When Cleveland dentist Weston A. Price found rapidly increasing levels cavities, narrow jaws and crooked teeth in his patients, he began to think there may be a dietary cause to these conditions.
To find out, he traveled the world to study societies whose traditional diets had not been replaced by refined and sugar-laden foods. He found these people had next to no cavities, wide jaws and well spaced, healthy teeth in addition to robust health in general.
The diets varied by location, but all were found to contain higher level of a substance he called “Activator X”, and he found it in grass-fed beef, dairy and eggs. Fermented foods such as sauerkraut, cheese, and natto, a soy dish popular in Eastern Japan, also contain substantial amounts of this nutrient. You will notice that these are foods we all traditionally ate – no matter what our cultural heritage – before they were made to be feared (like fat) or forgotten (like fermented foods).
Dr. Price’s research took place in the late 1920’s to the 1940’s, but it wasn’t until the early 2000’s that “Activator X” was found to probably be Vitamin K2, a relative of Vitamin K1, the blood clotting vitamin found in leafy greens. This vitamin’s most remarkable feature is that it moves calcium out of soft-tissues (like blood vessels) and prevents calcium from going there in the first place by directing it into bones and teeth. K2 does this marvelous work only in concert with both Vitamins A and D, which many of us are also deficient in.
Again we have proof how much important our traditional practices are. When in doubt about your lifestyle, look to Great-Grandma.