Synergy with Vitamins A and D
Dr. Weston A. Price showed that "Activator X" (Vitamin K2) exhibited dramatic synergy with vitamins A and D.
Chickens voluntarily consumed more butter and died more slowly on a deficiency diet when the butter was high in both vitamin A and Activator X than when it was high in vitamin A alone. Cod liver oil, which is high in both vitamins A and D, partially corrected growth retardation and weak legs in turkeys fed a deficiency diet, but the combination of cod liver oil and high-Activator X butter was twice as effective.
Likewise, Price found that the combination of cod liver oil and a high-Activator X butter oil concentrate was more effective than cod liver oil alone in treating his patients for dental caries and other signs of physical degeneration.
The Science
Vitamin K2 is the substance that makes proteins dependent on vitamins A and D, come to life. While vitamins A and D act as signalling molecules, telling cells to make certain proteins, vitamin K2 activates these proteins by conferring upon them the physical ability to bind calcium. In some cases these proteins directly coordinate the movement or organisation of calcium themselves; in other cases the calcium acts as a glue to hold the protein in a certain shape.
In all such cases, the proteins are only functional once they have been activated by vitamin K2.
What is Concentrated Butter Oil?
Dr. Weston A. Price introduced the benefits of concentrated (high-vitamin) butter oil in his landmark book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, published in 1939. Dr. Price described a process of “centrifugalising” high-quality butter to obtain a concentrated butter oil. He discovered that this special, concentrated butter oil provided fat-soluble “activators” that vastly improved mineral absorption in the many mineral-deficient individuals he encountered.
The activators were most prevalent when the butter came from cows grazing on rapidly growing grass.
Activator X - or X-Factor - is Vitamin K2
Dr. Weston Price described “a new vitamin-like activator” that played an influential role in the utilisation 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. This compound became known as Vitamin K2 and is produced by animal tissues, including the mammary glands, from vitamin K1.
A growing body of published research confirms Dr. Price’s discoveries: that vitamin K2 is important for the utilisation 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.
