Oslo, Norway and Edison, NJ -Cheese is good for your heart health.

And a new paper,"Menaquinone Content of Cheese,"published inNutrientsand conducted at VitaK, Maastricht University in the Netherlands, examines the Vitamin K2 content of cheeses and other foods.

It shows strong evidence that cheese has cardio-protective nutrients, given its Vitamin K2 content.  But many are unable to consume enough cheese daily to get benefits from it.NattoPharmahas introduced MenaQ7® Full Spectrum K2, which delivers the range of menaquinones found in foods.

According to thestudy, Vitamin K2  (menaquinone) concentrations were measured in a range of cheeses and the effects of fat content, ripening, and cheese origins were investigated. Researchers said: "It was found that cheese and curd are the most important sources of long-chain menaquinones in the Western diet. However, the actual menaquinone content varies substantially and is dependent on the type of cheese, the time of ripening, the fat content, and the geographic area where the cheeses are produced."

The findings showed that the total amount of K2 in cheese was between 3 and 802 ng/g. Researchers’ recommendation for K2 is between 180-360mcg/day, which means one needs to eat at least 225/445g of French cheese a day and at least two times more with cheese from Scandinavia.

"Interestingly, Vitamin K2 was first discovered in the fermented soy food called natto," says Hogne Vik, chief medical officer with NattoPharma. "However, in the early 2000s the researchers working with NattoPharma discovered that fermented cheese is also an excellent source of the menaquinones, ranging from menaquinones 5 through 10, while menaquinones 6, 7, and 9 are amongst the most bioactive."

The first and only Vitamin K2 to deliver a gamut of menaquinone isomers, MenaQ7 Full Spectrum is naturally fermented using chickpea protein, offering an all-trans K2 that is free from gluten, soy and all-known allergens, and is suitable for vegans.