# Aspirin

Category: Drugs & Compounds

Also known as: acetylsalicylic acid, ASA

Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) is a synthetic variant of the naturally occurring salicylic acid, a phenolic compound found in willow bark and other plants, to which an acetyl group has been added to dramatically improve absorption. Peat considered aspirin, alongside…

12 passages · 3 authors · 2006–2026 · Most-cited: [Georgi Dinkov](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/voices/georgi-dinkov/index.md)

Canonical page: https://bioenergeticoracle.com/concepts/aspirin

## Synthesis

**Aspirin** (acetylsalicylic acid) is a synthetic variant of the naturally occurring **salicylic acid**, a phenolic compound found in willow bark and other plants, to which an acetyl group has been added to dramatically improve absorption. [Source 2, 7] Peat considered aspirin, alongside **progesterone**, to be one of the most systemically beneficial substances available, functioning as a broad-spectrum pro-metabolic agent. [Source 2] The acetyl group serves primarily as a delivery mechanism; once ingested, aspirin acts as a *pro-drug* that is rapidly hydrolyzed in the body within about 15 minutes into its core active components, **salicylic acid** and acetic acid. [Source 2, 7, 9] This rapid breakdown means that the long-term metabolic effects of aspirin are essentially identical to those of salicylic acid, though the acetyl group itself confers a slightly stronger *anticoagulant* and *antipyretic* effect during its brief existence. [Source 7]

The fundamental bioenergetic action of aspirin is the reactivation of the two final steps of cellular respiration—the Krebs cycle and the **electron transport chain**—which become suppressed in degenerative states like cancer, where cells default to inefficient glycolysis and produce excessive lactic acid. [Source 7] Peat argued that aspirin’s effects on the mitochondria are similar to those of the active thyroid hormone **T3**, suggesting that combining both could synergistically improve brain energy production. [Source 8] Dinkov has elaborated that aspirin speeds up all enzymes inside glycolysis while also activating the electron transfer chain complex, and it functions as an **aromatase inhibitor**, lowering the conversion of testosterone into estrogen. [Source 7, 12] This anti-estrogenic action is central to its therapeutic profile, as it inhibits the enzyme aromatase strongly enough that multi-gram doses can approximate the effects of pharmaceutical aromatase inhibitors like anastrozole. [Source 7, 10] Additionally, aspirin opposes the inflammatory cascade by inhibiting the enzymes **cyclooxygenase (COX)** and **lipoxygenase (LOX)**, which use polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) as raw material to produce the majority of pro-inflammatory mediators in the body. [Source 7]

Peat viewed aspirin as a direct antidote to the accumulation of **polyunsaturated fats** in tissues, opposing the lipid peroxidation process and acting as a surrogate for saturated fats at a molecular level by competing for the active site on the COX enzyme. [Source 4, 8] He recommended its regular, if not daily, use for prevention against a wide spectrum of conditions, including cancer, heart disease, and degenerative brain diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, provided adequate **vitamin K** is consumed to prevent excess bleeding. [Source 1, 8] Roddy notes that aspirin’s utility can be calibrated in proportion to a person’s historical PUFA consumption, as it takes years to clear these fats from the body. [Source 4] Dinkov has pointed to specific mechanisms, such as aspirin’s ability to inhibit the binding of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to the **ACE2 enzyme**, thereby preventing the accumulation of the highly inflammatory angiotensin II protein that triggers cytokine storms. [Source 3] He also cites evidence that even a low-dose, baby-aspirin regimen significantly lowers the risk of liver fibrosis progressing to cirrhosis, an effect linked to aspirin’s ability to lower **serotonin** synthesis, a known promoter of fibrosis. [Source 12]

Regarding practical use, Peat and his interpreters consistently warn against the toxic excipients in commercial tablets and advise dissolving aspirin in hot water to allow the insoluble fillers to settle, then drinking only the clear, sour supernatant. [Source 4, 5, 10] Peat preferred using pure **crystals** over powder, noting that the crystals are more stable and do not develop an acetic acid smell over time, and he recommended storing a bulk supply in the freezer. [Source 1, 11] While acknowledging that aspirin can irritate the gut initially, Roddy and Peat maintained that the intestine adapts and develops a tolerance over a period of days, and that the salicylic acid released from aspirin is ultimately protective to the stomach and other organs. [Source 6, 10] Dosing is highly individualized and can change as metabolism adjusts; Peat reported sometimes taking about 500 mg at night to aid sleep, while therapeutic doses for serious conditions like cancer have been documented in the range of several grams daily. [Source 1, 6, 10]

## People also ask

### How does aspirin improve mitochondrial energy production?

Peat argued that aspirin reactivates the Krebs cycle and electron transport chain, which become suppressed in degenerative states, and Dinkov added that it speeds up glycolysis enzymes while activating the electron transfer complex.

### Why is vitamin K recommended alongside regular aspirin use?

Peat recommended adequate vitamin K to prevent excess bleeding when using aspirin regularly for prevention, as aspirin’s anticoagulant effect can otherwise pose a risk.

### What is the connection between aspirin and estrogen reduction?

Aspirin functions as an aromatase inhibitor, lowering the conversion of testosterone into estrogen, and Dinkov noted that multi-gram doses can approximate the effects of pharmaceutical aromatase inhibitors.

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## Cited passages

Passage numbers match the `[Source N]` markers in the synthesis above.

### Source 1 — Ray Peat Email Advice Depository — Post 291

Ray Peat · Email · Oct 19, 2016

> **Question:** "Is there any difference between the crystal and the powder form of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), particularly with regard to stability and Absorption? What would be a reasonable dose of ASA if you are healthy (no cancer etc.) and have a good diet but only have some problems with falling into sleep and getting up in the morning? Do you think its an good idea to take some ASA every day, in generell e.g. to prevent cancer?"
>
> **Ray Peat:** I think a little aspirin , regularly if not daily, is good prevention, if you are sure to get enough vitamin K, to prevent excess bleeding. The amount depends on how you react to it, and can change as your metabolism adjusts. Taking some at bedtime can be very helpful for sleeping; sometimes I take about 500 mg at night, but other times just a little. I think the crystals are more stable, but I keep the big container (a multi-year supply) in the freezer, and keep out enough for a couple of months. The powdered forms developed an acetic acid smell with time, the crystals don't.

### Source 2 — Episode 9: Georgi Dinkov on Methylene Blue, Progesterone, Pregnenolone, DHEA, Quinones, Aspirin, and Vitamin C

Georgi Dinkov · Interview · Aug 9, 2020 · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFEFk4s3R98

> **Georgi Dinkov:** One of the common things, like methylene blue, which has so many good indications and few contraindications. Aspirin, in terms of systemic effects, perhaps the only thing that can stand up to it and be a worthy competitor in the organism is progesterone. Do you hear some ringing? No, I think it is fine. So aspirin, acetylsalicylic acid, is simply the synthetic variant of salicylic acid, which exists in nature. And it is extracted mainly from willow bark. And to this day you can buy willow bark extract, if you go to Amazon or whatever website, whoever does not want to drink aspirin directly buys willow bark and that is directly salicylic acid, which is a derivative of phenol. And phenolic compounds in nature have a strong pro-metabolic effect. So aspirin, which is simply a phenol... Salicylic acid, its official name is 2-hydroxybenzoic acid. And if you look at the structure, the only difference between phenol and aspirin is that aspirin has one extra carboxyl group, and phenol does not. But the core of the two molecules is absolutely the same. Both even have one hydroxyl group at position 2, and the only difference is that aspirin has a carboxyl group and phenol does not. But the effects of aspirin... Aspirin and salicylic acid, you mean. OK, it is the same, just that it has... Because it has an acetyl group. Exactly, yes. When I just talked with our friend Milen, who explained to me that this acetyl group has a very brief function in the body of aspirin, and he describes it very understandably, that it is as if you have an arm that is five meters, you have a pole that is five meters, that is, you simply bypass the arm and leave a pole. It breaks down in the body, that is, the point is to get the salicylic acid into the cell, best. Exactly.

### Source 3 — Aspirin is a true drug for COVID-19 – it inhibits binding of the spike protein to the angiotensin converting enzyme II (ACE2)

Georgi Dinkov · Article · Jan 26, 2026 · https://haidut.me/?p=2956

> Most of my readers probably still vividly remember the brutal censorship levied upon the public during the COVID-19 pandemic in regards to treatments that did not conform to the official narrative that vaccines, and only vaccines, are the way to stop the pandemic and protect everybody. One of the most censored and maligned such “alternative” treatments for COVID-19 was aspirin (as well as vitamin D). As early as April 2020, studies had already come out showing that people taking aspirin regular were at a much lower risk of getting COVID-19, experiencing severe disease course, or dying from the disease. At the time, the arguments presented by the “experts” against aspirin were that the findings did not make medical sense since aspirin is “just an NSAID” and as such could not possibly provide protection against COVID-19. Well, as my readers know quite well, aspirin has a multitude of direct enzymatic and receptor-level effects that go way beyond inflammation and Ray has done a fantastic job of describing them in his articles. He went as far as stating (multiple times) that taking aspirin even just 2-3 times weekly is a good prevention practice against not just COVID-19, but all viral conditions. Now, the study below provides perhaps the most direct and specific evidence as to why aspirin may help with COVID-19. Namely, it is well-known that the SARS-CoV-2 virus infects cells by binding to the ACE2 enzyme. This binding not only allows the virus to enter and hijack the cell, but also triggers a systemic inflammatory state due to the fact that the binding prevents the ACE2 enzyme from converting the highly inflammatory angiotensin II protein back into the much less inflammatory angiotensin I protein. It was precisely this accumulation of angiotensin II protein that triggered the systemic inflammatory reaction, which often results in a severe cytokine storm that killed so many COVID-19 patients. As such, drugs that either block the effects of the angiotensin II protein at the receptor level (losartan, telmisartan, etc), block the enzyme ACE1 (converting the less inflammatory angiotensin I into the highly inflammatory angiotensin II), or enhance the activity of ACE2 were also found to be highly therapeutic for COVID-19. It looks like aspirin falls into the last category and now there is direct evidence for its effects.

### Source 4 — Danny Roddy – Sugar Feeds Our Cells, PUFAs Are Poison, Hormones & A Bioenergetic Concept of Health!

Danny Roddy · Interview · Aug 11, 2025

> **Danny Roddy:** So I will preface it with that. That was like one of the absolute last things I was adopted that Ray was talking about. I was extremely skeptical about it. It just seemed like a bad idea almost. But then if you read his aspirin, brain, and cancer article, I mean, you got to read it a few times, but I think he makes a big compelling argument that fits into his bioenergetic or stress or thyroid perspective. And so anyways, the probably easiest way to look at it is like we were talking about all the bad things that PUFA does. Aspirin is kind of like an antidote to the accumulation of polyunsaturated fats in the tissues. And so it's really not that crazy to use aspirin in proportion to probably what the person's been eating for the last four or five years. Because I think that's how long it takes to kind of get rid of the polyunsaturated fat if a person starts eating saturated fats. And so you can look at it like that. And then I also look at it like a Swiss army knife. It does so many different things that it can improve the person's mood. It can help them get to sleep. It can improve the libido. And one of the things that it does is it opposes that lipid proxidation process. It stimulates cellular respiration, kind of similar to T3 or the active thyroid hormone. It lowers estrogen, and so it lowers the prostaglandin, the prostaglandin E2, that converts testosterone into estrogen. And so I am not even touching the surface of all the things that it does. And so it's just very useful. But there are several caveats for using it. Like I would recommend using it how you described, dissolving it in hot water. And if you have a pill... This can be hard to describe over audio, but you have two glasses. You dissolve it in hot water in one glass, and then there'll be a bunch of junk, the pill junk at the bottom of the glass, and then pouring just the liquid into another glass and leaving the pill junk behind and not eating it.

### Source 5 — KMUD Aging and Energy Reversal 2013

Ray Peat · Interview · 2013 · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYV6mgImPhs

> **Andrew Murray:** Yeah, meadowsweet is also another very rich source of acetylsalicylic, salicylic acid. But I think it was probably the willow bark where it was first synthesized.
>
> **Caller:** So I'm just curious Dr. Peat, what do you think about using the willow bark rather than trying to use some of these aspirin that have all of the fillers and different silicate materials in them.
>
> **Ray Peat:** The fillers definitely aren't good. If you have access to nothing but the pills, I think you should dissolve them in hot water to let the junk settle out and then just drink the sour water.
>
> **Caller:** OK. I've never thought of that.
>
> **Andrew Murray:** There are quite a few chemical supply companies that will sell it. It's not anything that's a controlled substance. Dr. Peat, aspirin's not a controlled substance at this point in time is it?
>
> **Ray Peat:** No.
>
> **Caller:** OK, well that's good. I've done a lot of different searches and called a lot of places and it seems like the only place you can find it is like pet supply which it seems like in America sometimes they treat pets better than they do people.

### Source 6 — #250 - Aspirin the wonder drug with Danny Roddy

Danny Roddy · Interview · Sep 4, 2023

> **Kitty Blomfield:** So how many milligrams of aspirin a day would that be?
>
> **Danny Roddy:** 20 times 325, about seven grams, 6.5 grams. But there's a paper by a guy named Gomez who says basically the exact same thing. Like this, I know it sounds real odd, maybe for the first time hearing it. It's like, how could aspirin possibly be studied for cancer? But it is. And there are papers on it and high dose. Maybe you can send me the links.
>
> **Kitty Blomfield:** I'll put them in the show notes. Yeah, that'd be awesome. Okay, cool. All right. Well, what is aspirin, Danny?
>
> **Danny Roddy:** What is it? Well, I think the salicylic acid is a metabolite from salicin, which is like a natural compound in willow bark. But aspirin is acetylsalicylic acid, which is salicylic acid with an acetyl group added onto it. So that's about as much as I know about that.
>
> **Kitty Blomfield:** Oh, no, that's perfect. That's what it is and where it comes from. And lately, there's been a lot of publicity saying it can damage the stomach and intestines. Is this true?
>
> **Danny Roddy:** Yeah, I think that is true, that it will irritate the gut for a few days. But there are papers, and I could forward these to you, but they say the intestine adapts over a period of time. And they're actually using monstrous doses, like three grams. And they show after, I can't remember, maybe a week or two, the intestine adapts and stops bleeding. But that is a possibility. And but as I'm sure we'll get into, there are lots of toxic additives in most aspirin products like silica or titanium dioxide or yellow number 40 or something. And so when a person has a bad response to aspirin, you really don't know if it's just that adaptive phase of taking the aspirin or if you've taking something that's really irritating and it's upsetting the gut. yeah

### Source 7 — Episode 9: Georgi Dinkov on Methylene Blue, Progesterone, Pregnenolone, DHEA, Quinones, Aspirin, and Vitamin C

Georgi Dinkov · Interview · Aug 9, 2020 · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFEFk4s3R98

> **Georgi Dinkov:** So salicylic acid by itself is not absorbed very well by the stomach, and when it is acetylsalicylic acid, that is, with this additional acetyl group attached to it, it is absorbed much better and enters the cell much more easily, where after about 15, when you drink an aspirin, after about 15 minutes, if they check you, if they take blood, they will not find aspirin in the blood. They will find only salicylic acid and acetic acid. That is, it has already broken down into the main components. Also, the acetyl group has its own unique effect, and it is connected a little with anticoagulation. So acetylsalicylic acid, in other words aspirin, has a slightly stronger anticoagulant effect than salicylic acid, and this is due to the acetyl group aspirin has. Another thing is that because of this acetyl group, aspirin also has a slightly stronger antipyretic effect than salicylic acid. In other words, it is a little more effective at reducing temperature if you have a high temperature. But in general the metabolic effects of aspirin are almost identical to those of salicylic acid, because after about 15 minutes, whatever dose of aspirin you take, after about 15 minutes it has already broken down into salicylic acid and acetic acid. And from then on, salicylic acid stimulates metabolism, specifically these last two steps. You have glycolysis, the Krebs cycle or citric acid cycle, and the electron transport complex. And we already know that in all diseases, whether we call them metabolic or others, especially in cancer, the first step is very well expressed, glycolysis, an enormous amount of lactic acid is produced because of it, but the other two steps do not work. Acetylsalicylic acid and salicylic acid and the phenols in nature reactivate these two last steps, which do not work in cancer. Also, salicylic acid and most phenols in nature function as aromatase inhibitors.

### Source 8 — Aspirin, brain, and cancer

Ray Peat · Article · 2006 · https://raypeat.com/articles/aging/aspirin-brain-cancer.shtml

> The competition between aspirin and salicylic acid, and other antiinflammatories, for the active site on the COX enzyme (Rao, et al., 1982), shows that the structural features of these molecules are in some ways analogous to those of the polyunsaturated fatty acids. Wherever there are phospholipids, free fatty acids, fatty acid esters, ethers, etc. (i.e., in mitochondria, chromosomes, cytoskeleton, collagen networks--essentially everywhere in and around the cell), the regulatory influence of specific fatty acids--or their surrogates--will be felt.
>
> Although it would undoubtedly be best to grow up eating foods with relatively saturated fats, the use of aspirin preventively and therapeutically seems very reasonable under the present circumstances, in which, for example, clean and well ripened fruits are not generally available in abundance. Preventing blindness, degenerative brain diseases, heart and lung diseases, and cancer with aspirin should get as much support as the crazy public health recommendations are now getting from government and foundations and the medical businesses.
>
> When people with cancer ask for my recommendations, they usually think I'm joking when I tell them to use aspirin, and very often they don't take it, on the basis of what seems to be a very strong cultural prejudice. Several years ago, a woman whose doctors said it would be impossible to operate on her extremely painful "inflammatory breast cancer," had overnight complete relief of the pain and swelling from taking a few aspirins. The recognized anti-metastatic effect of aspirin, and its ability to inhibit the development of new blood vessels that would support the tumor's growth, make it an appropriate drug to use for pain control, even if it doesn't shrink the tumor. In studies of many kinds of tumor, though, it does cause regression, or at least slows tumor growth. And it protects against many of the systemic consequences of cancer, including wasting (cachexia), immunosuppression, and strokes.
>
> Opiates are the standard medical prescription for pain control in cancer, but they are usually prescribed in inadequate quantities, "to prevent addiction." Biologically, they are the most inappropriate means of pain control, since they increase the release of histamine, which synergizes with the tumor-derived factors to suppress immunity and stimulate tumor growth.

### Source 9 — Estrogen, Histamine, Serotonin & Endotoxin with Georgi Dinkov | Rooted In Resilience Podcast #3

Georgi Dinkov · Interview · Mar 6, 2023 · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FUmAsj8KEE

> **Georgi Dinkov:** Yeah, the willow bark contains salicylic acid, which I mentioned is the plant hormone. Aspirin is acetylsalicylic acid. It's the acetyl ester. But in your body, when you ingest it, within 15 minutes, your stomach breaks down into acetic acid and salicylic acid. It's really a pro-drug. Just like T4 converts into T3, and really the T3 is the active drug. In aspirin, most of the benefits are coming from salicylic acid, into which it metabolizes.
>
> **Ashley:** So your suggestions for helping to support your body break this cycle would be aspirin and fat-soluble vitamin supplementation.
>
> **Georgi Dinkov:** That's probably the most benign and widely available and cheapest thing they can try. Magnesium is another one, but unfortunately most people will reach for a magnesium supplement and those invariably have the talc, titanium dioxide, silicon dioxide, all the other crap. What you can do is try to drink well water. If it's coming from a relatively rocky area, like the well is... from a rocky area in the ground, chances are it already has a lot of minerals, specifically calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate already dissolved. She'll be getting like a very nice solution of all these electrolytes without having to take a toxic supplement. Yeah.

### Source 10 — #250 - Aspirin the wonder drug with Danny Roddy

Danny Roddy · Interview · Sep 4, 2023

> **Kitty Blomfield:** I actually just you just triggered my memory I think Kate Deering everyone will know Kate did a pod I'm just not a podcast did a post a while back uh here we go aspirin uh And she said, I'm just going to read this post of hers and people can go and I'll put it in the show notes. Aspirin rapidly breaks down into acetic acid and salicylic acid, which is found in many fruits and is protective to the stomach and intestine and other organs. When aspirin was compared with other common anti-inflammatory drugs, it was found that salicylic acid, it releases... protects against the damage done by another drug. Repeated use of aspirin protects the stomach against very strong irritants. The experiments in which the aspirin produces stomach ulcers are designed to produce ulcers, not to realistically model the way aspirin is used. The slight irritation produced by a normal dose of aspirin can be minimized by dissolving the aspirin in water. The stomach develops a tolerance for aspirin over a period of a few days, allowing the dose to be increased if necessary. Dr. Ray Peat, so yeah, just what you said. Yeah, exactly.
>
> **Danny Roddy:** That's from Razor. And that, for what it's worth, mimics my experience perfectly. This is why I did a little podcast called Bioenergetic Basics on aspirin. And for what it's worth, I always dissolve aspirin in hot water, and then I add a little baking soda to it. And then I separate it from the junk at the bottom and I put it in juice or something. And so, again, I have a pretty sensitive stomach. And so the fact that I can do this, I think really probably anybody can, because if something's going to set off my intestine, it would. So there are safe ways of using aspirin and there are unsafe ways of using aspirin.

### Source 11 — Ray Peat Email Advice Depository — Post 25

Ray Peat · Email · Feb 3, 2013

> ## Thread 8
>
> **Question:** Do you recommend any specific aspirin brands? is beyer fine? or is it better to take pure acetylsalicylic acid?
>
> **Ray Peat:** I mostly use the pure crystals, but in Mexico I use the Bayer tablets.

### Source 12 — #03: Vitamin E, Cancer, Thyroid, Sugar, and Aspirin with Georgi Dinkov

Georgi Dinkov · Interview · May 31, 2019 · https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Wg95vNQK5aJT717Av49Yn

> **Georgi Dinkov:** Yeah. So aspirin is actually a really versatile substance because it has a number of different prometabolic effects. It speeds up all of the enzymes inside glycolysis, but it also activates the electron transfer chain complex. It decreases the synthesis of serotonin and is being shown that actually it can lower its levels in the blood. And in animal trials, aspirin was shown to be as effective, if not even more effective, than fluoxetine, also known as Prozac, as an antidepressant. And given that fluoxetine actually raises the level of serotonin, then it kind of shows you that, well, there can be only one really pathway here. So, only one through antidepressants. So, aspirin was antidepressant. Anyways, in general, so aspirin, because of its anti-serotonin and anti-nitric oxide effects, you would expect it to have an anti-fibrotic effect as well. Yet, nobody calls until the study, at least not to my knowledge, nobody has called aspirin an anti-fibrotic chemical. But we know that serotonin promotes fibrosis and antagonists of the receptor 5-HT2B are actually now quietly being tested by Pfizer as the drug turgoride as drugs to actually reverse fibrosis. So if aspirin is capable of lowering serotonin synthesis and lowering extracellular serotonin, then you would expect it to have an antifibrotic effect. And that's exactly what the study saw, that the usage of aspirin improved all stages of liver disease, but it specifically and most importantly lowered the risk of the late stage steatosis progressing into liver fibrosis, which is also known as cirrhosis. And it was a low dosage too. Basically, a baby aspirin was enough. So since aspirin is known to have a dose-dependent effect, imagine what a massive amount of one tablet would do.

_Generated 2026-07-20 from the Bioenergetic Oracle corpus._