Ray Peat Email Advice Depository Discussion/Comment Thread

[burtlancast]

From a recent exchange with member Rah:

"Internal acidification of cells is necessary for apoptosis, and tumors grow because their apoptosis is prevented by the internal alkalinity caused by glycolysis. Baking soda, some antihistamines, and acetazolamide (Diamox) can restore normal intracellular acidity"

 

[blob69]

I noticed that the last post in Ray Peat Email Advice Depository is from December. Did anyone talk to dr. Peat after that? Is he still replying to emails?

 

[blob69]

Anyone?

 

[milk_lover]

I noticed that the last post in Ray Peat Email Advice Depository is from December. Did anyone talk to dr. Peat after that? Is he still replying to emails?

I emailed him in the months following December and he responded to most of my emails except the one about evolution and apes and stuff.

 

[blob69]

Thanks, milklover. Good to know he's still answering emails. If not too personal, consider posting your correspondence to RP Email Advice Depository thread.

 

[raypeatclips]

ME:
Does the same rule apply for a female toddler in regards to it being harder for T4 to convert to T3 via liver due to more estrogen than a toddler boy?

Our daughter takes T3/T4 (equal to 1/16th of cynoplus per day) and we're wondering if the T3/T4 should be more of a night usage due to T4's effect on TSH at night and possibly T3 only during the day.

We estimate based on the 1/16th of cynoplus, around 1 mcg of a cytomel would equate to what she was getting from the cynoplus (during the day.)

Is our thinking correct based on your experience?

p.s- Since starting her thyroid therapy, she stood for the first time in about week into the therapy and walked solo for the first time after 44 days (12 steps.)

PEAT:
I don’t know that there’s a gender difference at that age; the T3 component in the combination is likely to improve her liver function so that the T4 is effective. Recently someone told me that their non-walking kid had her first bowl of ice cream and almost immediately started walking.

You are giving your toddler thyroid hormone?

 

[damngoodcoffee]

he responded to most of my emails except the one about evolution and apes and stuff

I've noticed he usually avoids answering the most juiciest questions.

 

[Beastmode]

You are giving your toddler thyroid hormone?

Is this a rhetorical question?

If you have a specific question please feel free to DM if necessary.

Thank you

 

[Optimus]

Question

Hi Ray,
I am planning to lease an apartment in Ithaca and I see that it has electric stoves. I have attached a picture as am not familiar with this type. What is your view regarding electric (induction) stoves for cooking? Any negatives or is it a non-issue and what precautions should one take?

Ray Peat responded few hours back

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.

 

[Kartoffel]

It was as if Ayn Rand’s books were being used in sociology and philosophy courses.

Haha, love it. Another punch in the face of the people trying to frame Ray as an anti-socialist, anarcho-capitalist.

 

[ecstatichamster]

Haha, love it. Another punch in the face of the people trying to frame Ray as an anti-socialist, anarcho-capitalist.

He is definitely a communist.

 

[paymanz]

He is definitely a communist.

im not sure if he is communist but every society tried communism is failed.

Ray is so much smarter than that.

 

[Kartoffel]

im not sure if he is communist but every society tried communism is failed.

Ray is so much smarter than that.

The only label he has used (indirectly by stating that Kropotkin resonates best with his own views) to describe his own political philosphy is communist anarchism. No society has ever tried something close to that, so it is pointless to argue it has failed. The communist countries Americans like to point to so much were totalitarian regimes not much different than Nazi Germany or Mussolini's Italy. They just put a different name on it and said everything belongs to the people to justify centralized controll by the party.

 

[Fractality]

The only label he has used (indirectly by stating that Kropotkin resonates best with his own views) to describe his own political philosphy is communist anarchism. No society has ever tried something close to that, so it is pointless to argue it has failed. The communist countries Americans like to point to so much were totalitarian regimes not much different than Nazi Germany or Mussolini's Italy. They just put a different name on it and said everything belongs to the people to justify centralized controll by the party.

That can also be re-phrased as anarcho-primitivism, extolling the virtues of certain hunter gatherer tribes and bonobos. No technology, a sharing culture, no authoritarianism, centered around rest and relaxation, no stress, clean environment free of man-made toxins and pollutants.

 

[tara]

Me:
"The other day I had an argument with my cousin who studies biology at a university. He’s claiming we came from apes. I look at apes and I see resemblance in the way they walk and use their thumbs to grab things, but other than that, their faces are nothing like our faces. Do you agree with Darwin that we came from apes?"

Peat:
He didn't answer that

John van Wyhe explodes some myths about Darwin
Darwin Online

 

[Sheik]

I wouldn't label Ray in some way that he doesn't label himself.

 

[paymanz]

On Deuterium Depletion:

“Hi Dr Peat,
I'm currently diving into Deuterium research and fascinated by it; on the one hand, high Deuterium appears to impact metabolism overtime by "jamming" ATP synthase- so it would be prudent to keep deuterium content in body low.
I recall in one of your interviews you mentioned deuterium depleted water, and I want to give it a try (there's a new USA based supply offering 25ppm at better price than the ones from EU suppliers).
In terms of Deuterium content in foods, there's a push for Ketogenic type diets to help deplete it, Center of Deuterium Depletion in CA recommends reducing intake of carbohydrates, specially fruits as they believe that's where Deuterium gets pushed into. Short of moving into high altitude regions, is there any legitimate concerns about reducing carbs to avoid excess Deuterium?
On the flip side, there's investigation around using Deuterated PUFAs to prevent lipid peroxidation damage from propagating. Looks like a drug is under development using D-PUFAs against neurodegenerative conditions. What are your thoughts on using D-PUFAs as a weapon against oxidative stress? Also, would be interesting if Deuterium played a beneficial role during mead acid production.”

Dr Peat
“I think beet sugar from areas east of the Rockies is likely to be low deuterium, since more will be rained out enroute from the ocean. I think a similar process of reducing deuterium is likely to be involved in producing fruit and milk, since the aging organism accumulates deuterium; young tissues are better than old tissues. I think LG Boros talks nonsense.”

I didnt know he talked on this subject, which interview he mentioned it?

 

[Miso]

I didnt know he talked on this subject, which interview he mentioned it?

He has commented on deuterium in passing on a few occasions- doing a search on this site shows two KMUD interview transcripts where he mentions it:

The Heart 3, KMUD, 2013
HD: I know you’re against drinking plain water. You would rather have people get their water from nutritional foods.

RP: Yea. And we do make quite a bit of water metabolically; when we eat carbohydrates, in particular, some of the oxygen that we are using to produce energy becomes water. And the metabolic water is just intermixing with the water that we get from the food itself. But the nature of the oxygens contained in carbohydrates can influence [too] the metabolism of the cell. The hydrogens, as well as the oxygens, are a mixture of isotopes of different weight. In everything that we eat, or consist of, we have a mixture of these different weight isotopes. And heavy water (deuterium oxide) slows down our metabolism. And because the rainfall is separating the heavy water from the light water, there’s a slight difference in the water that we get from tropical sugars versus beef sugars that’s grown up in a high altitude. So, depending on where the fruit grows, there is a slight difference in the quality of the water.

KMUD Herb Doctors: Inflammation (Jan 2011)
RP: In the 1930s when they first made isotopically heavy water with deuterium replacing hydrogen, they found that it slowed biological processes - daily rhythm, nerve conduction - and in 1950 they showed in mouse experiments that it tremendously accelerated the aging process and all of the features of aging, slowing metabolism and dying prematurely were produced but it took about 50 years after that before people started experimenting with the light water from which the heavy water has been removed and they found that - for example, they were experimenting with it in Russian space vehicles and they found the condensed sweat had been filtered and it was a very light water resembling glacier water.

HD: So what water do you recommend people drink Dr Peat? Do you have one?

RP: No actually. You have to go to or be near a glacier.

HD: Ok, so you have to go 15,000 feet right? (Laughs) Probably this is why
they bottle glacier water right, yeah if it really is that?

RP: Yeah -‐ but It happens that some plants will absorb the waters at high altitude and concentrate it even more, sugar beets for example, intrinsically eliminate deuterons and so they have light hydrogen incorporated into their tissues and if they grow in Colorado, at a high altitude where they’re
getting already refined water then the beet sugar contains the equivalent of glacier water.

 

[paymanz]

Thanks @Miso really interesting!

 

[Amazoniac]

The long versions of these, mentioning some topics that were discussed throughout the forus:

Reacting eggshells with acids

Me:

"Raj, hello!

Do you have an opinion on the consumption of eggshells reacted with citric juices or vinegar?

It makes both ingredients of the final product milder on the gut, but not on effects since absorption, lowering of PTH and phosphate are similar or better than when it's the carbonate form (check out the publications below). Reacting them facilitates the uptake when the conditions in the intestines start to favor precipitation, and I think that it makes up for an eventual enhanced excretion.

When eggshells are consumed unreacted, they tend to be problematic, leading to issues such as intestinal irritation or unnecessary changes in acid-base balance in the presence of calcium.

For being less soluble than the other forms in question, plain eggshells can benefit more from the inclusion in a meal. However, if they're used as antacids and it's common to have impaired stomach acid production, this can't be good.

From what I can tell, there are more reasons to favor these alternatives than plain eggshells, yet I never came across you discussing them. Do you have any odjection?

If you respond, do you mind if I share it? I know that others will be interested.

- Chicken eggshell as suitable calcium source at home "vinegar" or "juice"

- Calcium and vitamin D supplementation: state of the art for daily practice

- Tricalcium citrate (TCC) and health
- Calcium citrate: from biochemistry and physiology to clinical applications
- Role of Citrate in Pathophysiology and Medical Management of Bone Diseases

- Calcium acetate versus calcium carbonate as phosphate-binding agents in chronic haemodialysis
- Suppression of Parathyroid Hormone and Bone Resorption by Calcium Carbonate and Calcium Citrate in Postmenopausal Women

Citrate occurrence in foods:
- Quantitative Assessment of Citric Acid in Lemon Juice, Lime Juice, and Commercially-Available Fruit Juice Products
- Mineral and Citrate Concentrations in Milk Are Affected by Seasons, Stage of Lactation and Management Practices
- Concentrations of Some Organic Acids in Potato Tubers Depending on Weed Control Method, Cultivar and Storage Conditions​

Semi-god:

"Carbonate has many beneficial effects, I think it’s good to limit intake of acetate and citrate."​

Me:

"But what about lemonade and limeade cravings? There has to be beneficial things and citric acid should be one of them. Getting 1 gram of calcium from reacted eggshells could be providing the person about 4 grams of citrate, yet one liter of orange juice may contain 9 grams (previous link).

It's also common to have a positive response to vinegar, but its acidity gets in the way of consuming more; when neutralized, the tolerance increases and it's followed by benefits as well. However there must be a treshold for this.

If the concern is fatty acid synthesis, both Koch and Gerson were favorable of acetic acid from experience.

From Gerson's book:

"[..]we gave the patients large amounts of potassium.[12] It took about 300 experiments until I found the right potassium combination. It is a 10% solution of potassium gluconate, potassium phosphate (monobasic), and potassium acetate."

"100 grams (equal parts of each salt) dissolved in approx. 1 quart water."

"Potassium composition (ten per cent) is administered immediately; four teaspoonfuls ten times daily in all juices, except liver juice, mostly for three to four weeks, according to the previous degree of the disease. Then the amount of potassium is reduced to half."​

And if moderation is important in life, a little cancer can't be bad.

I have never confirmed this information, but I read that we process more than a hundred grams of acetate per day and that about half a gram of acetate is generated per gram of carbohydrate (acetyl-coa).

Also, it has been suggested that we're normally exposed to 15 grams of short-chain fatty acids from the intestines and that 90% ends up absorbed.

Organic anions and potassium salts in nutrition and metabolism​

The main one being acetate, so we can have a fairly high exposure to it daily, close to the citrate in a liter of orange juice.

Colonic Health: Fermentation and Short Chain Fatty Acids​

If alcohol in low amounts is good for health and (as you know) is metabolized to acetate, a medium glass of (10% alcohol) wine could yield about 20 grams of acetate.

It's not that the benefit will be coming from acetate, but it puts things in perspective. If the diet provides 500 mg of calcium and 700 mg of it as reacted eggshells are supplemented, it won't be a lot of what could be concerning in excess, it's close to what people add to salads as seasoning. In case plain eggshells are being problematic, due to the reasons mentioned, it's difficult to think that the use of these alternatives isn't justified or that they are going to do harm in the long-term. What am I missing?"​

..

Me:

"Raj, as you know, those acids occur in the diet in substantial amounts and can be metabolized to carbon dioxide.

- Traditional versus modern apple cultivars—A comparison of juice composition

- Bench-to-bedside review: Treating acid–base abnormalities in the intensive care unit – the role of renal replacement therapy

"Once citrate enters the circulation, it is metabolized to carbon dioxide and then bicarbonate on a 1:3 basis; thus, 1 mmol citrate yields 3 mmol carbon dioxide and then bicarbonate."​

It's possible for there to be impairments in their metabolism that divert them to other purposes, however how to explain people seeking alternatives to magnesium carbonate (which has similarities with calcium) if this form was good enough? It's not uncommon to settle with acetate, citrate, malate. Why would anyone choose options that are not as simple, provide less of the element that they're after, undergo heavier processing with increased risks of impurities being introduced, are more problematic after metabolized and more expensive? When a salt (such as sodium bicarbonate) does its job effectively, there isn't much motivation to find something else.

They also have unique properties, such as preventing kidney stone formation, or..

- Dietary Acetate Supplementation Attenuates Neuroinflammation
- Neuroglial Mechanisms Involved In The Anti-Inflammatory Effect Of Acetate Supplementation

Can they be supplemented in unsafe amounts without also dealing with an excess of calcium?

These are some of the reasons why I don't understand your reluctance with reacted eggshells. Is it possible to shed some light on it?"​

Personal question on physical activity

Me:

"Raj!

If you don't mind me asking, how much physical activity is incorporated in your life that doesn't count as exercise? I'm wondering because you've mentioned in some interviews that you're not into it.

Depending on your answer, I'll have to reconsider my concepts because I always thought that movement was important for supporting wealth.

Let me know whenever you don't want something that you send me to be shared. I always do this because I'm not alone in valuing your outlook."​

Semi-god:

"Painting and sculpting involve continuous activity, buying and cooking food, occasionally playing cello, etc., continually interrupt sitting to answer emails or to read. Free movement is essential. It’s stereotyped movement that I think harmfully affects people. For rodents living in little boxes, running in a wheel is a little closer to free living."​