Ray Peat on Cortisol

The costly adjustments of serotonin production

“Different types of stress increase the production of serotonin and various pituitary hormones, leading to adaptive changes in the body, but at the cost of inflammation and degeneration. Studies on several pituitary hormones have shown age-accelerating effects, leading to edema, inflammation, fibrosis, and reduced lifespan. The experiments by W.D. Denckla, demonstrating the significant life-extending effect of pituitary removal combined with thyroid and glucocorticoid hormone supplementation, point to the potential of finding ways to prevent the overproduction of serotonin and its associated hormones and cytokines.”

September 2019 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

The influence of cysteine ​​on thyroid function during stress and hunger

"Cysteine, an amino acid abundant in muscle and liver tissue, blocks the synthesis of thyroid hormone. When we are starving or under stress, cortisol causes these protein-rich tissues to break down. If metabolism continued at a normal rate, stress or starvation would quickly destroy us. However, the cysteine ​​released from the muscles inhibits the thyroid gland, thus slowing down the metabolism."

Nutrition For Women

Adaptive hypothyroidism, triggered by stress and intensive training

"Cortisone also inhibits the thyroid gland. Any form of stress, including intense physical exertion, leads to this protective slowing of metabolism. The slow heart rate of runners is largely a result of this adaptive hypothyroidism."

Nutrition For Women

The different effects of progesterone and cortisone on blood sugar, brain stability and brain aging

"Although progesterone and cortisone both increase blood sugar and stabilize lysosomes, their effects on the brain are very different: at high doses, progesterone has a sedative and numbing effect, while cortisone has a stimulating effect, and cortisone causes changes in the brain that resemble the aging process."

Nutrition For Women

The adrenal glands' response to inflammation and stress hormones

"When the body senses inflammation or other stress (possibly by detecting changes in blood sugar, lactic acid, carbon dioxide, or all three), the adrenal glands release anti-stress hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol (provided these glands are not exhausted or undersupplied). Both adrenaline and cortisol can raise blood sugar to meet the increased demand."

Nutrition For Women

The effect of cortisone on protein conversion and immunity

“Cortisone stimulates the conversion of protein to sugar, and since there are no stored proteins (apart from small amounts circulating in the blood), this means that cortisone begins to convert the organism itself into fuel for the affected area. In acute emergencies, the lymphatic tissues are the first to shrink, which is acceptable because they can be restored once the organism recovers, and their function—immunity—depends in part on a longer timescale of days to weeks. However, if these tissues are permanently depleted by chronic stress or malnutrition, infections are more likely to be fatal, as is the case in the elderly or in poor populations.”

Nutrition For Women

Selye's classification of steroids: anti- and pro-inflammatory.

"Selye classifies steroids as anti- and pro-inflammatory. Inflammation is a relatively non-specific and hopefully local reaction that serves to isolate the problem if it is a toxin or an infection. Cortisol is a typical anti-inflammatory hormone;"

Nutrition For Women

The protective role of pantothenic acid against the effects of stress

"Pantothenic acid has recently been recognized as protective against stress at very high doses, even after an animal's adrenal glands have been removed. Since this nutrient is required for the breakdown of insulin, I think part of its anti-stress effect results from minimizing hypoglycemia and thereby reducing the amount of cortisone needed."

Nutrition For Women

The potential of vitamin A to counteract the immunosuppressive effects of cortisone

"Vitamin A can apparently help to mitigate the immunosuppression caused by cortisone."

Nutrition For Women

Osteoporosis, diabetes and mineral loss associated with cortisone

"Osteoporosis and diabetes are frequently components of Cushing's syndrome and also occur more often after menopause. Cortisone therapy (even when applied topically to the skin) can cause a loss of minerals."

Nutrition For Women

Chronic stress and the role of low blood sugar in diabetes

"Animal studies have shown that cortisone can cause diabetes, apparently by damaging the pancreas, and it is suspected that chronic stress (which can be triggered by low blood sugar) may be a factor in the development of diabetes."

Nutrition For Women

Managing stress-related illnesses with progesterone and vitamins instead of cortisone

"Stress-related illnesses typically have a dominant allergic aspect and respond to steroids. Cortisone is used medically, but has side effects that could be avoided by using progesterone (although medical progesterone usually contains allergenic solvents and preservatives such as phenol). Niacin, vitamin A, vitamin C, etc., promote the production of progesterone and therefore often help with stress-related illnesses, even if the substances themselves are somewhat allergenic."

Nutrition For Women

The effect of thyroid gland and progesterone on protein synthesis and lactate oxidation

"However, the relevant effects of the thyroid gland (especially in combination with progesterone to promote the tissue response to the thyroid gland and to block cortisone production) consist of stimulating protein synthesis and preventing lactate formation – or promoting its oxidation, either by the tumor itself or by other tissues, to prevent its entry into the Cori cycle for gluconeogenesis."

Nutrition For Women

Muscle atrophy due to stress and cortisone during physical exertion

"If exercise generates too much stress and too little muscle activity, the muscles will atrophy as a result of the effects of cortisone, since it shifts amino acid metabolism towards glucose production."

Nutrition For Women

Athletic training, stress hormones and thyroid function

"It is known that physical training slows the heart rate. Cortisone, which is produced by stress, suppresses the thyroid gland. (With low thyroid function, less oxygen is needed, which is a useful adaptation for increasing endurance.) These hormonal changes are now known to cause infertility in both men and women."

Nutrition For Women

Cortisol levels and inflammation after menopause

"Suddenly, around the time of menopause, cortisol is elevated, presumably to compensate for the lost stabilizing effects of progesterone and for the increasing inflammatory processes resulting from the lower body temperature."

November 2020 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Aromatase activity and its hormonal effects during menopause

"Aromatase, the enzyme that produces estrogen, is present in muscles, adipose tissue, blood vessels, and many other tissues, and its activity is increased by cortisol and decreased by progesterone. The altered activity of these two steroids during menopause may explain the sudden increase in degenerative diseases, inflammation, depression, etc."

November 2020 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

The effects of menopause on respiratory and circulatory health

"Respiratory and circulatory problems increase with menopause, corresponding to the rise in inflammatory cytokines and cortisol, as well as the decline in progesterone and thyroid hormone. Both the thyroid gland and progesterone have a thermogenic effect and lower estrogen levels."

November 2020 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Thymus atrophy: causes and regenerative agents

“Factors that cause thymus atrophy include cortisol and other glucocorticoid hormones, estrogen, prostaglandins, polyunsaturated fatty acids, lipid peroxidation, nitric oxide, endotoxin, hypoglycemia, and ionizing radiation. Progesterone and thyroid hormones support thymus restoration by providing protection through counteracting all of these atrophy-inducing factors. Increasing dietary sugar intake may correct some of the metabolic changes associated with aging.”

November 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Stress, metabolic energy and system integration

"The stimulation of CRH production by histamine, serotonin, endorphins, IL-1, nitric oxide, and/or estrogen, in healthy individuals, leads to the activation of complex and appropriate anti-stress responses. However, if stress is very intense or prolonged, or if nutrition has been inadequate, all these activating signals, CRH itself, and the anti-stress glucocorticoids can produce effects that are no longer integrated into the organism's functions as it copes with its problems, causing symptoms and ultimately degenerative processes and aging. This failure of integration is almost always the result of insufficient metabolic energy."

May 2019 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Factors for healthier pregnancies and a better life after birth

"The most important factors that can be optimized with existing resources. Healthier pregnancies lead to a healthier and happier life after birth. These factors include sunlight, vitamin D, milk, cheese, eggs, fruit and well-cooked vegetables, high-fiber foods, and optimizing thyroid function and pregnenolone and progesterone (which support mitochondrial function and protect against aldosterone, parathyroid hormone, excess serotonin, CRH and cortisol, as well as increasing allopregnanolone), and using the safest anti-inflammatory and antiserotonergic medications such as aspirin and cyproheptadine when needed."

May 2019 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

The mitigating effect of sleep on stress-induced catabolism

"The stress of darkness creates an inefficient catabolic state in which cortisol breaks down tissue to provide glucose, and sleep reduces this stress to some extent."

March 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

The interactions between serotonin, cortisol and estrogen

"Serotonin activates stress hormones, and the resulting cortisol can have a protective effect by inhibiting the enzyme that produces serotonin and activating the MAOI that breaks it down (Clark and Russo, 1997; Ou et al., 2006; Popova et al., 1989). Estrogen increases serotonin synthesis, reduces its binding, and inhibits its breakdown."

July 2019 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

The antagonistic effect of progesterone on other steroid hormones

"The effects of progesterone are in contrast to the effects of the other important steroid hormones, especially estrogen, cortisol, and aldosterone. These hormones impair energy metabolism, particularly the oxidation of glucose."

January 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Environmental enrichment lowers estrogen and glucocorticoids.

"Both estrogen and stress-induced glucocorticoids are reduced by environmental accumulation, which allows progesterone to act with less impairment."

January 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Unsaturated fatty acids stimulate hormone production.

"The unsaturated fatty acids increase the activation of the pituitary gland and the adrenal cortex, thereby increasing the production of ACTH and glucocorticoids."

January 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Cortisol in response to low glycogen stores

"If there is not enough stored glycogen in the liver, muscles and other tissues to meet the brain's nighttime glucose demand, cortisol levels rise. This leads to the breakdown of tissue proteins to provide amino acids and glucose, while at the same time this nighttime stress also increases free fatty acids."

January 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Nighttime carbohydrates lower cortisol.

“Consuming a large portion of daily carbohydrate intake late in the day or even during the night can help restore brain glycogen, with a lower need for cortisol, and contributes to reducing the nighttime rise in free fatty acids and their excitatory and inflammatory effects.”

January 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

The non-suppressive effect of progesterone on its own synthesis

"The fact that progesterone (and probably also pregnenolone) stimulates its own synthesis means that taking it does not suppress the body's ability to produce it itself, as is the case with cortisol. Sometimes a single dose or just a few doses can restore the body's ability to produce enough of its own progesterone."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

The fundamental role of progesterone and DHEA

"Progesterone and DHEA are the precursors for the other, more specialized steroid hormones, including cortisol, aldosterone (the sodium-retaining hormone), estrogen and testosterone."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

Harmful effects of long-term cortisone use during stress

"Meerson's work has shown in detail how the normally beneficial adaptation hormone cortisone can cause so many harmful effects when exposed for too long or too intensely."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

The role of blood sugar in the formation of cortisone

"The basic signal that triggers the production of cortisone is a drop in blood sugar levels. The increased energy demand during any form of stress tends to slightly lower blood sugar, but hypothyroidism itself also tends to lower blood sugar."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

The role of stress-induced cortisone in heart attacks

"According to Meerson, heart attacks are triggered and worsened by cortisone produced during stress. (Meerson and his colleagues have shown that the progression of a heart attack can be halted by a treatment that includes natural substances such as vitamin E and magnesium.)"

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

The influence of hypothyroidism on cortisone and inflammation

"While hypothyroidism causes the body to require more cortisone to maintain blood sugar and energy production, it also limits the ability to produce cortisone. In some cases, stress therefore leads to symptoms resulting from a cortisone deficiency, including various forms of arthritis and more general types of chronic inflammation."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

The balanced use of hydrocortisone to manage the effects of stress

"Often, a small physiological dose of natural hydrocortisone can help the patient cope with stress without causing harmful side effects. While the symptoms are treated with cortisone in the short term, it is important to try to identify the underlying cause of the problem by testing for hypothyroidism, vitamin A deficiency, protein deficiency, lack of sun exposure, etc."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

Diseases associated with stress-induced cortisone deficiency

"Stress-induced cortisone deficiency is considered a factor in a wide variety of unpleasant diseases, from allergies to ulcerative colitis and many forms of arthritis."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

The influence of stress on hormone production and deficiency

"The stress that can cause a cortisone deficiency is even more likely to disrupt the production of progesterone and thyroid hormones, so the fact that cortisone can relieve symptoms does not mean that the underlying problem has been resolved."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

The limitations of cortisone without treating the underlying causes

"Although cortisone supplementation can help with a wide variety of stress-related illnesses, no cure will occur as long as the underlying cause is not identified. Besides the thyroid gland, the other class of adaptive hormones that are frequently out of balance in stress-related illnesses is the group of hormones primarily produced by the gonads: the sex hormones."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

Overlooked nutritional factors in infertility

"Too much carotene, too little vitamin A, insufficient magnesium or sodium, and too much cortisol are frequently overlooked factors in infertility."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

Metabolic stress as a signal for the onset of reproductive maturity

"I suspect that reproductive maturity begins at a time when the organism experiences generalized, life-threatening metabolic stress – namely aging – and that the slowing of metabolism that begins with puberty signals the appropriateness of reproduction and makes the organism more dependent on glucocorticoids."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

Brain atrophy associated with specific stress conditions

"Rather than a programmed or random continuous cell loss, brain atrophy, when it occurs, appears to be caused by specific conditions, such as stress with prolonged exposure to glucocorticoid hormones."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

The influence of pregnenolone on steroid hormones and stress reduction

"Pregnenolone is not a hormone, but it normalizes steroid hormones, prevents excess cortisol and helps normalize aldosterone, so it should be helpful in any form of stress, including surgery."

Email Response by Ray Peat

The role of estrogen in cortisol production and cell damage

"Elevated cortisol is a normal response to the cell-damaging effects of stress or inflammation, but cortisol itself causes the death of nerve and immune cells through excitotoxicity by blocking glucose metabolism. Estrogen increases cortisol production in several ways, both via the pituitary gland and through direct action on the adrenal glands."

February 2001 –

The role of adrenaline in depression, stress and inflammation

"Elevated adrenaline – like elevated cortisol – is a hallmark of depression, stress, and inflammation; by mobilizing fats, it can become part of a vicious cycle in which free fatty acids cause insulin resistance and thereby activate stress responses."

February 2001 –

The role of estrogen and cortisol in epileptic seizures and brain diseases

"Estrogen increases the brain's susceptibility to epileptic seizures, and recent research shows that it (like cortisol) enhances the effects of excitotoxins, which are increasingly associated with degenerative brain diseases."

August-September 1995 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

The catabolic role of glucocorticoid hormones during stress

"The glucocorticoid hormones of stress fulfill the important catabolic role of mobilizing substances from dormant organs to support the working organs."

June 1992 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

The heart's resilience to stress and glucocorticoid resistance

"The many ways in which the heart can resist and even benefit from stress can be generalized to develop ways of protecting other organs and the entire body from the chronic and cumulative stresses that lead to generalized atrophy, declining function, and aging. During stress, the heart and other working organs become resistant to glucocorticoid hormones. When a person is given radioactive testosterone, it is shown to reach its highest concentration in the heart. It is the antiglucocorticoid effect of testosterone that causes skeletal muscle enlargement during moderate physical exertion."

June 1992 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

The effects of stress on glucose and fat utilization

"When tissue oxygenation is insufficient, glucose is rapidly depleted. Under prolonged stress, the liver's gluconeogenic response to glucocorticoids is reduced, as is its ability to produce and store glycogen. With less glucose available, blood adrenaline levels rise, and fat is mobilized from stores as an alternative energy source. Free fatty acids, particularly unsaturated fats, are toxic to the mitochondrial respiratory system, blocking both oxygen utilization and energy production. This increased use of fats instead of glucose leads to increased lipid peroxidation."

June 1992 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Criticism of the concept of autoimmune diseases and their treatments

"Often, the idea of ​​an autoimmune disease serves as justification for the use of immunosuppressive treatments such as glucocorticoids or methotrexate, which is why I usually avoid the word and the concept."

December 1992 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Protective functions of GABA-related metabolites

"GABA-related metabolites such as GHB, butyric acid, succinic acid and the butyrobetaines have several protective functions, including promoting respiration and pregnenolone synthesis, regulating gene expression and reducing damage from glucocorticoids."

August-September 1992 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Protective functions of GABA-related metabolites

"Progesterone has the special status of an essential nerve growth factor and generally blocks the catabolic effects of glucocorticoids and estrogen, thereby protecting all tissues – from brain cells to white blood cells."

August-September 1992 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

The effect of thyroid hormones on sleep, cramps and anxiety

"While many people view the thyroid as a kind of stimulant because it can resolve the coma or lethargy of myxedema, this is a very misleading notion. In hypothyroidism, the brain-stimulating hormones adrenaline, estrogen, and cortisol are usually elevated, while the nerve- and muscle-relaxing hormone magnesium is low. Normal, deep sleep is rare in a hypothyroid person. The correct dose of triiodothyronine (the active thyroid hormone) along with magnesium is a reliable treatment for insomnia, cramps, and anxiety, regardless of whether these symptoms are caused by exhaustion, aging, or alcohol withdrawal."

June 1991 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

The osmotic adaptation of salmon and accelerating aging hormones

“Another fish species, the salmon, which returns to freshwater to reproduce, shows the other extreme of adaptation to an osmotic problem. Having lived isotonic in the hypertonic ocean, maintaining its mineral content and osmolarity lower than that of seawater, it must suddenly adapt to extremely hypotonic freshwater. The release of prolactin and glucocorticoid steroids appears to facilitate this abrupt adaptation, but these hormones also seem to cause an explosively rapid form of aging. I think their condition resembles the Cushingoid symptoms commonly seen in middle-aged people.”

July 1991 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

The connection between stress hormones, aging and light research

"Having already spent years studying the effects of light on hormones and health, I began to realize that the existing knowledge about the involvement of stress and glucocorticoid hormones in the aging process perfectly matched my concept of winter sickness."

January 1991 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Cortisol levels in darkness and stress response

"People who are awake in the dark have higher cortisol levels than those who sleep in the dark; that is, sleep is a partial protection against the stress of darkness. The cortisol (an adrenaline) released in darkness or other stress has the important function of maintaining blood sugar levels."

January 1991 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

The damaging effects of stress and glucocorticoids on the brain

"It is now clear that both stress and an excess of glucocorticoid hormones cause brain damage (as well as damage to all other organs). Marion Diamond's work with rats (in captivity or in the wild) showed that stress causes very general brain damage, including to the cerebral cortex, and other studies have demonstrated specific damage to the hypothalamus, hippocampus, and other brain regions."

January 1991 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

The role of energy production in balancing physical extremes

"Efficient energy production prevents the body from going into either the cholinergic or the glucocorticoid extreme."

January 1991 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

The decline of protective hormones in the aging brain

"In young people, the brain contains a very high concentration of pregnenolone and its derivatives DHEA and progesterone, which stabilize all cells and protect them from the effects of cortisol. However, with age, these levels drop to about 5% of their normal concentration, leaving the brain exposed to the destructive effects of cortisol."

January 1991 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

The protective effects of activated charcoal against various toxins

"Besides endotoxins, I think activated charcoal can also protect against microbial estrogen and glucocorticoids, carbon monoxide, cyanide, and unsaturated oils. The absorption of heavy metals is likely reduced by all types of dietary fiber."

February–March 1991 – Ray Peat's Newsletter (1)

Parallels between menopause and Cushing's syndrome

"In the mid-1970s, when I pointed out that menopause resembles Cushing's syndrome, I had not yet sufficiently studied this cortisol excess disorder to recognize the full extent of the parallels: for example, hot flashes, night sweats, and insomnia, very common menopausal symptoms, are also prevalent in Cushing's syndrome. The tendency of estrogen to increase cortisol production should be considered in the context of the brain-aging effects of both estrogen and cortisol."

April 1991 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

The influence of estrogen and cortisol on tissue integrity

"Both estrogen and cortisol weaken the structural components of tissue, and the bruising so commonly associated with premenstrual syndrome appears to involve the uninhibited action of both hormones."

April 1991 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

The influence of estrogen and cortisol on tissue integrity

"The brain's levels of progesterone, pregnenolone, and DHEA are normally 20 to 30 times higher than the serum concentration, and these hormones have a protective effect against both estrogen and cortisone."

April 1991 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

The administration of cortisol produces age-like symptoms in organ systems

"The most important features of aging can be directly caused by the administration of excessive amounts of cortisol. These features include atrophy of the skin, arteries, muscles, bones, immune system and parts of the brain, loss of pigment (melanin), the deposition of fat in certain areas, and a slowed nerve conduction velocity."

October 1990 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

The treatment of degenerative diseases with anti-estrogenic hormones

"Many degenerative diseases develop under the influence of excessive estrogen and cortisone (and as a consequence of the many metabolic changes that occur after exposure to these hormones). Many of these diseases, especially those that occur after puberty and are more common in women, can be treated very effectively with anti-estrogens and anti-stress hormones such as progesterone."

October 1990 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Dietary practices to minimize cortisol production

"Other dietary practices can minimize our cortisol production (e.g., combining fruit and protein, as protein-rich foods lower blood sugar and stimulate the release of cortisol)."

October 1990 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Estrogen-related thyroid disorders and compensatory hormonal adjustments

"Estrogen-induced hypothyroidism can be compensated to a certain extent by various hormonal adjustments; an increased release of adrenaline and cortisol is common. If the compensation is insufficient, hypoglycemia and a tendency to produce too much histamine often occur. Too much adrenaline causes cold hands and feet, too little leads to orthostatic hypotension (dizziness upon standing up quickly) and intestinal cramps."

August-September 1990 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

The immunosuppressive effects of cortisol

"Uninhibited cortisol has several immunosuppressive effects, including thymic hypoplasia, the reduction of histaminolytic activity and monooxygenase activity in the liver, which contributes to chronic allergies, and the induction of expression of certain retrovirus types."

November 1989 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

The essential role of the thyroid gland in protein synthesis and energy production

"Thyroid function is essential for all cellular processes, including protein assimilation and synthesis, the production of growth hormone, etc. Without thyroid hormone to maintain respiration, inefficient glycolysis wastes energy; unoxidized lactate provokes the catabolic breakdown of liver protein. Hypoglycemia stimulates the release of glucocorticoids, which maintain blood sugar at the expense of rapid protein breakdown."

November 1989 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

The role of thiosulfate in anti-stress approaches to diseases

"Since very high cortisone levels destroy the detoxifying cytochrome enzymes, the use of thiosulfate – to restore remaining cytochromes that may be blocked by cyanide – appears to be a sensible component of an anti-stress approach to disease treatment."

January 1989 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Anesthetic steroids reduce cortisol release and damage.

"Anesthetic steroids, especially progesterone, normally reduce the need for cortisol release and at the same time act as a protective buffer against the harmful effects of cortisol."

August-September 1988 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

The destructive effects of excess cortisol on intestinal enzymes and allergies

"Although a physiologically balanced amount of cortisol induces detoxification enzymes, for example in the gut, an unchecked excess leads to the destruction of these enzymes, resulting in a significant loss of the gut's barrier function and the development of allergies. This effect of cortisol on the thymus, as well as on the detoxifying intestinal enzymes, very likely explains the frequent association of allergies with viral infections. Since cortisol has a destabilizing, spasmolytic effect on the nervous system, psychological symptoms—ranging from obsessive-compulsive behavior and depression to seizures—are also likely to occur, in conjunction with the other chronic conditions."

August-September 1988 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

The protective effects of digitoxin in enteritis-related fever

"In the last century, it was observed that digitoxin (a natural steroid derivative) reduced fever caused by enteritis. This is presumably another example of a catatoxic function, a protective effect common to many steroids, and likely worked by stabilizing detoxifying enzymes and preventing the absorption of endotoxin. Endotoxin is known to destabilize and inactivate the detoxifying enzymes of the intestine, as is an overdose of cortisol."

August-September 1988 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Cortisol as a biological eraser and tissue modulator

“Although it is important to be aware of the lethal effects of chronic, unchecked exposure to cortisol (as well as estrogen and prolactin), these hormones, which cause atrophy and loss of function in various tissues, also have a creative function. I have referred to them elsewhere as the biological erasers, the hormones of new beginnings. In the case of cortisol, it can be helpful to compare its action on tissue cells to the process of winnowing wheat, in which the chaff is blown away while the grain is retained. I think there is a mechanism, such as the one Meerson has proposed, whereby a functional load preserves the cells and systems required in the current environment, while inactive cells are eliminated or reduced by the action of cortisol.”

August-September 1988 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

The role of glucose in protection against cortisol-related catabolism

"Sufficient energy, for example in the form of available glucose, has a protective effect against cortisol-induced catabolism. White blood cells can protect themselves by metabolizing cortisol in the presence of sufficient glucose."

August-September 1988 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

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