In the quest to keep our bodies healthy and in prime working order, we need to consume different types of food that can give us the nutrients our bodies need, such as Vitamin K. While Vitamin K is perhaps not one of the better known vitamins, our bodies do require it in order to stay healthy and strong. Read on to learn which foods contain Vitamin K so you can be sure to include them in your diet.

Vitamin K is the name given to the vitamins that move calcium from place to place and are necessary for blood coagulation and proper bone density.

Scientist Henrik Dam first identified Vitamin K in 1929, when he stumbled upon it in the midst of an experiment studying the effects of lack of cholesterol upon chickens. The chickens soon began hemorrhaging, which Dam sought to cure by giving them cholesterol. When the cholesterol did not stop the bleeding, he realized that there must be a second item that had been removed from the food, which he dubbed Vitamin K.

Fortunately, there are many different types of food that contain Vitamin K. Leafy green vegetables like spinach, swiss chard, collard greens and kale are Vitamin K rich, as are vegetables like broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower and cabbage. Parsley contains quite a bit of Vitamin K, and even a few fruits like kiwi and avocado contain significant amounts of Vitamin K.

One of the great things about these foods is that you can find most of them at your nearest grocery store. You can even grow many of them in your backyard garden in the summer, or in a big pot on your patio. There's plenty of ways to fix them too; chop a few stalks of broccoli and add it to a salad, or grab a handful of spinach and saute it with butter and a little garlic. Slice some kiwi and add it to a salad, or sprinkle a bit of salt on a wedge of avocado and eat it straight. There's no end to the ways you can work these Vitamin K rich foods into your meals.

When adding Vitamin K to your diet, take into consideration that the recommended dietary intake of Vitamin K for an adult is about 120 micrograms a day for men and 90 micrograms for women, however these amounts vary by age and gender of the individual. To find the recommended amount for yourself, please follow the link in the Resources section below to a Dietary Reference Intakes chart for vitamins, including Vitamin K.

A Vitamin K deficiency can result in heath complaints such as bleeding, stomach pain, malformed bones and calcification of the cartilage. Some allergic reactions have occurred from Vitamin K injections.