Don't forget the Butter Oil

By: Gemma Davies

Despite the clinical importance of high vitamin butter oil conveyed by Dr. Weston A. Price in his groundbreaking work, ‘Nutrition and Physical Degeneration’, it seems to be the one wholefood supplement deemed least essential by the new wave of traditional dietary devotees.

It’s easy to feel that as long as we have a regular supply of butter (and other fats) for use at the table that supplementing with high vitamin butter oil isn’t necessary. However, the clinical experiences of Dr. Price show us that it is as vital a dietary ally as cod liver oil!

Price always prescribed high vitamin butter oil together with high vitamin cod liver oil. His clinical experience showed him, time and time again, that the two work in synergy: neither being as effective alone as they are with each other. He prescribed a combination of equal parts of high vitamin butter oil and high vitamin cod liver oil at a dose of ½ teaspoon, three times daily, to virtually all patients and documented extraordinary improvements in their health and vitality. Price’s principle measures of human health were marked recovery of dental health and immunity but he was also very interested in the general vitality, strength and robustness of his patients. For them, high vitamin butter oil was not an unecessary luxury but a critical component of their health programs.

Price was especially inspired by his 1945 discovery of what he described to be ‘a new vitamin-like activator’, which he named ‘Activator X’. It’s now thought that ‘Activator X’ is probably vitamin K2, but it may be more useful to think about the spectrum of fat-soluable factors present in certain nutrient-dense foods, including butter oil, and their importance to and impact on human health.

Price deduced that foods high in ‘Activator X’ (which included the organs and fats of pastured animals, certain seafoods, principally fish eggs, pastured poultry liver and, of course, high vitamin butter oil) played a critical role in the body’s assimilation of minerals from foods and resulted in:

  • dramatic increase (and even reversal of) tooth decay,
  • protection against heart diseases,
  • optimal brain and nervous system functioning,
  • ease of reproduction and the uncomplicated births of robust and healthy children and,
  • dramatic improvements in the growth, development, immunity and strength of all of his patients

Price selected the butter oil he used in clinical practice based on it’s ‘Activator X’ content, and discovered that it was the low-melting point and bright orange/yellow colour of the butter produced from cows grazing on fast-growing grass that were the easiest indicators of it’s content of Activator X and vitamins A and D, all incredibly important for the restoration and maintenance of human health.



Price praised butter oil as one of the richest and most effective source of fat-soluable activators and noted that:

Butter constitutes the principle source of these factors for many primitive groups of the world’

He expounded on the liberal use of butter in India, Tibet, Sudan and Egypt as firm examples.

By centrifuging very high quality, pastured butter, Price was able to concentrate the fat-soluable activating factors and provide his patients with an easily assimilated and digested prescription.

Ultimately ’Activator X’ makes both fat-soluable vitamins and dietary minerals more ‘useable’ by the body. In ‘Nutrition and Physical Degeneration’, Price observed that:

‘It is possible to starve for minerals that are abundant in the foods eaten because they cannot be utilized without an adequate quantity of the fat-soluable activators’

Foods high in fat-soluable activators are, interestingly, foods that have been demonized by dictocratic dietary dogma – whole milk cheeses, egg yolks, butter, liver, traditionally prepared salami and the like. We tend to automatically think of these foods as ‘naughty indulgences’, but they are, in fact, nutritional essentials! Fermenting foods also tends to significantly increase their vitamin K2 content (an important component of Activator X), but the Westernised palate is not accustomed to sour, fermented flavours, making these important foods off-putting for many.

When we embark on embracing traditional, nourishing dietary changes in our efforts to restore health it is important to understand that we are thus attempting to ‘undo’ possibly many years of nutritional shortcomings and need rich, wholefood sources of nutrients to rebuild. It can be terribly difficult to access rich, quality sources of fat-soluable activators and/or to incorporate them into our daily diets through food. Genuine pasture-raised, high vitamin butter is, for example, very difficult to come by and is often prohibitively expensive.

High vitamin butter oil presents us with an accessible, extremely rich source of ‘Activator X’. Green Pastures X-Factor Gold High Vitamin Butter Oil is extracted from the fresh butter of cows grazing on a diet of specific grasses and is then centrifuged concentrated by 100% +/-. The product is never heat-treated and maintains enzymatic integrity.

As well as ‘Activator X’, Green Pastures X-Factor Gold High Vitamin Butter Oil also contains:

  • Wulzen Factor (the anti-stiffness factor) which protects humans and animals from joint calcification, clinically presented as degenerative arthritis,
  • Conjugated Linoleic Acids (CLA), which improves bodyfat composition and improves immune system function,
  • Butyric Acid, which is thought to have important roles in human metabolism and stress resistance and as a systemic anti-inflammatory substance,
  • Vitamin E’s – vitamin E isn’t just one nutrient, it’s a group of 8 fat-soluable compounds that all play important nutritional roles as enzymes and antioxidants,
  • Co-Q Enzymes, which are especially important for the optimal functioning of the heart, kidneys, liver and pancreas.

The most cost-effective way to take Green Pastures X-Factor Gold High Vitamin Butter Oil is in its ‘liquid’ form (due to the beneficial saturated fat content of the product, it will harden in cooler temperatures). Available in Plain, Pecan and Raspberry flavours, it is an easy, pleasant way to ensure your daily intake of ‘Activator X’, straight off the spoon! For those on restricted diets, it is casein and lactose free, and can also be blended into smoothies or juices.

Price’s findings and clinical observations show us that rather than relegating high vitamin butter oil to ‘unnecessary’ status, it’s important to understand that the impact of the activators present in this nutrient-dense food is critical – as vital in the traditional food revolution as cod liver oil!

Looking to buy Butter Oil? You can find it here

By Gemma Davies, CEO of Folkklore

Folkklore is the mischievous and unruly brainchild of Gemma Dee. Inclusive, evolving, eclectic and entertaining, Folkklore examines and explores ancient wisdoms, practical no-brainers and new-wave notions that can expand and accelerate your experience of being a mere human in full flourish.

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