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Offsite Articles on Nutrition by Chris Masterjohn
Peer-Reviewed
Special Reports
Other Articles
- On the Trail of the Elusive X Factor: A Sixty-Two-Year-ld Mystery Finally Solved. Wise Traditions. Spring, 2007. (Not yet available online.)
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. Price originally intended the test to be an indirect measurement of the vitamin D content of foods, as suggested by Lester Yoder in a 1926 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Yoder thought the test was measuring peroxides, and erroneously suggested that vitamin D activity within foods directly correlated with the food's potential to peroxidize. Neither Price nor Yoder realized that scientists in other countries at the same time were using the test to detect quinones, a class of molecules into which the K vitamins and coenzyme Q10 fall. Vitamin K2 is produced by animal tissues, including mammary glands, from vitamin K1, which occurs in rapidly growing green plants and plays an essential role in photosynthesis. 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 and thereby protects against heart disease, and is a major component of nervous tissue within 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 cells to produce certain proteins and vitamin K activates these proteins. Vitamin K2 plays a crucial role in the development of facial bones, and its presence in the diets of nonindustrialized peoples explains the wide facial structure and freedom from dental deformities that Price observed.
- Vitamin D in the Infant: Requirements for Safety. Wise Traditions. Winter, 2006.
- From Seafood to Sunshine: A New Understanding of Vitamin D Safety. Wise Traditions. Fall, 2006.
- Does Vitamin A Cause Osteoporosis? Wise Traditions. Winter/Spring, 2006.
- Dioxins in Animal Foods: A Case for Vegetarianism? Wise Traditions. Fall, 2005.
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