivene does not have Vitamin K in it. So it would not have mattered anyway.

So we have another issue to deal with here. Just another day in my life.

And what did I do but read online about it ... it is what I do best. Per Wikipedia ... Vitamin K is mostly required for blood coagulation. It is normally produced by bacteria in the intestines, and dietary deficiency is extremely rare unless your name is Payton the intestines are heavily damaged, are unable to absorb the molecule, or due to decreased production by normal flora, as seen in broad spectrum antibiotic use. Vitamin K is found chiefly in leafy green vegetables such as spinach, swiss chard, and Brassica (e.g. cabbage, kale, cauliflower, broccoli, and brussels sprouts); some fruits such as avocado and kiwifruit are also high in Vitamin K. By way of reference, two tablespoons of parsley contain 153% of the recommended daily amount of vitamin K.

No wonder we have this problem. Perhaps I should have my Vitamin K level tested. Sigh.

After reading this, I am sort of wondering if she is getting too much yogurt. With her limited eating issues, it isn't like I really have a choice. But ... technically, doesn't yogurt increase the normal flora in the intestines, meaning she should be absorbing Vitamin K fine? She hasn't been on antibiotics in awhile.

I'm so confused.

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Sort of related ... and unrelated ... to this is juicing. Do any of you juice? I have read a lot about it and given our family's horrible history of not eating the proper amount of fruits and vegetables, I feel like this would be great for us.

A few weeks ago, an infomercial came on TV for Jack LaLanne's Power Juicer. I usually am not taken with infomercials, but ... haha ... I was totally intrigued by Jack and his juicer. And now I really feel like this is something we need to do to get the proper nutrition in the kids all of us.

Do any of you juice? What juicer do you use? Do you like the process of it all?