Guest guest Posted August 5, 2009 Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 On the Trail of the Elusive X-Factor _http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html) A Sixty-Two-Year-Old Mystery Finally Solved By Chris Masterjohn Contents * _Article Summary_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#summary) * _On the Trail of the Elusive X-Factor (Main Article)_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#article) * _A Sixty-Year Mystery_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#60) * _Vitamin K: Three Discoveries Converge_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#three) * _Perfect Correspondence_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#perfect) * _Synergy with Vitamins A and D_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#synergy) * _Vitamin K2 and Dental Health_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#dental) * _Vitamin K2 and Bone Health_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#bone) * _Vitamin K2 and Heart Disease_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#heart) * _Vitamin K2 and the Brain_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#brain) * _Other Roles of Vitamin K2_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#other) * _Vitamin K2 in Foods_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#foods) * _Figures_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#figures) * _Figure 1: The Structure of K Vitamins and Their Chemical Behavior_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#fig1) * _Figure 2: Corresponding Characteristics of Activator X and Vitamin K2_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#fig2) * _Figure 3: Vitamin K-Dependent Carboxylation_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#fig3) * _Figure 4: Vitamin K2 Contents of Selected Foods_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#fig4) * _Sidebars_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#sidebars) * _The Activator X Test_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#test) * _Interactions between Vitamins A, D, and K2_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#interactions) * _Is Vitamin K2 an Essential Nutrient?_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#essential) * _The Vitamin K-Dependent Carboxylase_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#carboxylase) * _Vitamin K2 and the Brain: A Closer Look_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#closer) * _Bacterial Production of Vitamin K2_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#bacterial) * _Supplementing with Vitamin K2_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#supplementing) * _References_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#references) * _About the Author_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#author) * _Follow Up Questions & Answers_ (http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html#qa) Article Summary In 1945, Dr. Weston Price described " a new vitamin-like activator " that played an influential role in the utilization of minerals, protection from tooth decay, growth and development, reproduction, protection against heart disease and the function of the brain. Using a chemical test, he determined that this compound—which he called Activator X—occurred in the butterfat, organs and fat of animals consuming rapidly growing green grass, and also in certain sea foods such as fish eggs. Dr. Price died before research by Russian scientists became known in the West. These scientists used the same chemical test to measure a compound similar to vitamin K. Vitamin K2 is produced by animal tissues, including the mammary glands, from vitamin K1, which occurs in rapidly growing green plants. A growing body of published research confirms Dr. Price's discoveries, namely that vitamin K2 is important for the utilization of minerals, protects against tooth decay, supports growth and development, is involved in normal reproduction, protects against calcification of the arteries leading to heart disease, and is a major component of the brain. Vitamin K2 works synergistically with the two other " fat-soluble activators " that Price studied, vitamins A and D. Vitamins A and D signal to the cells to produce certain proteins and vitamin K then activates these proteins. Vitamin K2 plays a crucial role in the development of the facial bones, and its presence in the diets of nonindustrialized peoples explains the wide facial structure and freedom from dental deformities that Weston Price observed. Main Article (On the Trail of the Elusive X-Factor) In 1945, Weston Price published a second edition of his pioneering work Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, to which he added a new chapter entitled, **A New Vitamin-Like Activator.**1 In it, he presented evidence of a theretofore unrecognized fat-soluble substance that played a fundamental role in the utilization of minerals and whose absence from modern nutrition was responsible for the proliferation of dental caries and other degenerative diseases. Although Price quantified the relative amount of this substance in thousands of samples of dairy products sent to him from around the world, he never determined its precise chemical identity. For want of a better means of identification, he referred to it as **Activator X,** also sometimes referred to as the **Price Factor.** Price found the highest concentrations of this nutrient in **the milk of several species, varying with the nutrition of the animal** and found the combination of cod liver oil and high-Activator X butter to be superior to that of cod liver oil alone. In the many butter samples he tested, Activator X was only present when the animals were eating rapidly growing green grass. In most regions, this occurred in the spring and early fall. [CONTINUED]............................ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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