Vitamins A, D and K2 build healthy bodies but are missing in modern diets

Friday, February 22, 2013 by: Michelle Goldstein
Tags: nutritional deficiencies, vitamin A, health

(NaturalNews) The fat soluble vitamins A, D and K2 are essential for building strong healthy bodies. These vitamins work together and also help to absorb other essential minerals such as zinc and magnesium which are required for optimal functioning. Fat soluble vitamins support bones, teeth and a healthy immune system. Traditional cultures intrinsically understood this fact. They honored time tested wisdom of nutrition and passed on their knowledge to future generations to ensure they maintained perfect health. Unfortunately, modern processed foods lack these vitamins.

Traditional cultures consuming high fat soluble vitamins exemplified extraordinary health

Weston Price, DDS in his landmark study in the 1930s, examined remote cultures in 14 countries over a 10 year span. He painstakingly studied the contents of these primitive's food by sending them back to his laboratory for analysis in the U.S. He observed that the endemic cultures all consumed at least 10 times the amount of fat soluble vitamins in their diet compared to the typical American diet at that time. He noticed a common nutrient found in sacred foods that were highly prized by the natives and named it Activator X. Activator X has since been identified as vitamin K2. He found that all of the individuals he studied were free of modern disease and exemplified perfect mental and physical health, as long as they maintained their native diet. There was no need for physicians, dentists or prisons in these cultures.

High-fat versus low-fat diet

30 to 80 percent of the native diets were comprised of nutrient-dense fat found in healthy pastured animals and sea animals. Only traditional foods contain these three essential nutrients, vitamins A, D and K2. These vitamins are lacking in the highly processed, low fat diet consumed by the average American and this nutritional deficiency contributes to the epidemic of physical and mental illness in this country. Vitamin D deficiencies are well documented for the average American. This deficiency alone has been linked with a myriad of illnesses including cancer, mental disorders, diabetes, kidney disease, asthma and muscle weakness.

Vitamin facts

Vitamins A and D work synergistically together and are needed in a 10:1 ratio. Both are toxic if not used together. It is a myth that plant foods contain vitamin A. In reality, plant foods contain the precursor beta-carotene which can be converted to vitamin A but only with great difficulty. What is even less well known is that vitamins A, D and K2 are required together to ensure optimal health.

Food and supplements that ensure adequate fat soluble vitamins

Foods that contain the fat soluble vitamins A, D and K2 include organ meats, cream, cheese, butter, fats and egg yolks from pastured animals along with fish liver, eggs and shellfish. To ensure adequate amounts of these essential nutrients, a good source of fermented cod liver oil (vitamins A and D) together with butter oil (vitamin K2) are important nutritional supplements. Dr. Price observed that if he gave these nutrients to extremely ill individuals, they could be brought back to good health. Up until the 1950s, public campaigns were widespread in the U.S. and England encouraging the use of cod liver oils to protect health. With the widespread nutritional deficiencies most Americans face, the advice to take fermented cod liver oil and butter oil is more relevant today than ever before. For more details on the fat soluble vitamins see: http://www.westonaprice.org. Information on a nutrient dense diet is available here: http://www.westonaprice.org/basics/principles-of-healthy-diets.

Sources for this article include:

Price, Weston. Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. 8thEdition. La Mesa, CA: the Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation,2009. Print.
Fallon, Sally. (2012, July 31) The Principles of Healthy Traditional Diets. Nourishing Traditional Diets Course. Growing Edge Institute. (www.growingedgeinstitute.com)
Fallon, Sally. (2012, August 1) Know Your Fats: Fats and Oils Explained. Nourishing Traditional Diets Course. Growing Edge Institute. (www.growingedgeinstitute.com)

About the author:
Michelle is a mental health therapist who incorporates holistic approaches into her counseling practice. She has 25 years of experience successfully counseling individuals, couples and families.

Michelle became passionate about holistic health, healing and politics, after immersing herself into the world of alternative medicine looking for answers to a family member's health crisis. Beginning in 2008, Michelle learned that many standard health care recommendations, which she had long trusted, actually contribute to causing disease.

Michelle's health articles can be found at the following sites:

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