Ray Peat on Oxidation

Discovery of oxidation contamination of commercial cholesterol

"About 40 years ago, someone noticed that the commercial cholesterol used for research purposes was contaminated by oxidation and that pure cholesterol did not produce the same toxic effects."

September 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

The role of lipofuscin in plaque inflammation and calcification

"The age pigment, ceroid or lipofuscin, which is predominantly composed of polyunsaturated fatty acids and associated with the foam cells of macrophages in plaques, accumulates iron (Lee et al., 1998) and, through catalyzed oxidation, generates local hypoxia, leading to the production of lactic acid and promoting an inflammatory process. The products of lipid peroxidation, such as azelaic acid (Riad et al., 2018), together with lactate, lead to tissue calcification."

September 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Composition of foam cells and effects on cholesterol regulation

"The foam cells found in atherosclerotic plaques contain cholesterol esters, primarily cholesteryl eicosapentaenoate, cholesteryl docosahexaenoate, cholesteryl arachidonicate, cholesteryl linoleate, and cholesteryl oleate. The oxidation of these fatty acids produces acrolein and related compounds that block the cells' ability to regulate cholesterol."

September 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Metabolic inefficiency in the estrogen-dominated state compared to the oxidative state

"Energetically, the estrogen-dominated metabolic state is less efficient than the oxidative state, which is dominated by the thyroid and progesterone (or testosterone). The estrogen state, similar to the learned helplessness state in rats, is parasympathetic, as many chemical balances have deviated from the mobilized sympathetic or adrenergic state. For example, the estrogen state lowers blood sugar, whereas the mobilized state conserves glucose by oxidizing fat."

Nutrition For Women

The superior efficiency of oxidative metabolism compared to fermentative metabolism

"Sugar can be used to generate energy with or without oxygen, but oxidative metabolism is about 15 times more efficient than non-oxidative glycolytic or fermentative metabolism; higher organisms rely on this highly efficient oxidation to maintain integration and normal function."

Nutrition For Women

Thyroid gland as a fundamental anti-stress hormone at the cellular level

"At the cellular level, stress reduces energy levels. Systemically, stress inhibits oxidative metabolism. Both observations suggest that the thyroid gland is the fundamental anti-stress hormone."

Nutrition For Women

Estrogen accumulation due to stress-induced liver sluggishness

"All types of stress tend to make the liver sluggish. Normally, the liver removes toxins and excess hormones from the body. Estrogen can accumulate to high levels if the liver is not fully active. One effect of estrogen is to promote a type of oxidation that does not provide energy, thereby increasing oxygen demand."

Nutrition For Women

Vitamin E as a protective agent against the effects of excess estrogen

"Vitamin E promotes oxidation in a variety of ways and appears to specifically counteract many effects of excess estrogen. For example, it can protect the liver from damage caused by toxins (although the liver needs all nutrients). It counteracts estrogen's tendency to produce age spots. It activates blood protease, thus accelerating the breakdown of clots and preventing the formation of blood clots in vessels, while there is also evidence that it supports normal blood clotting in wounds."

Nutrition For Women

The role of vitamin E in efficient oxidation and energy

"Within cells, vitamin E inhibits destructive and wasteful oxidation (such as occurs in aging and cancer) and makes the normal oxidative process more efficient, so that more usable energy is provided for a given amount of oxygen."

Nutrition For Women

Influences of thyroid gland and progesterone on protein synthesis and lactate oxidation

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

Nutrition For Women

The influence of vitamin C on tyrosine metabolism and adrenaline levels in tissue

"Tyrosine metabolism, which is involved in brain function, is sensitive to vitamin C; furthermore, vitamin C maintains adrenaline levels in tissues, possibly by inhibiting its oxidation, and adrenaline is necessary for the chalones to perform their function of inhibiting cell division."

Nutrition For Women

Dietary fats and their influence on energy production

"E. Racker and other biochemists have pointed out that unsaturated (liquid) fatty acids are able to uncouple energy-producing reactions from oxidation. This means that they promote fuel consumption without increasing fat synthesis. This is an effect similar to the specific dynamic effect of proteins, and it is the biochemical explanation for why not all calories count equally for weight loss. At the same time, however, this also means that the total usable energy production is reduced relative to heat production."

Nutrition For Women

Adjusting vitamin E requirements when consuming unsaturated oils

"Unsaturated oils can also stimulate a dangerous form of oxidation, in which they degrade in a way that appears to accelerate the aging process. One of the more conservative researchers on vitamin E recently (in AJ Clin. Nutr., 1974) revised his opinion on the required amount of vitamin E: He wrote that the requirement increases from 15 mg/day to about 50 mg/day when a person consumes a lot of unsaturated oils (fish, seeds, etc.)."

Nutrition For Women

The limitations of the calorie-counting approach for understanding metabolism

"The notion that a calorie is a calorie, or a simple approach of calorie counting, not only fails to recognize the specific dynamic effect of proteins (the effect of oils is commonly referred to as uncoupling oxidative phosphorylation), but also overlooks events at the organismal level, such as insulin secretion, which establish a link between the form of food intake (composition and timing) and behavior, appetite, and metabolism."

Nutrition For Women

Relationship between basal metabolic rate and lifespan

"John Speakman and Martin Brand have published several examples where basal metabolic rate is proportional to lifespan (e.g., Speakman et al., 2004). They showed that a higher rate of oxidative metabolism reduces the formation of harmful, random oxidations and is also associated with a longer lifespan."

November 2020 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Regulation of body temperature through mitochondrial energy production

"Our body temperature is maintained by the rate of energy production, and this is mainly the result of the oxidation of fuels in the mitochondria."

November 2020 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Formation of lipofuscin from polyunsaturated fatty acids

"The age pigment lipofuscin is formed by the oxidation of polyunsaturated lipids. The polyunsaturated fatty acids that accumulate with age have been known as the main source of this material for about 80 years. These fatty acids inhibit the synthesis of cholesterol."

November 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Role of the cholinergic system in glucose oxidation

"The cholinergic parasympathetic system tends to decrease glucose oxidation. Excessive activation of this system leads to shock with extreme inhibition of respiratory metabolism, but under normal circumstances, the activity of this system increases at night and decreases during the day."

November 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Healing and restoration of oxidative metabolism after injuries

"If injury effectively means hypoxia with activation of estrogenic processes, we can roughly see that the healing and recovery process involves various means of restoring oxidative metabolism in the tissue."

November 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Relationship between high-altitude therapy and antioxidant activity

"The changes observed by Meerson's group during high-altitude therapy are similar to those seen with thyroid and antioxidant supplementation. The lower oxygen concentration in tissues at high altitude would increase the body's antioxidant reserves and make it more resistant to stress. Similarly, reducing the consumption of unsaturated dietary fats also protects against oxidative stress."

Mind And Tissue Russian Research Perspectives on the Human Brain

Chronic stress and its effects on inflammation and energy

"In a state of chronic stress, oxidative energy production is low, and mediators of inflammation are likely to be chronically elevated; typically, there is a persistently increased production of lactate and/or a decreased oxidation thereof."

May 2020 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Effects of stress hormones on mitochondria

"Levels of aldosterone and parathyroid hormone are increased by stress, with serotonin acting on the adrenal cortex and parathyroid glands to increase their secretion. All three hormones act on the mitochondria and lower oxidative energy production."

May 2019 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Influence of diet on hormone secretion

"Increasing the intake of sodium and calcium (as well as vitamin D, which also helps to lower parathyroid hormone and aldosterone) in the diet can decrease the secretion of aldosterone and parathyroid hormone, leading to an increase in oxidative energy production."

May 2019 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

The importance of individual context in the treatment of diseases

"Every person has a unique story and a unique situation that must be understood if the illness is to be overcome. For example, every person has a unique gut flora, a unique combination of fatty acids that changes from day to day, and unique ways of maintaining a balance of oxidation and reduction processes in response to stress."

May 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Oxidative metabolism to maintain protective factors after pregnancy

"In childhood and adulthood, a robust oxidative metabolism can maintain some of the essential protective factors of pregnancy, including adequate glucose and carbon dioxide levels, good temperature regulation, and the avoidance of overproduction of superoxide and lactate. Under these conditions, cytokines can contribute to adaptation and continued development."

March 2021 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Heat and insulin to prevent inflammation

"It is the oxidation of glucose (which produces carbon dioxide), promoted by heat and the right amount of insulin, that can prevent inflammation."

March 2021 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

The lactate paradox in high-altitude physiology

"For several decades, high-altitude physiologists have been perplexed by the so-called lactate paradox: the fact that exercise at high altitude with less oxygen causes a smaller increase in lactic acid in the blood than at sea level, thus enabling faster recovery. It is known that oxidative metabolism prevents the formation of lactic acid – the lower oxygen availability should actually lead to a higher lactate level at high altitude and to a slower recovery."

March 2020 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Oxidative processes and factors of enzyme regulation

"The oxidative processes that support the targeted, creative functioning of the organism optimize CO₂ by inhibiting the enzyme carbonic anhydrase; this enzyme is inhibited by the thyroid hormone T3, progesterone, urea, caffeine, antipsychotic drugs, and aspirin. Substances that tend to revert to primitive anaerobic energy production activate the enzyme—for example, serotonin, tryptophan, cysteine, histamine, estrogen, aldosterone, HIF, SSRIs, angiotensin, and parathyroid hormone."

March 2020 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Role of the metabolic cycle in energy accumulation

"The ability to relax and accumulate energy and substance for differentiation corresponds to the presence of highly efficient oxidative energy production. The intensity of the metabolic cycle, which alternates between activity and rest phases, maintains the complexity and intensity of life."

March 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Effect of sleep deprivation on the increase in free fatty acids

"Although free fatty acids normally increase at night, their increase is significantly greater with insufficient sleep, and a diabetes-like metabolism is evident with a shift towards the oxidation of fat instead of glucose."

March 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Influence of hypothyroidism on sleep and cell activity

"Since thyroid hormone is needed for oxidative metabolism throughout the body, a deficiency leads to brain cells slowing down, which delays the onset of sleep and can even prevent the deepest restorative sleep. Because all cells are regulated by excitatory and inhibitory processes, hypothyroidism can create a tendency towards excitatory states, which can lead to abnormal secretion and cell proliferation, for example."

March 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Intensity of lipolysis and impairment of restful sleep

"The intensity of lipolysis at night decreases during the most restorative deep sleep, but the free fatty acids themselves block the oxidation of glucose to carbon dioxide, tend to increase lactate and dampen glucose metabolism, creating an inflammatory and excitatory state that disrupts deep sleep."

March 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

The crucial role of thyroid hormone in maintaining deep sleep

"Thyroid hormone is extremely important for the ability to achieve and maintain the necessary deep sleep by promoting glucose oxidation and increasing ATP."

March 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Enzymatic control of serotonin synthesis in the brain

"The synthesis of serotonin in the brain depends on the activity of the enzyme tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH). This enzyme is activated by excitation of the cell with increased intracellular calcium and reduced glutathione (GSH) and inactivated by oxidation of glutathione."

July 2019 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Questioning the theory of antioxidant protection

"The enzyme that breaks down superoxide, superoxide dismutase (SOD), is sold as a dietary supplement, based on the cultural narrative that aging is caused by oxidative stress and that antioxidants offer protection. This view is increasingly being questioned as a reductive cellular state is recognized as a common factor in shock, stress, and degeneration."

July 2019 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Information loss as a theory of aging and death

"The replacement of energy with information, the abstraction of the world, led to theories that aging and death of organisms result from the inevitable entropic loss of information, the degradation of DNA through somatic mutations caused by oxidative damage, and to a theory of the fate of the universe as entropic heat death."

July 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Hypothyroidism and the risk of reductive stress

"The weak oxidative metabolism in hypothyroidism facilitates entry into a state of reductive stress, with a shift towards higher concentrations of NADH and lactate."

July 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Complex mechanisms involved in maintaining a pseudohypoxic state

"There are several important mechanisms involved in maintaining a pseudohypoxic state, and they can act in a single tissue or organ as well as more generally throughout the entire organism. Often overlooked is the coherent, overlapping interaction of the structural sulfhydryl redox system (-SH, -SS-), the redox regulation of gene expression, glycolytic and oxidative energy metabolism, the regulation of pH and ion selectivity, osmolarity, and solvent properties, especially the hydrophobic/hydrophilic balance."

July 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Stress-related changes in breathing and their consequences

"Stress alters our breathing and causes a vicious cycle in which the lactate and ammonia produced when stimulation exceeds our oxidative capacity trigger more intense breathing. This leads to increased carbon dioxide loss, lower oxidative efficiency, and higher ammonia and lactate production."

July 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Dynamic balance of respiratory pigments in tissue

"In living tissue, respiratory pigments are in a dynamic equilibrium between oxidation and reduction."

July 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Szent-Györgyi's theory of cellular electron balance

"In the 1950s and 1960s, Szent-Györgyi began to speak openly about life processes in terms of a very precise equilibrium between oxidation and reduction, which keeps electron systems in cells in a special, free-radical-like state that oscillates between donor and acceptor molecules. He believed that a deficiency of the naturally occurring oxidative dicarbonyl molecule methylglyoxal could be a cause of cancer."

July 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Role of glucose in reducing cellular excitation through oxidation

"The ability of glucose to reduce excitation in other situations is probably related to the increased oxidative state."

July 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Influence of lactate in a reduced cell state and inhibition of glucose oxidation

"With limited oxygen supply but unlimited lactate availability, the cell's metabolic reactions shift towards a reduced, electron-rich state. This state inhibits glucose oxidation by blocking the enzyme pyruvate dehydrogenase, thus promoting lactate production. These are internal processes of stressed cells that can be interrupted if the organism provides corrective factors to restore oxidation."

July 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Metabolic shifts under extreme stress and learned helplessness

"When the organism as a whole is overloaded and the stress physiology transitions into states of learned helplessness™ or shock, the metabolism shifts towards a reductive, pseudohypoxic metabolism in which the nervous system suppresses oxidative metabolism."

July 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Cell-calming effect of sugar oxidation through carbon dioxide formation

"The cell-calming effect of sugar oxidation is probably related to the increased production of carbon dioxide, which shifts the electronic equilibrium towards a more oxidized and coherent state."

July 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Aging, metabolic shifts and the tendency towards cancerous metabolism

"Aging itself involves a metabolic shift towards a cancerous metabolism, with a relative inability to reduce energy expenditure in the basal fasting state, as well as increased fat oxidation and decreased glucose oxidation."

July 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Effects of increased CO₂ levels on cellular redox balance and metabolism

"When CO₂ is increased, the redox balance of the cell shifts towards oxidation (Melnychuk, et al., 1977), the use of glucose for growth and fat synthesis is inhibited, and the Krebs cycle is activated (Melnychuk, et al., 1978)."

July 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Influence of electromagnetic fields on cells

"Electromagnetic fields acting on charged materials significantly influence cellular coacervates, regardless of whether these fields are generated internally or externally. The constant energy flow resulting from oxidation and reduction is one of the important formative influences of the cell."

January 2019 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Antagonistic effect of progesterone on other steroid hormones

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

January 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

The role of progesterone in energy processes in the brain

"It seems likely that a fundamental part of progesterone's ability to protect the brain from stress is its support of the high-energy mitochondrial oxidation of glucose to carbon dioxide."

January 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Stress induction through reductive state and unbalanced metabolism

"Stress exists to the extent that cells are placed in a reductive, pseudohypoxic state by an imbalance between stimulation and the rate of regenerative oxidative energy production."

January 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Reductive stress and its self-reinforcing biochemical cycles

"The reduced state caused by hunger or hypoglycemia, excess lactate or fat, or oxygen deficiency activates the release of glutamate. The resulting excitation can switch off mitochondrial oxidation and exacerbate the state of pseudohypoxia. Nitric oxide synthesis, activated by reductive stress, is a key factor in the suppression of mitochondrial oxidation."

January 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Dual role of carbon dioxide in oxidative energy production

"Carbon dioxide is both a product and an activator of oxidative energy production."

January 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Protective substances against the consequences of impaired glucose oxidation

“Other substances that protect against the effects of hypoglycemia or impaired glucose oxidation include progesterone, caffeine, certain anesthetics including xenon, niacinamide, agmatine and carbon dioxide.”

January 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Disruption of oxidative metabolism by estrogen for reproduction and tissue repair

"A substance like estrogen can interrupt oxidative metabolism to initiate the organism's reproduction or to stimulate tissue repair in response to local injury."

January 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Metabolic shifts from glucose to fat and their consequences

"The shift of metabolic fuel from glucose to fat leads to a shift in the oxidative state of the organism towards the reduced state, away from the oxidized state, which favors stable, differentiated functions."

January 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Role of nitric oxide in reductive stress and impaired glucose oxidation

"When a particular cell or tissue is severely reduced, nitrate and nitrite can be converted into nitric oxide, creating a vicious cycle of blocked glucose oxidation and an even more reduced state."

January 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Consequences of impaired glucose oxidation and shift to fatty acids

"When glucose oxidation is impaired and fatty acids are oxidized for energy production, there is usually a reduction in the overall metabolic rate and a shift towards a more reductive biochemistry."

January 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Nutrition and stress resistance in age-related oxidative changes

"Avoiding oxidatively toxic heavy metals and maintaining respiration in the absence of highly peroxidizable unsaturated fats in the diet (and a lower level of these fats in storage tissues) would likely improve the animals' stress resistance (EFA-deficient mitochondria are more resistant to oxidative damage, and vitamin E prevents many stress-related problems) and could inhibit age-related oxidative changes in serum albumin, red blood cells, and other tissues."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

Redox-catalytic function of estrogen and historical perspectives

"In the 1950s, several endocrinologists gathered evidence that estrogen could act as a catalyst in the oxidation and reduction of the pyridine nucleotides NADPH and NADH. However, in the 1960s, the doctrine that the effects of estrogen are mediated exclusively via the estrogen receptor began to displace all other ideas about estrogen chemistry and physiology."

February 2001

Estrogen as a redox catalyst in the formation of toxic radicals

"JG Liehr and several others further demonstrate that estrogen can act as a catalyst in the redox cycle (alternating reduction and oxidation), generating toxic free radicals and potentially burdening NADH systems. As a redox catalyst, estrogen oscillates between an oxidized and a reduced molecular form. In this context, the ratio of the different estrogen forms takes on a completely different significance than merely their differing effects on the so-called estrogen receptors."

February 2001

Treatment of excess lactate by inhibiting glycolysis

"Heart failure, shock, and other problems associated with excess lactic acid can be successfully treated by inhibiting glycolysis with dichloroacetic acid, thereby reducing lactic acid production, increasing glucose oxidation, and boosting ATP concentration in cells. Thyroid, vitamin B1, biotin, etc., have a similar effect."

July 2000

Effect of free fatty acids on glucose oxidation and diabetes

"An increase in free fatty acids suppresses the oxidation of glucose (this is known as the Randle effect, glucose-fatty acid cycle, substrate-competition cycle, etc.). Women, with higher estrogen and growth hormone levels, generally have more free fatty acids than men and oxidize a higher proportion of fatty acids during exercise. This fatty acid exposure reduces glucose tolerance and undoubtedly explains the higher rate of diabetes in women."

July 2000

The special role of palmitic acid in glycolysis and lactate production

"While most fatty acids inhibit glucose oxidation without immediately blocking glycolysis, palmitic acid is unusual in that it inhibits glycolysis and lactate production without affecting oxidation. I expect this to be largely related to its important function in cardiolipin and cytochrome oxidase."

July 2000

Influence of light on glucose oxidation and respiratory efficiency

"Light promotes glucose oxidation and is known to activate the important respiratory enzyme. Winter sickness (including lethargy and weight gain) and nighttime stress must be included in the concept of respiratory defect, leading to antirespiratory lactic acid production and mitochondrial damage."

July 2000 – (1)

Nature of oxidative metabolism: carbon dioxide and metabolic water

"The formation of carbon dioxide is the essence of oxidative metabolism, along with the formation of metabolic water through the interactions of carbon fuel, electrons, and oxygen. Even before carbon dioxide reacts covalently with water to form carbonic acid, it has a high affinity for electrons. This affinity, which predisposes it to react with water and amines, determines its non-covalent adsorptive properties, which are, however, overlooked by most physiologists."

January 2000 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Macromolecular charge and the influence of pH and CO₂ on proteins

"The overall charge of proteins and other macromolecules generally depends on the pH of their environment. Cellular proteins typically carry a negative charge at pH levels above 5. The ionization of chemical groups such as hydroxyl, amino, and sulfhydryl groups is responsible for the overall charge. The degree of oxidation or reduction affects the number of sulfhydryl groups, and the protein's structural state also influences the charge. At high pH, ​​the charge is high, and the number and arrangement of sulfhydryl groups can affect it. The presence of small ions, carbon dioxide, and oxygen also influences protein charge. When the entire living system is involved, bioelectricity interacts with other electronic phenomena, including oxidation-reduction processes, pH, donor-acceptor, and radical reactions."

1998 – Ray Peat's Newsletter – 2

Antioxidants and their role in oxygen utilization

"The biological value of antioxidants lies in their ability to enable the productive, rather than destructive, use of oxygen. When something disrupts the normal, productive use of oxygen, there is a sharp increase in destructive forms of oxidation, such as lipid peroxidation, and antioxidant reserves become crucial. In other words, reduced productive respiration promotes the destructive use of oxygen."

1997 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Optimization of oxygen utilization and energy production in cells

"Optimized respiration means increasing the use of oxygen, which provides energy and increases functional capacity, while reducing the forms of oxidation that impair function and reduce the production of useful energy."

1997 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Effects of protein catabolism and blockade of the Krebs cycle

"Increased protein catabolism or a blockage of the oxidative consumption of Krebs cycle fuels – for example, through poisoning – makes these precursors available to enter the porphyrin pathway."

1997 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Factors involved in heme synthesis and red blood cell production

"The synthesis of heme/porphyrin and the production of red blood cells are stimulated by oxygen deficiency or by toxins such as arsenic and iron, which cause oxidative stress. Emphysema, high altitudes, slow blood flow, and nighttime breathing problems can cause sufficient oxygen deficiency to stimulate the formation of new red blood cells."

1997 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Lactic acid as an indicator of respiratory deficits

"In general, lactic acid in the blood can be considered a sign of faulty respiration, as the breakdown of glucose to lactic acid increases to compensate for insufficient oxidative energy production. Normal aging appears to involve a tendency towards excess lactic acid production, and age pigment is known to activate this process."

1997 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Respiratory potential and its effects on tissue changes

"A weakened capacity for oxidative energy production can lead to a maladaptive overproduction of collagen, porphyrins, red blood cells, and other tissues and substances, which in turn can trigger many adaptive and maladaptive changes. I think skin and mucous membranes provide a good example of how respiratory potential influences structure: The increased keratinization caused by estrogen is balanced by vitamin A, which increases the proportion of active, differentiated cells."

1997 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Effects of cellular oxidative stress on iron binding

"Various studies* show that cellular oxidative stress promotes iron binding, which would be logical since iron is essential for respiration. Cells that have difficulty respiring would tend to use evolved mechanisms to retain the iron needed for the formation of new respiratory enzymes."

June 1994 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Role of vitamin E in preventing tissue damage caused by oxidation

"Antioxidants, especially vitamin E, prevent tissue damage by promoting normal oxidation."

June 1992 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Comprehensive list of protective nutrients

“A complete list of protective nutrients and natural medicines or analogs of our endogenous protective factors would be very long, but particular attention should be paid to certain substances, including succinate, which stimulates respiration and the synthesis of protective steroids; thyroid and vitamin E, which promote normal oxidation while preventing abnormal oxidation; magnesium; sodium and lithium, which help retain magnesium; tropical fruits containing GHB; coconut oil, which protects against cardiac necrosis, lipid peroxidation, hypothyroidism, hypoglycemia, and histamine damage; Valium agonists, natural antihistamines; adenosine and uridine. Stays at higher altitudes and exposure to bright, long-wavelength light can cause the body to optimize its own anti-stress chemistry. Avoiding the feeling of being confined is a high-level adaptive factor.”

June 1992 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Role of pregnenolone in preserving vitamin A for mitosis

"Supplementation with pregnenolone, etc., makes it possible to conserve the vitamin A ingested in food for other purposes, including the regulation of mitosis, differentiation and oxidation."

August/September 1992 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Bringing together interests in the oxidative metabolism of the uterus

"Although I had investigated the link between estrogen and cancer, and knew from my own experience with migraines that stress, diet and hormones interact powerfully, I did not realize that my research into the oxidative metabolism of the uterus would bring together several of my main interests."

October 1990 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Decrease in metabolic rate due to the consumption of unsaturated fats

"Sugars, proteins, and saturated fats produced by warm-blooded organisms can be consumed by warm-blooded animals without particular side effects. However, organisms living at low temperatures contain unsaturated fats. Consuming large amounts of unsaturated fats lowers the metabolic rate, and accumulated unsaturated fats are susceptible to a spontaneous and toxic form of oxidation."

October 1990 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Koch's theory of natural immunity against viruses and cancer

"Koch soon developed a theory of natural immunity against viruses and cancer, based on his belief in the existence of biological free radicals capable of oxidizing virus particles and carcinogenic molecules. Koch believed that allergies were an early sign of the failure of this free radical oxidation system."

August/September 1988 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Support for detoxification and protein turnover in cell protection

"Similar to anesthetic substances that alter the physical state of the cell and delay viral replication, the oxidative defense system has several points of intervention to support detoxification and promote protein turnover."

August/September 1988 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

WF Koch's interest in natural quinones for toxin destruction

"While WF Koch was interested in the body's own oxidative free radical system for destroying toxins and pathogens, he investigated several natural quinones found in medicinal plants."

August/September 1988 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Back to blog

Supplements according to Ray Peat

1 4