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After two decades of writing about traditional foods (I started in February 2005…time sure flies!!), I can’t believe I’ve never written about the Wulzen Factor, an amazing and highly elusive fat-soluble nutrient.
Today is the day that this longstanding oversight is finally corrected. 😊
I credit the Wulzen Factor as the primary reason I am still doing the same outdoor activities today that I was doing in my teens and twenties.
My joints are also more flexible today than they were back then!
Surprisingly, many people who otherwise follow and espouse the benefits of traditional diet have never heard of the Wulzen Factor!
Let’s take a look at this elusive and yet essential nutrient, why you absolutely need it in your diet, and what foods contain it so that you can enjoy its benefits in your life!
What is the Wulzen Factor?
The term “Wulzen Factor” refers to the heat-sensitive substance known chemically as stigmasterol.
This fat-soluble vitamin regulates phosphorous metabolism in the body.
It was identified by researcher Dr. Rosalind Wulzen, who earned her doctorate in physiology and zoology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1912. (1)
Identification of the Wulzen Factor emerged from experiments with guinea pigs during Dr. Wulzen’s tenure as a faculty member at Oregon State University, starting in 1933.
Through Dr. Wulzen’s research in the late 1930s and early 1940s, she observed that a diet lacking certain nutrients caused wrist stiffness and calcification. (2, 3)
The missing nutrient was later identified as plentifully present in raw milk and cream.
Most importantly, Dr. Wulzen also found that this joint stiffness and calcification could be reversed by adding raw dairy back into the diet.
She documented this finding in the paper titled “Effects of Milk Diets on Guinea Pigs,” published in the American Journal of Physiology, that she co-authored with A.M. Bahrs. (4)
The paper details how guinea pigs on a diet of raw whole milk thrived, while those on pasteurized milk developed joint stiffness.
The difference pointed to a critical, heat-sensitive nutrient that was later dubbed the Wulzen Factor.
Dr. Wulzen and Dr. Price
You may have noticed from the timeframes of Dr. Wulzen’s research described above that she was a contemporary of Dr. Weston A Price, author of the book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.
Published in 1939, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration focuses on Dr. Price’s observations of 14 distinct traditional cultures from around the world and the impact of their indigenous diets on dental and overall health.
He emphasized the importance of fat-soluble vitamins, particularly A, D and what he called “Activator X,” later identified as vitamin K2. (5)
These vitamins are found in nutrient-dense foods such as butterfat, organ meats, egg yolks, and fish eggs.
In his book, Dr. Price extensively discusses the nutritional superiority of raw, unprocessed animal food, especially raw dairy from grass-fed animals.
Thus, while Dr. Weston A. Price did not specifically mention the “Wulzen Factor” in his writings that I have come across, the concepts he explored in Nutrition and Physical Degeneration share a special kinship of food philosophy with the Wulzen Factor’s implications regarding the benefits of consuming raw, unprocessed animal fats.
What Foods Contain Stigmasterol
Stigmasterol is found in therapeutic amounts in raw animal foods.
Specifically, raw butterfat (raw milk, raw cream, and raw butter) and raw egg yolks would be the most accessible foods to include in the diet on a regular basis to obtain curative amounts.
Raw butter oil would also contain the Wulzen Factor in concentrated amounts, while ghee (heated butter oil) would not.
The important thing to note is that the Wulzen Factor is destroyed by pasteurization, even low-temp, “vat pasteurized” heating methods.
However, freezing raw milk, cream, and butter does not appear to harm stigmasterol.
As evidence of this, Dr. Price wrote about his tests on raw butter that had been frozen for a year. He discovered that there was no degradation of the fat-soluble vitamins after that period of time. (6)
Other Health Benefits from The Wulzen Factor
While the Wulzen Factor is most well-known as the “anti-stiffness” factor for maintaining flexible joints free of calcification, there are other profound benefits from consuming raw animal fats to obtain it as well.
Research discovered that this substance could also serve as protection against hardening of the arteries, cataracts, and calcification of the pineal gland. (7-9)
Thus, the time, expense, and sometimes considerable inconvenience necessary to obtain raw, grassfed dairy for your family’s diet is well worth it!
The Wulzen Factor is one of the best, but interestingly, least known benefits of consuming this highly revered traditional food.
(1, 2) The Wulzen Anti-Stiffness Factor: How Stigmasterol Can Help You Feel Better, Look Younger, Be Fitter, And Spend Less On Health Care
(3) Relation of the “Anti-Stiffness Factor” to Collagen Disease and Calcinosis
(4) American Journal of Physiology, 1941, Vol. 133, p. 500.
(5) On the Trail of the Elusive X-Factor: A Sixty-Two-Year-Old Mystery Finally Solved
(6) FAQ-Dairy
(7) The Skinny on Fats
(8) American Journal of Physical Medicine, 1941, 133
(9) Physiological Zoology, 1935 8:457
