Metabolism
Oxidation
Oxidation refers to the combination of a substance with oxygen. This can be beneficial, as in normal respiration that produces energy, or harmful, as in rancidity, irradiation, or stress reactions.
Oxidation in biological terms is the combination of a substance with oxygen, a process that can be either beneficial, as in normal respiration, or harmful, as in rancidity or stress reactions. Peat argued that the fundamental distinction is between proper oxidative metabolism and destructive lipid peroxidation. The essential function of the mitochondrion is where oxygen receives electrons from glucose, creating water and carbon dioxide; this is the most efficient use of oxygen. When this process is functioning correctly, oxygen vacuums up electrons so quickly that few free electrons remain, a state Peat referred to via Szent-Györgyi's "first rule of electrobiology."
The presence of carbon dioxide is critical for directing this proper oxidation. Peat explained that CO2 retracts electrons so that oxygen doesn't stick, ensuring electrons go directly down the electron transport chain and are prevented from deviating to attack polyunsaturated fats (PUFA). In the presence of CO2, the essential electron-moving co-factor NAD/NADH is more oxidized, meaning oxygen is doing its work better. The active thyroid hormone, T3, stimulates this oxidative metabolism by activating the enzymes which take up electrons, pulling them harmlessly into water. Peat considered thyroid the master system, the catalyst that makes things run right, and noted that the rate of oxidation is highest in a newborn and decreases with age, correlating with an increased mortality rate.
When oxidative metabolism fails, a competing, harmful pathway emerges. If oxygen supply is cut off or thyroid function is interfered with, electrons escape and attack the mitochondrion itself, particularly if unsaturated fats are present. In this inflamed, antioxidant state, electrons that cannot be taken up by oxygen locate on iron atoms, which then attack PUFA, creating free radicals and setting up an oxygen-wasting system that produces nothing of value. This process creates lipofuscin, or age pigment, which functions as a powerful oxygen sink, keeping mitochondria from getting the oxygen they need and creating cellular oxygen starvation. Peat stressed that what we want is pro-oxidation—intense mitochondrial oxidation—to protect against those destructive oxidations, and that cancer is stuck in this inflamed, antioxidant state, only able to divide.
Danny Roddy has clarified that when Peat discusses oxidation, he is referring to cells speedily passing their electrons to oxygen to produce ATP, CO2, water, and heat, and that the goal is to maintain a high degree of this oxidative metabolism throughout life. Roddy contrasted this with the "oxidation types" model of Dr. Lawrence Wilson, which describes individuals as "fast" or "slow" oxidizers based on hair tests, a framework Roddy considers incoherent and unrelated to Peat's concept. Georgi Dinkov noted that one of the major byproducts of the destructive lipid peroxidation pathway is malondialdehyde, a known mutagen, whereas nothing that glucose oxidation produces ever generates such dangerous metabolites.
People also ask
- How does carbon dioxide direct proper oxidative metabolism?Peat argued that carbon dioxide retracts electrons so oxygen doesn't stick, ensuring electrons go directly down the electron transport chain and preventing them from attacking polyunsaturated fats. In the presence of CO2, the co-factor NAD/NADH is more oxidized, meaning oxygen is doing its work better.
- What happens when oxidative metabolism fails in the mitochondria?The entry describes that if oxygen supply is cut off or thyroid function is interfered with, electrons escape and attack the mitochondrion, especially if unsaturated fats are present. Electrons then locate on iron atoms, attack PUFA, create free radicals, and produce lipofuscin, an age pigment that causes cellular oxygen starvation.
- How does Peat's concept of oxidation differ from the "oxidation types" model?Danny Roddy clarified that Peat referred to cells speedily passing electrons to oxygen to produce ATP, CO2, water, and heat, with the goal of maintaining a high degree of this metabolism. Roddy considers the "fast" and "slow" oxidizer model based on hair tests to be incoherent and unrelated to Peat's concept.