Why Doesn’t Everyone Know About the Vitamin that Prevents Cavities?
Decades of little-known research reveal that a type of vitamin K2, specifically MK-4, found in the milk from ruminants grazing on new, fast-growing grass, can prevent dental decay.
Furthermore, MK-4 makes it possible for the body to fill in cavities! It causes the dentin to:
“grow and remineralize, sealing what were once active caries with a glassy finish. One 14-year-old girl completely healed 42 open cavities in 24 teeth by taking capsules of the high-vitamin cod liver oil and Activator X concentrate 3 times a day for 7months.”
From the summary of a long technical article by Christopher Masterjohn, Wise Traditions, the quarterly journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation (February 2008):
“In 1945, Weston Price, DDS, described a new vitamin-like activator … that occurred in the butterfat, organs and fat of animals consuming rapidly growing green grass, and also in certain sea foods such as fish eggs….
“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
● Is a major component of the brain“Vitamin K2 works synergistically with the 2 other “fat-soluble activators” that Price studied, vitamins A and D, which 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 non-industrialized peoples explains the wide facial structure and freedom from dental deformities that Weston Price observed.
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“In 1945, Weston Price published a second edition [7 years after first edition in 1938] of his pioneering work Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, now free online, to which he added chapter 22 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. [He deduced from his research that] the absence of [this activator] 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.”
Who was Weston Price?
Dr. Price, DDS, was a leader in dental research through his whole career. For instance, he traveled to France in 1900 to learn x-ray photography from the physicist Wilhelm Röntgen who had discovered this new technology. Over Dr. Price’s decades heading the National Dental Research Lab with a staff of 60, he sought to answer the question of why anthropologists found so little dental decay in the skeletons of ancient people. What were modern people, including the patients in his practice, doing differently that made their teeth so vulnerable to decay?
Finally, in the 1930s, Dr. Price, accompanied by his wife Florence, a nurse, traveled to 14 communities in 6 continents. These people lived far from modern influences and they still ate the foods their ancestors had raised or caught. Dr. Price collected samples of soil, food, and saliva for testing back in his lab.
His best known book – Nutrition and Physical Degeneration – recorded their findings and was intended for both health practitioners and laypeople. It is loaded with photographs showing these people’s wide dental arches full of even, uncrowded teeth that, upon examination, proved to be clear of cavities.
Dr. Price found that dental health is a very good indicator of overall health; chronic diseases like diabetes, arthritis, heart disease and even cancer (as well as mental disabilities), were absent in these communities. Plus, these people’s immune systems protected them very well from infections.
What made ancient people’s teeth so well-formed and decay free?
Despite the vast differences of terrain, climate, and local food sources, these traditional communities had 11 common characteristics. They:
1. Avoided all refined and denatured foods.
2. Included animal foods.
3. Emphasized nutrient-dense foods: organ meats, animal fats, eggs, fresh dairy, shellfish, fish liver oils and fish eggs.
4. Ate some animal food raw; cooked most plant foods.
5. Enjoyed lacto-fermented condiments and beverages.
6. Prepared seeds, grains, and nuts properly to minimize anti-nutrients and enhance digestibility.
7. Enjoyed saturated fats; avoided industrial seed oils.
8. Consumed animal foods from land and sea to balance omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids.
9. Used unrefined salt liberally.
10. Included gelatinous bone broth in soups, stews, gravy and sauces.
11. Emphasized nutrient-dense foods before and during pregnancy, and for growing babies.
Dr. Price considered the comparison of traditional with modern diets to be a “natural experiment” because he found people in the same gene pool who consumed different diets, leading to the conclusion that narrow faces, receding chins, and crowded teeth with numerous cavities are not the result of inheritance. Instead, “the displacing foods of modern commerce” led to the same dental problems as so many Americans suffer, and, evidently, to other health problems so prevalent in today’s children.
Children in America and other developed nations might receive orthodontic care, if their parents can afford it; some even need their wisdom teeth removed to make a good bite. However, when a child’s diet is inadequate, preventing dental decay is rarely accomplished by simply brushing twice a day.
The full article can be found here:
https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/abcs-of-nutrition/on-the-trail-of-the-elusive-x-factor-a-sixty-two-year-old-mystery-finally-solved
In numerous English-speaking nations, fluoridated water became prevalent in the mid-1950’s. However, this public health program has had many detractors from the very beginning. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, the new head of Health and Human Services, plans on a review the literature regarding fluoridation’s safety and efficacy. It’s of interest that the 14 communities with low dental caries that Dr. Price studied did not have fluoridation.
More information on the role of MK-4 for healthy teeth:
● Are the Activators Revealing the Nature of Life in Health and Disease Including Dental Disease?
https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/notes-from-yesteryear/are-the-activators-revealing-the-nature-of-life-in-health-and-disease-including-dental-disease/
● Dr. Price’s Remedy
https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/dr-prices-remedy/
● Mother Nature’s Vitamin K2 Choice for Your Unborn Baby: Menaquinone-4 (Mk-4). Mk-7 Is a No-Go
walkabouthealthproducts.com/2019/01/25/mother-natures-vitamin-k2-choice-for-your-unborn-baby-menaquinone-4-mk-4-mk-7-is-a-no-go/
● In Defense of Vitamin K2 MK-4: Dr. Price’s Activator X