Ray Peat: Nourish Your Body Vigorously!

Increase Metabolism to Improve Health

Ray Peat, Ph.D. (1936 - 2022) researched how our human hormones interconnect with our mitochondrial energy production.

Dr. Peat proposed a "pro-metabolic" or "bio-energetic" approach to nutrition, which emphasizes balancing our hormones and increasing our metabolism to optimize our energy and health.

Higher mitochondrial energy production helps us repair and optimize our bodies, and feel better.

Dietary Suggestions to Maximize Metabolism

Dr. Peat is famous for outside-the-box dietary suggestions like

• eating fruit juice and even sugar to ensure fuel for glucose metabolism,
• replacing all polyunsaturated fat (PUFA) sources (seed oils and fatty fish) with saturated fats (butter, tallow, and coconut oil) to strengthen the structure of cell and mitochondrial membranes,
• eliminating foods with anti-nutrients that block metabolism (grains, legumes, cruciferous vegetables, leafy greens, nuts, and seeds), and,
• reducing colonization of the gut by bad microbes that produce lipopolysaccharide (LPS) endotoxin, which spreads throughout the body and blocks energy metabolism.

Dr. Peat also advocated taking certain hormones, aspirin, synthetic vitamins, and antihistamines to adjust hormone levels, and to signal for increased energy metabolism.

How Mineral Balance Increases Metabolism

Dr. Peat understood the bad effects of excess iron and the importance of getting enough copper.

In an article called Iron's Dangers, Dr. Peat warned about poor health effects relating to excess iron, and concluded by mentioning the related benefits of getting enough copper.

"Excess iron is a crucial element in the transformation of stress into tissue damage by free radicals", Dr. Peat wrote. "Iron causes cell aging."

About copper, Dr. Peat stated: "Too much iron can block our absorption of copper, and too little copper makes us store too much iron. With aging, our tissues lose copper as they store excess iron."

Still, (please correct me if I'm wrong), by the end of his life, I'm not sure that Dr. Peat specifically addressed the overall idea of balancing all the minerals to drive enzymes and make hormones optimally. Many minerals affect the production of hormones by the thyroid, parathyroid, gonads, and other glands.

The minerals, when in overall balance, can dramatically boost metabolism, hormonal health, and energy. Therefore, outstanding overall mineral balance enables Dr. Peat's bio-energetic goal of eating for a vibrant metabolic state.

Nature's intricate dance of the interrelated minerals may even offer us some gentler approaches and effective natural alternatives to a few of the more unusual dietary and synthetic interventions that Dr. Peat proposed.

How Increased Metabolism Improves Mineral Balance

Many aspects of mineral metabolism require ATP energy to react or transport minerals. More energy improves our bodies' balance and utilization of minerals.

Therefore, Dr. Peat's pro-metabolic concept of increasing energy metabolism exerts a broad generalized benefit on our mineral metabolism.

Dr. Ray Peat's Creative Contributions

Dr. Peat made profound discoveries about the importance of increasing energy metabolism, providing ample nutrients, and healing the gut.

Dr. Peat thought creatively and innovatively. He extended the horizons and hypotheses of nutrition far beyond their prior bounds. Many of the methods Dr. Peat proposed fit well with mineral balancing. Some methods may be further enhanced with natural methods and with addressing mineral root causes.

Dr. Peat's overall paradigm and framework addresses health with comprehensive long-term vision.

Important Concepts from Dr. Ray Peat and His Successors

Here is a quick summary of important concepts from Dr. Ray Peat's Bioenergetic approach:

• Energy: We want to maximize energy metabolism. Higher energy input and output gives us more energy for improved performance and repair.
  • Indicators of Energy: Assess metabolism by body temperature, pulse, hormones, energy, response to stress, hunger, sleep, digestion, libido, mood, excitement for life, etc.
• Bio-Energetic Foods: Eat real, organic, whole, bio-energetic foods.
  • Macronutrients:
    • Eat 20-40% of calories from fat.
    • Eat 0.6-0.8 grams protein per pound body weight per day.
    • Eat the remainder of calories from carbohydrates.
    • Eat at least twice as many grams of carbohydrate as protein.
    • Too much fat or protein will interfere with optimal carb metabolism.
  • Carbohydrates for Fuel: Easily digestible carbs are optimal fuel. Find carb sources that work for you (sugars, fruits, peeled well-cooked tubers and root vegetables, fruit-vegetables, dairy, etc). Increase carbs slowly though, 10-20g/week, as tolerated.
  • Avoid Polyunsaturated Fats (PUFAs): Avoid PUFA rigorously (vegetable/seed oils, nuts & seeds, chicken fat, fatty fish, most restaurant and prepared foods). PUFA makes weak, soft, leaky cell membranes AND weak, soft, leaky mitochondria membranes, resulting in poorer energy production.
  • Eat More Saturated Fats: For fats, emphasize grass-fed ruminant fats (butter, ghee, tallow, beef or lamb fat, etc.), since ruminants ferment their grass food to naturally produce minimal-PUFA fats. Saturated fats make stronger cell and mitochondrial membranes.
  • Protein Sources with Glycine-Methionine Balance: For proteins, balance glycine-rich sources (bone broth, joints, connective tissue, tendon) with methionine-rich sources (muscle meat, dairy, eggs).
  • Water and Other Drinks: Drink water when you're thirsty, not more than that. Ignore the hype about water. Too much water imbalances other nutrients and dilutes the metabolism. Instead of too much water, also drink other fluids too that are rich in nutrients (like juice, broth, raw milk, etc.), depending on your preference and reactions.
  • Caution with Plants: Be careful with plant foods due to anti-nutrients (in grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, cruciferous vegetables, leafy greens, etc.). Fruits are safer plant options because plants intend for ripe fruits to be eaten as part of the plant's life cycle. Roots and tubers also provide safer plant options because plants have less need for anti-nutrient defenses within their buried, underground parts.
  • Protect Your Bones By Eating Calcium: Eat enough calcium (dairy, crushed grassfed bone powder, bone-in fish, eggshell calcium) that you don't leach your bones for reserve calcium supply.
  • Protect Your Bones By Avoiding Excess Phosphorus: Avoid eating excess phosphorus (too much grains, legumes, meat, fish, nuts) because excess phosphorus also causes leaching of bones. When there's too much phosphorus, the body senses a relative deficiency of calcium and the hormones signal that there's too little calcium.
  • Satisfy the Parathyroid That You Have Enough Calcium: The parathyroid and the thyroid work inversely with each other. The thyroid won't signal for mitochondrial energy production fully until the parathyroid is satisfied that the bioavailable calcium supply is sufficient without leaching the bone reserves. Keep parathyroid hormone level down to keep thyroid hormone levels and energy levels up.
  • Eat to Show Your Body Abundance: A constant stress or starvation state leads the body to downregulate energy production. In contrast, a body fed in abundance has less need for stress response, and more ability to produce energy in the mitochondria.
  • Refeed Carbs Gently: A degree of starvation is common on many modern diets, especially among some low-carb, high-fat diets. Instead of avoiding an impaired glucose metabolism system, it's better to restore the system with the steps above, and very slowly reintroduce high-carb foods for optimal energy. The starved body needs to renourish gradually, to avoid nutrient deficiencies induced by rapid refeeding, called "Refeeding Syndrome".
• Reduce Stress! The stress response signals a state of emergency. The adrenals' stress response inhibits the thyroid, which in turn signals for lower mitochondrial energy production.
  • Eat Enough! Don't Starve! Eat enough calories and carbs to avoid entering starvation mode and activating the stress response. Often the stress hormone production occurs as a result of running out of carbs to burn for short-term fuel. Your body should sense nutritional plenty and gear up its metabolism to work better.
  • Eat Often: Eat often enough to avoid triggering the stress response by excess hunger. The stress response inhibits the thyroid and lowers mitochondrial energy production. Leave a few 3+ hour breaks without eating during the course of the day, to allow for your gut to digest and move food along.
  • Exercise: Don't activate chronic stress response with over-exercise. Excess exercise triggers stress response, which inhibits the thyroid and lowers mitochondrial energy production.
  • Sleep: Get enough good-quality sleep. Insufficient sleep triggers stress response, which inhibits the thyroid and lowers mitochondrial energy production.
• Balance Hormones: to signal for more mitochondrial energy production.
  • Anti-Metabolic Hormones: Hormones that are often too high for optimal metabolism: estrogen, prolactin, pararthyroid hormone (PTH), cortisol, glucagon, adrenaline, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), inactive thyroid hormone (reverse T3), serotonin.
  • Pro-Metabolic Hormones: Hormones that are often too low for optimal metabolism: progesterone, testosterone, pregnenolone, active thyroid hormone (free T3), melatonin.
  • Thyroid Hormone Signals Energy: The thyroid directs energy metabolism; do everything possible to nourish the thyroid. The thyroid is the "gas pedal" for the speed of mitochondrial energy metabolism.
• Healthy Gut Makes Healthy Mitochondria: Pay utmost attention to the gut microbiome.
  • Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) Endotoxin from gut dysbiosis is highly toxic to the whole body. LPS endotoxin, from excess of the wrong microbes in the gut, triggers stress response, which inhibits the thyroid and lowers mitochondrial energy production. Restore digestion and microbial balance to reduce LPS toxicity and increase metabolism.
  • Gut and Mitochondria Each Support Each Other. Increased energy production will help the gut function better: including better food digestion, nutrient absorption, gut flow, and waste elimination. Also, conversely, a healthier gut will boost energy production through better absorption of nutrients, more beneficial microbes, and lower LPS endotoxin load.
• Support Electron Flow for Efficient Mitochondria: Pay utmost attention to electron flow in the mitochondria.
  • Mitochondrial Nutrients: Ensure ample supply of mitochondrial electron carriers and other nutrient cofactors. Mitochondrial nutrients help avoid reductive stress, in which electrons get trapped in the Electron Transport Chain and energy can't be made efficiently.
  • Sensitive Reactions: Small changes don't perturb stable, uninflamed cells. In contrast, low-energy cells or inflamed cells react with an emergency response to small changes. Calcium calms and reinforces stable cells, but can overactivate emergency response of weak cells. Thus, sensitive reactions and transient changes are an indication of impaired cells. Follow diet steps above and get plenty of bioavailable calcium to strengthen the cells.
  • Iron's Dangers and Copper's Benefits: Avoid cellular iron overload. Excess iron is a potent toxin. Copper helps counterbalance and mobilize iron.

References

There are numerous resources about Dr. Peat! Here are just a few of them that I've found helpful:

1. Blomfield, K. (Host). (2021, June). Vitamin D, calcium and mineral metabolism with Dr. Ray Peat and Kate Deering (No. 53) [Audio podcast episode]. In Weight loss for women: Eat more, train less, get results. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0txjD7Wq5YF55rACRhCdfu?si=7oydN1yQRGSI914uKDsesw&nd=1&dlsi=20c5bbdf419a4068
2. Deering, K. (2015). How to heal your metabolism: Stop blaming aging for your slowing metabolism. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. https://www.katedeering.com/my-book
3. Feldman, J. (2024). Energy balance food guide. Jay Feldman Wellness. https://www.jayfeldmanwellness.com/guide/
4. Peat, Ray, Ph.D. (2022). Article Index. https://raypeat.com/articles/
5. Peat, Ray, Ph.D. (2006). Iron's Dangers. https://raypeat.com/articles/articles/iron-dangers.shtml
6. Peat, Ray, Ph.D. (2006). Vegetables, etc.—Who Defines Food? http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/vegetables.shtml
7. Ray Peat Forum. (n.d.). Low-toxin lifestyle, toxic bile theory, Ray Peat's research. https://raypeatforum.com/community/
8. Rickert, J. (Host). (2024, January 1). The bioenergetic model of health with Jay Feldman [Video]. The Peace Offering. https://www.thepeaceoffering.com/blog/bioenergetic-model-jay-feldman
9. Rickert, J. (2024). High energy health course. The Peace Offering. https://www.thepeaceoffering.com/high-energy-health-course-1
10. Urban, N. (2023, December 22). BioEnergetic nutrition, pro-metabolism, optimal health, & Ray Peat's best ideas. Outliyr. https://outliyr.com/bioenergetic-nutrition-prometabolism-ray-peat