Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

Carbon dioxide is not a waste product but the fundamental molecule of life, essential for all organisms, even those that can survive without oxygen. 2 Peat argued that the purpose of oxygen is to produce CO2, and that its presence is an indicator of proper mitochondrial respiratory functioning. 2 He described it as a Lewis acid, an electron-binding molecule that, lacking protons, intensifies the acidity of cellular proteins, sculpting their structure and function. 7 This acidifying action is central to its role in causing hemoglobin and other proteins to release oxygen, a process extending far beyond the well-known Bohr effect to include the regulation of "specific receptors" via the formation of carbamino compounds. 5

CO2 is the body's primary endogenous vasodilator, relaxing blood vessels to increase blood flow in proportion to metabolic demand, which prevents edema and protects against the strain of high blood pressure. 3 Peat noted that Russian physiologists observed CO2 produced by active brain cells relaxes brain capillaries, and Dinkov has written that chronic CO2 treatment can even reverse soft tissue calcification in heavily calcified blood vessels. 2 The molecule also actively structures the cell's ionic environment; as carbonic acid flows out of the cell, it drags calcium and sodium with it, maintaining the cell's preference for potassium and accounting for the alkaline pH of the blood relative to the cell's interior. 6

The production of CO2 is directly tied to thyroid hormone, which acts on cytochrome oxidase to stimulate respiration and the deposition of calcium carbonate in new bone. 2 A failure to produce adequate CO2, as seen in diabetes or hypothyroidism, shifts metabolism toward the production of lactic acid, which displaces CO2 from the blood and creates a systemic stress response. 8 This shift underlies all degenerative diseases, which Peat characterized as centered on an excess of inflammatory processes that de-energize cells away from CO2 production. 10 CO2 works synergistically with progesterone to calm and energize cells, while protectively opposing the toxic effects of estrogen and other excitatory molecules. 10

The therapeutic potential of CO2 has been historically recognized and then ignored. Yandell Henderson used it to cure shock, and it was once administered as "carbogen" (5% CO2, 95% O2) for resuscitation before hospitals adopted the harmful practice of hyperventilating patients with pure oxygen. 2 Peat cited experiments where rats given a zero-oxygen supply were protected from brain damage by the addition of CO2, and where animals poisoned to death with 50% CO2 were revived an hour later with no brain damage. 3 He also noted that CO2 helps restore cells damaged by carbon monoxide poisoning. 8 Dinkov has written that CO2 can even help dissolve lipofuscin, the "aging spots" long considered an irreversible byproduct of iron and PUFA damage. 9