Ray Peat on hyperventilation

January 3, 2026

Hyperventilation, CO2 loss and serotonin release

"Hyperventilation tends to increase under various stress factors, and the resulting loss of carbon dioxide increases blood alkalinity, causing platelets to release serotonin. Estrogen stimulation and hypothyroidism are common causes of chronic hyperventilation, with their effect on platelets: serotonin is released, with all its harmful consequences."

September 2019 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Link between hypothyroidism, chronic stress and metabolic problems

"In hypothyroidism, with reduced oxidative metabolism, the organism is never far from stress and hyperventilation, with the chronic production of lactate and ammonia. The inefficient metabolism in diabetes has similar effects."

July 2017 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Hypothyroidism, stress and associated physiological complications

"People with hypothyroidism and low CO2 production are highly susceptible to stress-induced hyperventilation and are often in a state of physiological hyperventilation. They are prone to overproduction of ammonia (De Nardo et al., 1999; Marti et al., 1988) and lactate (Zarzeczny et al., 1996), as well as to psychoses, especially depression and mania."

July 2017 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Importance of monitoring ammonia and lactate levels

"Because of their role in the development and maintenance of pseudohypoxia, as well as in the stimulation of hyperventilation, more attention should be paid to the measurement of ammonia and lactate in blood, breath, and urine."

July 2017 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Hypothyroidism, hyperventilation and a vicious cycle of energy loss

"Hypothyroidism suppresses respiration as an energy source, so little carbon dioxide is produced, and lactic acid is generated even in the absence of noticeable stress. This is similar to hyperventilation, since the loss of carbon dioxide is the defining characteristic of hyperventilation; however, the presence of abnormally high adrenergic activity and free fatty acids stimulates further hyperventilation and exacerbates the loss of carbon dioxide. Decreasing carbon dioxide further impairs respiration, leading to increased lactic acid production, which in turn stimulates more adrenergic activity—and so on, in a vicious cycle."

January 2000 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Effects of CO2 loss on cerebral blood flow and effects of hyperventilation

"The loss of carbon dioxide reduces cerebral blood flow and causes complex paresthesias as well as stroke symptoms. Hyperventilation is a relative term and refers to the amount of carbon dioxide lost from the blood. Heavy, rapid breathing at high altitude or in a carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere does not necessarily constitute hyperventilation."

December 1999 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Hyperventilation experiment: Muscle cramps and altered blood pH

"Simple hyperventilation causes muscle cramps and paresthesia (tingling of the skin) – in an experiment that anyone can perform in minutes. When a large amount of carbon dioxide is exhaled, the pH of the blood rises only very slightly due to systemic adaptations."

December 1999 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

The role of hyperventilation in vascular permeability and hemoconcentration

"Hyperventilation increases vascular permeability, which leads to hemoconcentration when a large proportion of the water in the blood leaks into the tissues."

December 1999 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

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