Ray Peat Glossary

Acidosis A blood pH below 7.4.

Alkalosis A pH of the blood above 7.4.

Bohr effect Carbon dioxide (or acidity) displaces oxygen from hemoglobin.

Disaccharide two monosaccharides bound together; examples, sucrose, lactose, maltose.

Glycation the attachment of a sugar to a protein.

Glycolysis Aerobic glycolysis, the conversion of glucose to lactic acid even in the presence of oxygen. The presence of oxygen normally restrains glycolysis so that glucose is converted to carbon dioxide instead of lactic acid.

Anaerobic glycolysis, the increased conversion of glucose to lactic acid when the supply of oxygen isn't sufficient, which is a normal event during intense muscle action.

"Cancer metabolism" or stress metabolism typically involves an excess of the adaptive hormones, resulting from an imbalance of the demands made on the organism and the resources available to the organism. Excessive stimulation depletes glucose and produces lactic acid, and causes cortisol to increase, causing a shift to the consumption of fat and protein rather than glucose. Increased cortisol activates the Randle effect (the inhibition of glucose oxidation by free fatty acids), accelerates the breakdown of protein into amino acids, and activates the enzyme fatty acid synthase, which produces fatty acids from amino acids and pyruvate, to be oxidized in a "futile cycle," producing heat, and increasing the liberation of ammonia from the amino acids. Ammonia suppresses respiratory, and stimulates glycolytic, activity.

Crabtree Effect, observed originally in yeast, refers to the inhibition of respiration in the presence of glucose. This occurs in cancers (e.g., Miralpeix, et al., 1990) and in rapidly proliferating normal cells (e.g., Guppy, et al., 1993).

Haldane effect Oxygen displaces carbon dioxide from hemoglobin, in proportion to its partial (specific) pressure.

Lactate paradox The reduced production of lactic acid at a given work rate at high altitude. Muscle work efficiency may be 50% greater at high altitude. ATP wastage is decreased.

Lactic acidemia The presence of lactic acid in the blood.

Lipolysis the liberation of free fatty acids from triglycerides, the neutral form in which fats are stored, bound to glycerine.

Oligosaccharide a short chain of monosaccharides, including disaccharides and slightly longer chains.

Polysaccharide example, starch, cellulose, glycogen.

"Warburg Effect" refers to Otto Warburg's observation that cancer cells produce lactic acid even in the presence of adequate oxygen. Cancer cells don't "live on glucose," since they are highly adapted to survive on protein and fats. Pasteur Effect, the normal response of cells to restrain glycolysis in the presence of adequate oxygen.