Ray Peat Email Advice Depository

[windinthepines]

[Vitamin C]

Yes, more than 20 years ago, I pointed out the amount of heavy metal
contamination, and the frequent reactions I had seen, to Pauling, and he
just said I should use Bronson's C, as if that would have been made with
anything except Hoffman-LaRoche's stuff. (It was Pauling's own
description of the manufacturing process for sulfuric acid, using a
"lead room," that got me thinking about the dangers of things
manufactured with it.) I guess ADM is making a large fraction of
ascorbic acid now, so I wouldn't be surprised if some of it was worse
than when the heavy metal studies were published several years ago.

[Ray Peat's experiences and work with C]

The alteration of production processes in vitamin E manufacture when the
evil soybean monopoly bought the industry from Eastman Chemical is
analogous to what happened earlier in the vitamin C industry, as profits
were maximized. The dramatic vitamin C studies in the 1930s often used
only 15 or 25 milligrams per day. In 1953, my first experience with it
(which was still sold as "cevitamic acid")involved 50 mg per day, and
over a period of just 2 or 3 days, my chronic awful poison oak allergy
disappeared. Up until this time, it was still too expensive to sell in
large doses. Around 1955 or '56, new manufacturing methods made it cheap
(and, for some reason, the name changed from cevitamic to ascorbic) and
the average tablet went up to 500 mg. The first time I tried the new
form, around 1956, I developed allergy symptoms within a couple of days.
Over the next 20 years, my own increased sensitivity to synthetic
ascorbate led me to look for such reactions in others. The same
people who reacted to it often reacted similarly to riboflavin and
rutin, which were also made from cornstarch by oxidation. I ascribed the
reaction to some industrial contaminant that they had in common,
possibly the heavy metals introduced with the sulfuric acid. The heavy
metal contamination of synthetic ascorbate is so great that one 500 mg
tablet dissolved in a liter of water produces free radicals at a rate
that would require a killing dose of x-rays to equal. The only clean and
safe vitamin C now available is that in fresh fruits, meats, etc. The
commercial stuff is seriously dangerous."

 

[windinthepines]

Humidity is likely to be a lot lower in Colorado. During the first few days at a higher altitude it's good to be less active than normal, but in general for health there's nothing better than higher altitude. The moderate altitude of C. Springs almost never produces signs of altitude sickness; 9000 feet often does, unless the person adapts gradually.

Aspirin is usually enough, extra sugar and salt. Diamox is usually helpful for 12,000 feet and above.

I use a fine grind, and moisten the grounds slightly with warm water first, then slowly add water of increasing temperature. The tastier aromatic things dissolve first at low temperature, and as they are removed the hotter water gets the progressively less soluble things. It makes a very intense, dark, almost opaque extract.

Fruits vary in their protein content and amino acid balance; if we had more knowledge about the amino acids in each fruit, a pure fruit diet might be ideal, but I think it would be risky without that information. Independent researchers have trouble buying the reagents needed for that kind of study, so I haven't done it.

 

[windinthepines]

Both pregnenolone and progesterone are safe in large amounts (except that progesterone can be anesthetic if hundreds of milligrams are taken at once), and help with nerve repair and restoration. Vitamin K (Thorne Research drops, 10 mg/day) and aspirin help to normalize brain metabolism. Symptoms are partly from a poor balance of dopamine and serotonin, and cyproheptadine could help by reducing the serotonin dominance. Bright incandescent bulbs, especially the clear front reflector bulbs that are used for heating, sold at farm and hardware stores, have the red-orange wavelengths that are beneficial; they can shine on the head (all sides) and neck, the red light penetrates very well. They can be used all day if you like, as long as they don't cause over-heating.

[Schizophrenics]

Those people were given a brief trial of pregnenolone by relatives,
and weren't responsible for taking it themselves; they weren't in
situations that would have supported the necessary changes, I think
people with that diagnosis are just too hard to deal with. It's pretty
standard to give thyroid to kids, Barnes was more perceptive than most
doctors, and knew what to look for.

I made some devices for exposing the legs or abdomen to about 100 red
LEDS for use during the night, to avoid the annoying effect on the
eyes. They were too bothersome to use regularly. 12 to 15 hours/day
exposure to bright daylight or good incandescent light is enough
therapeutically. The main issue currently with pregnenolone is the
presence of trace allergenic impurities. I ate an average of about
3000 mg/day for a year, then to economize, reduced it to about 500 mg
for a few years, then the factory I was getting it from closed, and I
was allergic to other brands. I don't recall describing relapses. Does
that institute have the video on their website? I spoke to the Smart
Life Forum, which later changed its name. Since even a moderate amount
of progesterone can shrink the penis, young men typically use it only
for seizures.

I've had a couple of friends who were classically manic-depressive. I
watched the woman go through several of her annual cycles, a few weeks
of suicidal depression, and a few of really psychotic mania, and saw
that I could see them coming a few weeks in advance, with changes in
her sleep cycle and temperature cycle. When the mania was coming on,
her waking temperature would be higher than usual, and then by 10 or
11 a.m. it would be much lower. I knew that was the pattern of high
nocturnal cortisol, from hypothyroidism. Her cycles had been getting
worse for 20 years, but when she used thyroid to normalize her
temperature cycle, there were no more psychotic cycles, and there
hasn't been a recurrence in over 20 years. I've known a few
schizophrenics who began acting more normally immediately after taking
pregnenolone or progesterone, but who relapsed when they stopped
taking it; I think it would be necessary to change their diet and keep
them supplemented with those, and thyroid, for a few weeks, to allow
their nervous systems to repair themselves.

 

[windinthepines]

Yandell Henderson died in 1944, and V.I. Vernadsky died in 1945. With
the accession of Truman to the US presidency, cultural and scientific
progress has been operating in reverse. Here and there bits of
knowledge have been created, but they drift in the sewage tsunami of Big Science.

My article on cascara talked about the analogous effects of carbon
dioxide, vitamin K, emodin, and the tetracyclines. Some of the
experiments with Buckyballs show similar effects of a large resonant
system, an electron-withdrawing effect that lowers inappropriate
excitation and inflammation. A direct current flow through the body
towards the oxidizing brain can be intensified or dulled by an
external field.

For rats, the alternative to an enriched environment has been living
in a rat box, sort of the equivalent of a Tokyo apartment. Gardening,
learning to play a musical instrument, sculpting and drawing, are
good; practicing the marital arts, going to new places and taking
different routes to old places, listening to an unfamiliar
language--anything that involves participation and action or
learning.

Finding novelty and opportunity in a large context, rather than
habitual, ritualized, or trivial activity. Stimulating conversation
and spontaneous sex are good examples. Our (industrialized corporate)
cultures are designed to exclude meaningful activity as far as
possible. Music, theater, literature, research, adapting to a new
culture, and political innovation are activities that can be
meaningful.

The brain is always organizing itself, and although some of the DC,
AC, and magnetic stimulation effects are positive, I think they are
also likely to have other harmful effects. Any stimulating radiation
is a potentially disorganizing influence (red light has an
antiexcitatory effect). I think supporting the brain's own organizing
processes is the right approach to therapy. Neurosteroids stabilize
nerves, and allow repair processes to proceed. Good nutrition, light,
thyroid, etc., provide the energy. Meaningful activity is the other
necessity.

The southeastern states are remarkably unhealthy. In general the high
altitude of Colorado and New Mexico is very good for health, but there
are some areas with pollution from the military and mining, that
should be investigated carefully before moving. When I'm in Bayard,
NM, I feel very good, but I have never seen so many people carrying
oxygen tanks anywhere else, probably former miners, but windstorms and
forest fires can put a lot of bad stuff into the air.

 

[windinthepines]

It's pigmentation that I've seen go away completely when people used
thyroid or pregnenolone or (women) progesterone. It's usually thought
to be related to allergy and adrenal deficiency.

The dark around the eyes is caused by slightly leaky capillaries, and
they are commonly blamed on allergies. Although glucocorticoid
treatment sometimes helps, my experience has been that hypothyroidism
was responsible.

The dark eye circles are usually considered to be from an adrenal
problem, and thyroid deficiency is one thing that can be responsible,
but there are other things that could be responsible, and blood or
saliva tests could give you a better idea".

I've never measured it, but it's probably about half a cup of dry
coffee to make two cups of liquid. I start with warm water, and end
with boiling water, so the temperature of the product probably doesn't
get much above 45 degrees C; it loses the red-orange color if it gets
too hot.

 

[windinthepines]

Increasing the metabolic rate, thyroid can increase the need for
nutrients, so if your diet is already deficient in something, it can get
worse. Thyroid improves the assimilation of some nutrients, so it can help
to correct deficiencies, but only if you start very slowly.

 

[windinthepines]

Question:

I was thinking about what you said about futurity. I was trying
to figure out the significance of consciousness to an environment or system.
I was reading Bohm and thinking about consciousness in terms of implicate
order. It almost seems like an energetic storage organ of that futurity.
It's sort of like how carbohydrates are often stored as complex
polysaccharides in plants. The internal complexity of a nervous system and
consciousness "field" are sort of like a coiled spring for the larger
system. It is not for the organism itself, I don't think.

I also got an interesting conceptual image that tied what I was
talking about previously to this. Looking at the universe through the
"electric universe" theory, this field of ecological futurity would resonate
nonlinearly throughout the universe. In essence, it might be the seed of
life in other systems somehow. The extent to which life develops on our
world could influence the development of life on another planet.

Ray:

I think that view of consciousness is right, that it's a
resonance with cosmic fields. Metabolic conditions probably affect the
degree to which we are tuned into it. "Every thing that lives Lives not
alone, nor for itself," Blake's phrase in the Book of Thel, recognizes the
connections. Ecological futurity is a very Blakean idea.

Question:

I have a problem with not seeing my ideas through to
completion, so I figured I'd share with you the end product.

I think that energy has suffered from a case of mistaken identity. I
may need to reread your discussion of Kozyrev, but I believe that Time is
the only form of energy in the cosmos. What we consider the traditional six
types of energy are actually a different process. I believe that those are
created when hysteresis collapses resonance into discreet bodies. The
limiting factor of resonance would be the potential created by difference,
whether that be ideas or strong ions. Hence why probably an increased
metabolic rate (from chemical difference) would lead us to be more
responsive to those cosmic fields. And also it would explain how the
strength of our "ecological futurity" would determine the influence on life
in other places. I believe that the strength of resonance determines the
complexity of structure when collapsed by hysteresis.

What do you think? I think that Blake would be proud. Or he may yell
at me to get off his lawn, like he did when he yelled at that soldier and
ended up in jail.

Gravity and other forces comprise different qualities of
hysteresis in discreet bodies. Hysteresis generates force through the
collapse of resonant potentials into difference and thus tension. The
production and conversation of substance causes tension, which results in
the two bodies wanting to resolve that tension. Hence why gravity acts on
each body's center of gravity (or area of least tension... or strongest
tension in relation to the other). Gravity is the difference in that
potential between those bodies. The reason why the force gets stronger is
simply due to something like the inverse square law, which could apply to
resonances and fields. The same goes for strong and weak nuclear force and
magnetic force. Hysteresis in these cases has different qualities of
directionality. Momentum or structural vectors from the history of the
system.

Ray:

If a large number of bodies, each with its center of gravity, are
falling toward each other, just as they are about to coalesce, where is
their center of gravity? I.e., if we on the earth were about to fall into
the sun, would our weight be the same as elsewhere? Measurements of gravity
are so imprecise, I wonder if it's really known exactly where a center of
gravity is.

Question:

Do you think that gravity as it is understood today is an
adequate concept for explaining why we stick to the earth? I'm wondering if
part of the problem of a unified field theory is that our premises are
centuries old.

Ray:

Einstein was working with the junk that had accumulated in the
19th century, and I think the main reason he treated it seriously was to
show the German academicians what jerks they were. I don't think he realized
that the reason the irrational quantum mechanics came into existence was
largely because he had explained the photoelectric effect using a mistaken
view of the solid state, atoms as purely localized stuff. With that, it was
logical to see light as particulate.

 

[windinthepines]

5000 feet is helpful, higher is better. The low latitudes from
Bolivia to Mexico have many comfortable little cities at good altitude. I
have usually preferred places between 2000 and 2600 meters. Since the days
warm up quickly at high altitude, the old houses were designed to retain the
heat during the cold nights, by having thick adobe walls, about a meter
thick.

If you are eating enough protein, about 100 grams, and salt and
thyroid, then I would consider the steroids--something might be interfering
with your production of pregnenolone and DHEA. Things that could do that
would be very low cholesterol, or a deficiency of vitamin A (retinol), or
possibly other deficiencies.

If your cholesterol is above 200, and the thyroid supplements
didn't warm you up, it's possible that something is interfering with your
steroid synthesis, which might be a deficiency of something like vitamin A,
or interference from something like iron or carotene. Have you tried a
supplement of pregnenolone or DHEA? Were any other hormones, such as
prolactin, measured? If you are taking the aspirin regularly, you should
make sure to get vitamin K, from kale, liver, or a supplement. Anemia, like
cold feet, is a common sign of low thyroid function.

 

[windinthepines]

I have noticed that when I'm most relaxed and at high altitude
my oxygen saturation is in the range of 89% to 94%, lower with more
relaxation. When I'm walking fast uphill, it is around 99% (I think that
could mean that my fingers are consuming less). If my fingers are cold
(i.e., not using much oxygen) the number is higher. If you pump blood
through a cold corpse, the hemoglobin will stay 100% saturated."

Changing bacteria can make a big difference, but I think
cultural-psychological factors can cause effects like that. There have been
times when I would have bad reactions to many foods in the US, and a day or
two later in Mexico I would be able to eat anything. The familiar culture is
full of inconspicuous signals that activate inflammatory-stress hormones,
and a complete change of culture activates a different set of more adaptive
hormones. I think the experimental analogy is the restraint stress syndrome
in animals; if they can do something to counter the stress, they don't
develop the inflammatory reactions. High thyroid activity is somewhat
protective against the everyday restraint stressors."

I don't think there is a functional ratio between them (A & D),
independent of everything else. Calcium, phosphate, protein, vitamins and
minerals are involved in preventing improper calcification.

[Daughter's high levels]

Vitamin A can lower stress hormones, and that might help with the
calcium-vitamin D metabolism.

 

[windinthepines]

Shell fish are good sources of several trace minerals,
cooked greens (with the water they cook in) are good sources of molybdenum
and calcium.

I think the decrease of temperature after eating breakfast
explains more about the stress hormones than saliva tests could. The normal
temperature cycle is lowest around 3 or 4 AM, and highest about 12 hours
later. When the temperature falls in the morning, it implies that the night
was stressful, rather than restorative.

Milk and sugar, custard with a minimum of egg (only
natural vanilla for flavor), eggs, meat, and sweet ripe orange juice, are
the easy things to digest. Even small amounts of plant material can cause
inflammation for some people".

If you make your own chips with masa harina fried in
coconut oil, they are pretty safe. Having been cooked in alkali, it's
already partly digested, so it's the safest kind of starch".

Only when I'm in Mexico, where they make little tamales
made with corn boiled in lye from wood ashes.

 

[windinthepines]

Occasionally in the US I get Mission pork rinds, and
crush them into a power and soak them in hot coconut oil to remove the
unsaturated fat, then drain it; it makes a very tasty paste, for carrot
salad, etc.

Starch should be avoided. Chocolate is highly allergenic
for many people. Some ice creams are incredibly bad. Haagen Dasz seems to be
o.k., vanilla and coffee, anyway. Sea food and meats are easy to digest;
starches are the worst things for inflammation.

I think reducing the stress hormones, partly by
balancing the nutrients, is more important than the number of calories. With
bone broth, it's the cartilage, ligaments and tendons that are helpful;
marrow has a lot of iron, and it's good to limit the amount of iron and
phosphate. Well cooked greens have a high ratio of calcium and magnesium to
phosphate, and these help to activate oxidative metabolism. Endotoxin from
bacterial overgrowth is important in both diabetes and fatty liver. Aspirin
helps to lower inflammation and blood glucose, while promoting oxidative
metabolism. Coffee has some similar effects.
Some people have told me that using fructose eliminated
the fat from their liver; I think its reduction of phosphate might be
involved in its protective effects, while supporting oxidative metabolism."

 

[dannyroddy]

[PREPARING FOR BAD FUTURE?]

"I keep enough cash on hand to get to Mexico in situations of frozen accounts or imminent supply chain breakdown; in rural Mexico, the essential supply chains are so short that they are very stable. In Coeneo, we used to use fallen branches as fuel in the water heater, but now there’s a plastic solar water heater on the roof, that didn’t cost much. Solar electricity is a very good idea—electricity and city water are subject to scarcity and rationing. Having a good supply of durable staples is always convenient, even without major calamities." RP (2021)

 

[windinthepines]

One of the reasons a lot of people give, if they have
overcome the idea that milk forms mucous, or is a risk for diseases and so
on; one of their arguments is that it makes them fat. But, all the research
on animals, and as far as it goes, human research, shows that milk is
probably the best reducing foods there is. The mechanisms for that are now
known. Not only the anti-stress effects of casein, and a good balance of
saturated fats and so on, but the calcium alone is very important metabolic
regulator, that it happens to inhibit the fat-forming enzymes fatty acid
synthase, and incidentally that's a characteristic enzyme that goes wild in
cancer. But calcium and milk inhibit that fatty acid synthase, reducing the
formation of fats and at the same time it activates the uncoupling proteins
in the mitochondria, which are associated with increased longevity. Because
they, by increasing the metabolic rate, the uncoupling proteins burn
calories faster but they protect against free-radical oxidation. That they
pull the fuel through the oxidation process so fast in effect, that none of
it goes astray in random oxidation, where if you inhibit your energy
producing enzymes you tend to get random, stray oxidation that damage the
mitochondria. So the uncoupling proteins burn calories faster, at the same
time that your reducing fat synthesis and milk is, as far as I know, they
only food does both of those things simultaneously.

There's almost no context in which I would speak of
"an appropriate dose of T4," since thyroxin is so effective as an
antithyroid substance. It's appropriate if you are also taking T3, or if you
want to shrink your thyroid.

Thyroid will dependably correct your pregnenolone
production, if you have enough cholesterol, vitamin A, and protein. The
cholesterol will be consumed to make pregnenolone and progesterone and bile
acids. If cholesterol is below 160, fruit sugar helps to raise it. The
protein is needed to detoxify estrogen, unsaturated oils, etc, and to
maintain the T3. Protein deficiency gives antithyroid signals, and T4
will be used to make reverse T3 to inhibit T3's effects.
About 3 mcg of T3 especially if it's taken with milk
or gelatine-rich salty soup is effective for stopping the nocturnal alarm reaction.

The first couple of years that I took pregnenolone, I
suppose I ate more than a kilogram of it, but when I realized how much it
was costing, I found the minimum that's effective, which is very similar on
a weight basis for rats and humans; about 30 mg per day is the adequate
normal maintenance dose, but it can generally be taken spaced as much as ten
days apart, 200 mg per 7 days, 300 mg per ten days. A rat given thousands of
milligrams in a single dose shows no side effects, except a loss of appetite
while its stomach is full of the powder.

Diuresis is an effect of thyroid, pregnenolone and
progesterone, as antagonists to estrogenic edema. The alarm reaction that
happens at night has its effects in every organ; for the brain, it's similar
to epilepsy; for the intestine and bladder, the effect can be either
adrenergic or cholinergic, ie, too little or too much muscle tone; the blood
becomes more concentrated. The bowel reaction causes absorption of
endotoxin, which is a broad-spectrum poison; carrot salad, laxatives, etc.,
are especially important during the adjustment time.
Cholesterol has a long history as a protectant
against many toxins; I think this relates to the fact that people with very
low cholesterol have such a high incidence of endotoxin-related symptoms. It
might also relate to the therapeutic effects of eggnogs, though it takes a
lot of eggs to raise the cholesterol a little.

Blue eyes don't filter out as much U.V. and blue light, so people who work outside for years are more susceptible to light damage if their eyes aren't pigmented. Prostaglandins and probably heavy metals can cause pigment to increase with aging; generally, melanin is protective against free radical damage, so the continued light color suggests that you haven't been overexposed to some of the irritants.

Yes, I bought a place in Coeneo, Michoacan, several years ago, and have been fixing it up for that sort of thing. Things have been happening that have kept me in Oregon longer than I planned. The idea of Blake College was similar in many ways to Ivan Illich's CIDOC in Cuernavaca at the same time, and although there might be some classes, they aren't the basic idea--"retreat," with criticism and unplanned events, might be a better description of what I have in mind.

 

[windinthepines]

In physiology lab, my partner had to adjust the millivoltmeter, because when I put my hand near it, the indicator pegged at the top of the scale. When the professor was demonstrating the force of a grasshopper's leg, students rested their fingers on its foot, and the professor activated the electrical stimulator, and it would raise their finger. He did it with all the other students, and then turned away, lecturing, when I moved up to try it (he didn't like my attitude). When I touched my finger to the grasshopper's foot, it extended its leg, and held it, until I broke the contact; I repeated it a few times, and students started watching what I was doing; I stopped when he turned around to glare at me. I knew a woman who worked at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, and she wanted to show me around after hours. The cloud chamber for demonstrating cosmic rays was turned off, and she plugged it in. After a minute, a mist began forming in it (lines of droplets formed by the cosmic rays passing through), so I stepped forward to get a closer look. As I moved, the mist disappeared in a cylinder in the center of the case, so I stepped back, and the clear area retreated with me; we looked at each other, and I stepped up again, and the clear area advanced, as if it was attached to my body; it did it a couple of times, and then the cloud stabilized, and wasn't affected by my presence. It seemed to represent a field that extended about two feet from my torso. I think similar things aren't very rare, but people prefer to treat them as imaginary. I recently saw an Italian film, Agata and the storm, about a woman who made electrical things malfunction.

[Why not induce EFA deficiency? 2014]

I'm now getting at least half of my calories as sugar, and it would be more if the fruits were available. A few years ago, more than half my calories were from fat--butter, coconut oil, cream, beef and lamb. Because of the ~2% pufa in those fats, I decreased them, in favor of sugars. to deplete myself of the pufa as far as practicable. I considered hydrogenated coconut oil, but haven't found a reliable source without additives. In the US, I haven't found any commercial skimmed-milk cheese that doesn't have serious problems, such as using aspergillus enzymes or other additives that bother me. I'm having liver and shellfish about once a week, much less meat generally. Did you read about William R. Brown's experiences with the fat-free diet?

Yes, 0% pufa is the goal. Bacterial endotoxin is probably fairly harmless when there's no pufa.

 

[windinthepines]

It takes at least two weeks for a given dose of T4 to reach a steady
concentration in the body, apart from the hormonal-metabolic changes
that it will cause, so I think you probably increased the dose too
quickly. The half-life of T3 is much shorter, so by using doses of
less than 5 mcg at a time, it's possible to increase your liver's
glycogen storage and your other tissues' sensitivity to adrenergic
stimulation, without accumulating any excess T4. During that time,
having orange juice or other sweet fruit frequently, avoiding eating
protein by itself, will help to lower the stress hormones.

It usually takes me just a few days of eating extremely large amounts of sugar (milkshakes, marshmallows, ice cream, etc.) to replenish my stores. Sugar stops tasting especially good when I have had enough, and my pulse pressure, the difference between top and bottom blood pressure numbers, falls well below 50 points.
Normally, I usually have around 400 grams of carbohydrate. I have about 3 quarts of milk, varying amounts of orange juice (probably over a quart on average), eggs, and about 200 grams of meat or fish, with other things such as coca cola, cheese, ice cream, cheese cakes, some coconut oil and butter, occasional tropical fruits.

Lately I have been using mainly water based paints, as a result of the scarcity of turpentine, which I had previously used with oil paints. About ten years ago I got a can with the familiar "pure gum spirits of turpentine" label, that contained mineral spirits. I tried three other brands that turned out to be variations on gasoline. The main turpentine stills in the US closed several years ago. Your mention of someone in Mexico reminded me that I had read that it's still being produced there--where does that person live? If it's possible to locate a store in Mexico that sells it, they might be willing to send a bottle of it to my place in Mexico.

Knowledge isn’t a commodity, especially not a fungible commodity, as the medical business sees it. Consciousness and culture are part of the life process. It is exactly the commoditization of medical knowledge that makes it dangerous, and generally stupid. Doctors buy their knowledge, and then resell it over and over; it’s valuable as a commodity, so its value has to be protected by the equivalent of a copyright, the system of laws establishing the profession. Without its special status, its worthlessness would be quickly demonstrated. When A.C. Guyton wrote his textbook of medical physiology (the most widely used text in the world) in the 1950s, it was trash; as it was studied and applied by generations of physicians, it was still trash. The most compliant patients who bought their treatment from the most authoritative, Guytonesque, doctors were buying their own disability and death.
Each time you learn something, your consciousness becomes something different, and the questions you ask will be different; you don’t know what the next appropriate question will be when you haven’t assimilated the earlier answers. Until you see something as the answer to an urgent question, you can’t see that it has any value. The unexpected can’t be a commodity. When people buy professional knowledge they get what they pay for, a commodity in a system that sustains ignorance.

[Do you personally enjoy being in Mexico more so than in Eugene?]

Yes, anyplace in Mexico above 5000 feet altitude is very good--I always have a sense of euphoria in Mexico, seldom in the US. Even with the effects of television on the culture, people still have more of a sense of what's real.

 

[windinthepines]

Once when I was sick in Mexico my landlady gave me some unfamiliar pills, and as soon as I recovered I
had an intense craving for sour things, that I had never experienced
before or since; I suspected the drug might have caused some deficiency.
For a few days I squeezed lemon onto everything, and even ate them
plain, with pleasure. Then suddenly, the craving stopped. Animal studies
show that there are chemically appropriate cravings, but they are
guided by categories of nutrients that naturally occur together in
foods. Certain amino acids are detected as signals for protein, but
others aren't, and I think certain B vitamins work as signals. When I
suggested to a girl friend that salt craving was rational, she began
salting her food according to her premenstrual appetite for it, and
stopped having her regular premenstrual swelling. It has worked for
nearly everyone--I suspect that the few people who say it doesn't work
don't know what cravings are. Some people are very mechanical about
food, and think there should be something like medical instructions for
everything they do.

Before I discovered that I couldn't tolerate starches, and was having fairly copious bowel bleeding, I experimented by taking some sips of 2% dental lidocaine gel, and within a few minutes felt general relief, and didn't have any more bleeding for a long time (until Breyer's added gums to their ice cream).

The antiinflammatories and local anesthetics themselves have some antiviral effects--aspirin, Benadryl, procaine, lidocaine, belladonna, cascara, etc. Have you tried topical Lanacaine or TigerBalm?

[Bowel inflammation]

I had similar problems, had to eliminate practically all foods, then gradually found ways to increase my tolerance for some of them. Thyroid, progesterone, lidocaine, sugar, DHEA, atropine, pregnenolone, bamboo, cyproheptadine, cascara, flowers of sulfur or sodium thiosulfate, penicillin, aspirin, vitamin D, etc".

The basic problem of intestinal inflammation leads to bleeding in response to the extra irritation of certain foods. I have known people whose bleeding was stopped by thyroid alone; in my own experience, a small amount of 2% lidocaine solution, swallowed once, ended bleeding that had been occurring every day.

Yes, training the non-dominant hand stabilizes the nervous system, according to work done by Pavlov's followers. Kurt Goldstein used some similar principles with brain damaged patients. N.P. Bekhtereva used internal stimulation for some similar effects.

Fiziol Zh SSSR Im I M Sechenova 1984 Aug;70(8):1092-9
[Neurochemical aspects of therapeutic electric stimulation].
[Article in Russian]
Bekhtereva NP, Dambinova SA, Gurchin FA, Smirnov VM, Korol'kov AV
Comparative analysis of the CSF and blood protein-peptide composition in
Parkinsonian patients performed with the aid of indwelled electrodes prior to and after therapeutic electrical stimulation (TES) of the brain subcortical
structures, revealed a therapeutic effect in the form of reduced muscular
rigidity and a mental activation with a positive emotional response. After theTES the protein content in the biological fluids tended to become normalized and the the range of low-molecular protein-peptide fractions changed. A high-performance liquid chromatography, bidimensional electrophoresis and thin-layer chromatography revealed about 5-6 factors of peptide nature with the molecular mass less than 5000 daltons in the CSF and blood after the TES. These factors were shown to exert a biological effect upon muscle preparation of the leech."

 

[windinthepines]

When I get sour oranges I make marmalade from the peels, if they are organic. Shred, soak, cook slowly simmering in water for about an hour before adding sugar, and letting that simmer without boiling until it thickens a little. When it’s cool it thickens more. The peels are rich in antiinflammatory chemicals [naringin and naringenin], more than the juice, and the marmalade is a good way to get sugar with the cottage cheese or parmesan.

That looks like the old fashioned electric range, that’s very safe. We noticed that when we turned on a new induction burner, our cat looked worried, and wouldn’t get near it; I think they put out a much larger field than the standard old resistance element.

Like Paris in 1870, democracy or socialism tends to fail when all the surrounding countries invade. The USSR survived despite being invaded by the US, Canada, British Empire, Estonia, Poland, France, Australia, Italy, Greece, Serbia, Czechoslovakia, and Japan. Cuba survived for several decades despite invasion, embargo, and sabotage. Venezuela survived the coup and subsequent attempts, and now is embargoed like North Korea, cutting off much of its trade. It didn’t have socialism, but it wanted to charge royalties on the oil that was taken, the way Mexico did. The Spanish Republic was murdered by Hitler with the support of France, England, and the US.

It isn’t a matter of perspective, it’s a matter of mental clarity and the knowledge of how things work, and why. The system of corporations isn’t separable from the government that enforces its established institutions; courts, police, and military serve the system, not individuals. Nelson Rockefeller said he understood Marx's principles as well as anyone, but he applied them for his own benefit. People usually talk about Marx and Lenin without having read them, which is like religious kids talking familiarly about the devil—they have heard that he’s bad.

 

[Nick]

Question:
In clinical trials (stage I & II) for treating traumatic brain injury progesterone was effective but in stage III the dose was increased from 1 or 2mg/kg/day intravenously to 12mg/kg/day and it had no effect compared to the placebo. It was proposed in several papers that progesterone may have a U-shaped dose response curve which would perhaps explain these results. I wonder if the high dose might be depleting brain glycogen but I have trouble believing that this alone would eliminate all protective effect.

If you are familiar with these trials do you have any idea why a larger dose or some other procedural factor might have eliminated the progesterone's neuroprotective effects?
Are you aware of any evidence of a U-shaped dose response curve for progesterone?

Randy B. Howard, Iqbal Sayeed, Donald G. Stein. Suboptimal dosing parameters as possible factors in the negative Phase III clinical trials of progesterone for TBI. J Neurotrauma 2016
http://sci-hub.ac/10.1089/neu.2015.4179

Ray Peat:
Although the history of phase III studies might suggest that someone doesn’t intend for them to succeed, what’s clear is that ignorance increased the likelihood of failure in the progesterone study. Soybean oil is brain toxic, and it’s not an adequate solvent for progesterone, so much of the progesterone was probably trapped in the spleen, failing to protect the brain from the toxic effect of the fatty acids. Oral progesterone lowers nitric oxide and prostaglandins, protects against histamine and serotonin, and reduces the formation of free fatty acids. Dissolved in vitamin E, it’s taken up from the intestine in chylomicrons, and safely made available to the brain, and the vitamin E and progesterone both protect the brain by inhibiting nitric oxide and heme oxygenase (source of carbon monoxide and free iron). The protective effects increase with dose; extremely high doses produce anesthesia, which wouldn’t be a problem for traumatic brain injury patients, but starting with about 50 mg at a time a person can adjust the dose according to how they feel.

Food Chem. 2012 Sep 15;134(2):920-5.
Comparative effects of tocotrienol-rich fraction, α-tocopherol and α-tocopheryl
acetate on inflammatory mediators and nuclear factor kappa B expression in mouse
peritoneal macrophages.
Ng LT(1), Ko HJ.
(1)Department of Agricultural Chemistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei,
Taiwan. [email protected]
The effects of tocotrienol-rich fraction (TRF), α-tocopherol (T) and α-tocopheryl
acetate (TA) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory responses in mouse
peritoneal macrophages were examined. Results showed that at 5-30 μg/ml, all test
compounds plus 1 μg/ml LPS exhibited no cytotoxic effects on macrophage cells.
Compared with T and TA, TRF showed the strongest anti-inflammatory activity as
demonstrated by its potency in inhibiting the LPS-induced nitric oxide (NO),
prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)), and proinflammatory cytokine (TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-1β
and IL-6) production. At 10 μg/ml, it significantly blocked the LPS induction of
inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression,
but has no effect on cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1). Furthermore, TRF also showed a
greater inhibition on the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) expression than T and
TA. These results suggest that TRF could be a better agent than T and TA for use
in the prevention of chronic inflammatory diseases.
Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

2. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2000 Oct 10;97(21):11494-9.
gamma-tocopherol and its major metabolite, in contrast to alpha-tocopherol,
inhibit cyclooxygenase activity in macrophages and epithelial cells.
Jiang Q(1), Elson-Schwab I, Courtemanche C, Ames BN.
(1)Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of California,
Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)-catalyzed synthesis of prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) plays
a key role in inflammation and its associated diseases, such as cancer and
vascular heart disease. Here we report that gamma-tocopherol (gammaT) reduced
PGE(2) synthesis in both lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages
and IL-1beta-treated A549 human epithelial cells with an apparent IC(50) of 7.5
and 4 microM, respectively. The major metabolite of dietary gammaT,
2,7,8-trimethyl-2-(beta-carboxyethyl)-6-hydroxychroman (gamma-CEHC), also
exhibited an inhibitory effect, with an IC(50) of approximately 30 microM in
these cells. In contrast, alpha-tocopherol at 50 microM slightly reduced (25%)
PGE(2) formation in macrophages, but had no effect in epithelial cells. The
inhibitory effects of gammaT and gamma-CEHC stemmed from their inhibition of
COX-2 activity, rather than affecting protein expression or substrate
availability, and appeared to be independent of antioxidant activity. gamma-CEHC
also inhibited PGE(2) synthesis when exposed for 1 h to COX-2-preinduced cells
followed by the addition of arachidonic acid (AA), whereas under similar
conditions, gammaT required an 8- to 24-h incubation period to cause the
inhibition. The inhibitory potency of gammaT and gamma-CEHC was diminished by an
increase in AA concentration, suggesting that they might compete with AA at the
active site of COX-2. We also observed a moderate reduction of nitrite
accumulation and suppression of inducible nitric oxide synthase expression by
gammaT in lipopolysaccharide-treated macrophages. These findings indicate that
gammaT and its major metabolite possess anti-inflammatory activity and that
gammaT at physiological concentrations may be important in human disease
prevention.

Free Radic Biol Med. 2004 Aug 1;37(3):325-38.
Inflammatory mediator and beta-amyloid (25-35)-induced ceramide generation and
iNOS expression are inhibited by vitamin E.
Ayasolla K(1), Khan M, Singh AK, Singh I.
(1)Department of Pediatrics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
29425, USA.
To investigate the putative role of beta-amyloid peptide (A beta) in inducing
oxidative stress damage in Alzheimer disease (AD), we studied the effects of
proinflammatory cytokines and A beta peptide on the induction of inducible nitric
oxide synthase (iNOS). A beta(25-35) upregulated the cytokine (TNF-alpha/IL-1
beta)-induced expression of iNOS and the production of nitric oxide (NO) in
astrocytes, which were inhibited by vitamin E. A beta treatment of C6 glial cells
(together with LPS and IFN-gamma), in addition to inducing iNOS, enhanced the
oxidative stress as measured by increased expression of manganese superoxide
dismutase and an increase in 2,7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate fluorescence. We
also observed that LPS, IFN-gamma, and A beta(25-35) treatment led to the
activation of the sphingomyelin-ceramide (SM-Cer) cascade with an increase in
cellular ceramide. Inhibition of the SM-Cer cascade either by vitamin E treatment
or by the neutral sphingomyelinase inhibitor 3-O-methyl sphingomyelin also
resulted in alteration of the transcriptional binding activities of C/EBP,
NFkappaB, AP-1, and CREB in C6 glial cells. Hence, these findings suggest a role
for ceramide in iNOS induction and NO production in Abeta-induced AD pathobiology
and provide a possible explanation for the beneficial effects of vitamin E
therapy.

Brain Res. 2008 Feb 8;1193:120-7.
Protective effect of nitric oxide synthase inhibition or antioxidants on brain
oxidative damage caused by intracerebroventricular arginine administration.
Delwing D(1), Delwing D, Bavaresco CS, Wyse AT.
(1)Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde,
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Rua Ramiro Barcelos, 2600-Anexo, CEP
90035-003, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
We have previously demonstrated that acute arginine administration induces
oxidative stress and compromises energy metabolism in rat hippocampus. In the
present study, we initially investigated the effect of intracerebroventricular
infusion of arginine (0.1, 0.5 and 1.5 mM solution) on Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activity
and on some parameters of oxidative stress, namely thiobarbituric acid-reactive
substances (TBA-RS) and total radical-trapping antioxidant parameter (TRAP) in
the hippocampus of rats. Results showed that 1.5 mM arginine solution
significantly increases TBA-RS and reduces Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activity and TRAP in
the rat hippocampus. We also evaluated the influence of the nitric oxide synthase
inhibitor, N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), and antioxidants,
namely alpha-tocopherol plus ascorbic acid, on the effects elicited by arginine
on Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activity, TBA-RS and TRAP. Results showed that treatment
with alpha-tocopherol plus ascorbic acid per se did not alter these parameters
but prevented these effects. Furthermore, intracerebroventricular infusion of
L-NAME prevented the inhibition caused by arginine on Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activity,
as well as the increased of TBA-RS. Our findings indicate that
intracerebroventricular infusion of arginine induces oxidative stress in rat
hippocampus and that the inhibition of Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activity caused by this
amino acid was probably mediated by NO and/or its derivatives ONOO(-) and/or
other free radicals. Finally, we suggest that the administration of antioxidants
should be considered as an adjuvant therapy to specific diets in
hyperargininemia.

Free Radic Biol Med. 2007 Nov 15;43(10):1439-52. .
Cytoprotective properties of alpha-tocopherol are related to gene regulation in
cultured D-galactosamine-treated human hepatocytes.
González R(1), Collado JA, Nell S, Briceño J, Tamayo MJ, Fraga E, Bernardos A,
López-Cillero P, Pascussi JM, Rufián S, Vilarem MJ, De la Mata M, Brigelius-Flohe
R, Maurel P, Muntané J.
(1)Liver Research Unit, Reina Sofía University Hospital, Ciberehd, E-14004
Córdoba, Spain.
Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) has demonstrated antioxidant activity and
gene-regulatory properties. d-Galactosamine (D-GalN)-induced cell death is
mediated by nitric oxide in hepatocytes, and it is associated with hepatic
steatosis. The beneficial properties of alpha-tocopherol and their relation to
oxidative stress and gene regulation were assessed in D-GalN-induced cell death.
Hepatocytes were isolated from human liver resections by a collagenase perfusion
technique. alpha-Tocopherol (50 microM) was administered at the advanced stages
(10 h) of D-GalN-induced cell death in cultured hepatocytes. Cell death,
oxidative stress, alpha-tocopherol metabolism, and NF-kappaB-, pregnane X
receptor (PXR)-, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor
(PPAR-alpha)-associated gene regulation were estimated in the hepatocytes. D-GalN
increased cell death and alpha-tocopherol metabolism. alpha-Tocopherol exerted a
moderate beneficial effect against apoptosis and necrosis induced by D-GalN.
Induction (rifampicin) or inhibition (ketoconazole) of alpha-tocopherol
metabolism and overexpression of PXR showed that the increase in PXR-related
CYP3A4 expression caused by alpha-tocopherol enhanced cell death in hepatocytes.
Nevertheless, the reduction in NF-kappaB activation and inducible nitric oxide
synthase expression and the enhancement of PPAR-alpha and carnitine palmitoyl
transferase gene expression by alpha-tocopherol may be relevant for cell
survival. In conclusion, the cytoprotective properties of alpha-tocopherol are
mostly related to gene regulation rather than to antioxidant activity in
toxin-induced cell death in hepatocytes.

Lipids Health Dis. 2011 Dec 20;10:239.
Inhibition of nitric oxide in LPS-stimulated macrophages of young and senescent
mice by δ-tocotrienol and quercetin.
Qureshi AA(1), Tan X, Reis JC, Badr MZ, Papasian CJ, Morrison DC, Qureshi N.
(1)Department of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Missouri-Kansas City, 2411
Holmes Street, Kansas City, MO 64108, USA. [email protected]
BACKGROUND: Changes in immune function believed to contribute to a variety of
age-related diseases have been associated with increased production of nitric
oxide (NO). We have recently reported that proteasome inhibitors (dexamethasone,
mevinolin, quercetin, δ-tocotrienol, and riboflavin) can inhibit
lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced NO production in vitro by RAW 264.7 cells and by
thioglycolate-elicited peritoneal macrophages derived from four strains of mice
(C57BL/6, BALB/c, LMP7/MECL-1(-/-) and PPAR-α(-/-) knockout mice). The present
study was carried out in order to further explore the potential effects of diet
supplementation with naturally-occurring inhibitors (δ-tocotrienol and quercetin)
on LPS-stimulated production of NO, TNF-α, and other pro-inflammatory cytokines
involved in the ageing process. Young (4-week-old) and senescent mice (42-week
old) were fed control diet with or without quercetin (100 ppm), δ-tocotrienol
(100 ppm), or dexamethasone (10 ppm; included as positive control for suppression
of inflammation) for 4 weeks. At the end of feeding period,
thioglycolate-elicited peritoneal macrophages were collected, stimulated with
LPS, LPS plus interferon-β (IFN-β), or LPS plus interferon-γ (IFN-γ), and
inflammatory responses assessed as measured by production of NO and TNF-α, mRNA
reduction for TNF-α, and iNOS genes, and microarray analysis.
RESULTS: Thioglycolate-elicited peritoneal macrophages prepared after four weeks
of feeding, and then challenged with LPS (10 ng or 100 ng) resulted in increases
of 55% and 73%, respectively in the production of NO of 46-week-old compared to
8-week-old mice fed control diet alone (respective control groups), without
affecting the secretion of TNF-α among these two groups. However, macrophages
obtained after feeding with quercetin, δ-tocotrienol, and dexamethasone
significantly inhibited (30% to 60%; P < 0.02) the LPS-stimulated NO production,
compared to respective control groups. There was a 2-fold increase in the
production of NO, when LPS-stimulated macrophages of quercetin, δ-tocotrienol, or
dexamethasone were also treated with IFN-β or IFN-γ compared to respective
control groups. We also demonstrated that NO levels and iNOS mRNA expression
levels were significantly higher in LPS-stimulated macrophages from senescent
(0.69 vs 0.41; P < 0.05), compared to young mice. In contrast, age did not appear
to impact levels of TNF-α protein or mRNA expression levels (0.38 vs 0.35) in
LPS-stimulated macrophages. The histological analyses of livers of control groups
showed lesions of peliosis and microvesicular steatosis, and treated groups
showed Councilman body, and small or large lymphoplasmacytic clusters.
CONCLUSIONS: The present results demonstrated that quercetin and δ-tocotrienols
inhibit the LPS-induced NO production in vivo. The microarray DNA analyses,
followed by pathway analyses indicated that quercetin or δ-tocotrienol inhibit
several LPS-induced expression of several ageing and pro-inflammatory genes
(IL-1β, IL-1α, IL-6, TNF-α, IL-12, iNOS, VCAM1, ICAM1, COX2, IL-1RA, TRAF1 and
CD40). The NF-κB pathway regulates the production of NO and inhibits the
pro-inflammatory cytokines involved in normal and ageing process. These ex vivo
results confirmed the earlier in vitro findings. The present findings of
inhibition of NO production by quercetin and δ-tocotrienol may be of clinical
significance treating several inflammatory diseases, including ageing process.

 

[Nick]

Question:
Do you have any thoughts on the safety of pyrantel pamoate as an anthelminthic in humans?

Ray Peat:
It seems to be safe.

 

[Jman]

Q:
What would be your approach with using supplemental progesterone if you were a newly pregnant female?

Ray:
It’s necessary to know the general situation, including the balance of nutrients in the diet, the metabolic rate, temperature, pulse rate, body weight, age. and menstrual cycle history.

Q:
Would it be a matter of using more the worse the individual situation is?
Would I be right in thinking that the dose should gradually increase during the pregnancy? I.e; starting with one drop per day, and adding a drop every month?

Ray:
Katharina Dalton sometimes gave the same amount all the way through pregnancy, but sometimes it’s no longer needed when the placenta makes enough. The nutritional discoveries of Tom Brewer, Jay Hodin and others support progesterone production. Thyroid hormone makes the use of progesterone easier.

---

Q:
I’ve recently moved to a rural area, with lots of sheep and cattle. I’m sure I’d be able to access fresh thyroid glands here. This morning I’ve been thinking about the idea of making my own NDT as a fun experiment. Just googling on how that could be done I’ve found instructions like this;

“Remove the fat and connective tissue directly the sheep is killed. Reject cystic, hypertrophied or otherwise abnormal glands. Mince. Dry at 90° to 100° F. 32.2° to 37.7° C.. Powder the dried product. Remove all fat by washing with petroleum spirit and again dry.”


Do you know much about how it could be done at home?

Ray:
Medical grade acetone is good for the defatting. They stay greasy if the fat isn’t all removed, but that’s o.k. if they are frozen. Much of the fat can be removed by cooking them, then they can be powdered.

---

Q:
Do you have an idea of what percentage of absorption there is when applying steroids dissolved in vitamin-e on the lips?

Ray:
It’s much higher than on the skin, probably around 50%, but usually it migrates into the mouth, with close to 100% absorption.

---

Q:
Have you had any progress on finding a decent quality pregnenolone? Do you think if someone had a bunch of money, they could approach a manufacturer somewhere and they could figure out how to produce a very clean product?

Ray:
I think the surest thing would be to arrange contract production by one of the giant steroid producers—preferably the one that took over Syntec’s product. It would probably be more expensive than getting it from the places that produce it as the end product. They might still be using the same technology from the crude saponin to pregnenolone. New, more efficient technologies that are more profitable sometimes produce radically different products, for example ascorbic acid after 1955 and vitamin E after the 1990s.

---

Q:
Do you know of an online source of trustable quality progesterone powder? I am wanting to make my own higher concentration mixtures to make topical use more practical.

Ray:
I think the easily accessible sources currently are coming from manufacturers who don’t have a long history of good quality. I stopped using pregnenolone when Berlichem in Mexico stopped selling it, because the material from other companies gave me allergic reactions, and I think there might be similar problems with progesterone from new factories.