# Cellular respiration

Category: Metabolism

Also known as: aerobic respiration

Cellular respiration is the mitochondrial process by which glucose is oxidized completely to carbon dioxide and water, capturing the maximum chemical energy to build proteins, amino acids, and fats. Peat described this as a series of oxidations where each step adds usable…

8 passages · 2 authors · 1997–2016 · Most-cited: [Ray Peat](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/voices/ray-peat/index.md)

Canonical page: https://bioenergeticoracle.com/concepts/cellular-respiration

## Synthesis

**Cellular respiration** is the mitochondrial process by which glucose is oxidized completely to carbon dioxide and water, capturing the maximum chemical energy to build proteins, amino acids, and fats. [Source 1] Peat described this as a series of oxidations where each step adds usable energy to the cell, and he contrasted it sharply with the incomplete degradation of sugar to **lactic acid**, which forfeits the greatest part of the energy stored in the glucose molecule. [Source 1] The essential function of the mitochondrion is to serve as the site where oxygen receives electrons from glucose; the most efficient use of oxygen occurs when burning glucose, and if the organism is forced to burn fats, efficiency is lost. [Source 5] Peat argued that the quality of the developing fetal brain, the deterioration of the aging immune system, and hundreds of other processes are governed by the quality of respiration. [Source 4]

When oxygen is insufficient or its use is blocked, the cell shifts into a deranged metabolic state. Pyruvic acid, instead of proceeding through the full oxidative pathway, takes a shortcut to become lactic acid, a process Peat identified as *aerobic glycolysis* when it occurs in the presence of oxygen. [Source 1] To sustain even this low-energy pathway, cells must regenerate NADH by building fat, making **fat synthesis** a pathological alternative to oxygen-based respiration. [Source 1] This creates a vicious cycle where cancers, stuck converting glucose to lactic acid, also get stuck making fat, which then becomes their fuel. [Source 1] Peat further explained that when electrons cannot be taken up by oxygen, they locate on iron atoms and attack **polyunsaturated fats (PUFA)**, setting up an oxygen-wasting system that produces nothing of value and creates oxygen starvation for the mitochondria. [Source 6] Over time, deteriorating PUFA interact with iron and proteins to form *lipofuscin*, an age pigment that functions as a powerful oxygen sink, keeping mitochondria from getting the oxygen they need. [Source 6]

The integrity of the respiratory apparatus is actively defended and can be disrupted by multiple factors. Peat noted that substances like vitamin E, vitamin K, coenzyme Q, and thyroid hormone work together to maintain and protect respiration. [Source 2] He emphasized that **thyroid hormone** activates the enzymes which take up electrons, pulling them harmlessly through the mitochondrion to form water, while a thyroid deficiency or interference from unsaturated fats poisons this same enzyme system. [Source 5] Similarly, **red light** penetrates cells and repairs the same enzyme that thyroid activates, meaning a light deficiency acts identically to a thyroid deficiency on the respiratory chain. [Source 5] The stress hormone cortisone prevents brain cells from getting enough sugar to function, causing atrophy, while progesterone and testosterone provide anti-catabolic protection for the heart, lungs, and brain. [Source 5]

The electrical and chemical environment of the cell is inseparable from its respiratory intensity. Peat cited Child's work showing that metabolic gradients are central to the development and preservation of biological form, and he noted that changes in simple electrical fields can cause radical changes in cell behavior. [Source 4] On the mitochondrial level, the autonomic nervous system modulates respiration: acetylcholine increases the efficiency of energy conservation so that less oxygen is needed, while adrenaline increases the rate of oxygen consumption. [Source 7] Peat also clarified that carbon dioxide, the final product of complete oxidation, is not merely a waste gas; its deficiency causes many problems in oxygen delivery and use, and when CO2 is not deficient, the conversion of glucose to pyruvate as part of oxidative metabolism is preferable to burning too much fat. [Source 8] In the context of bone health, Dinkov and Roddy discussed how a lack of the enzyme *carbonic anhydrase* leads to the retention of very high levels of carbon dioxide and abnormally thick bones, while breathless exercise that increases lactic acid causes bones to disintegrate over time. [Source 3]

## People also ask

### How does cellular respiration differ from lactic acid fermentation?

Peat described respiration as the complete oxidation of glucose to carbon dioxide and water, capturing maximum energy, while lactic acid fermentation is an incomplete degradation that forfeits most of the energy stored in glucose.

### What role does thyroid hormone play in mitochondrial respiration?

Peat emphasized that thyroid hormone activates the enzymes that take up electrons and pull them through the mitochondrion to form water, while a thyroid deficiency poisons this same enzyme system.

### Why is carbon dioxide important for efficient respiration?

The corpus explains that carbon dioxide is not merely a waste gas; its deficiency causes problems in oxygen delivery and use, and when CO2 is adequate, oxidative metabolism of glucose is preferable to burning too much fat.

## Related concepts

- [Oxidation](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/oxidation/index.md)
- [Glycolysis](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/glycolysis/index.md)
- [Acetylcholine](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/acetylcholine/index.md)
- [Adrenaline](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/adrenaline/index.md)
- [Albumin](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/albumin/index.md)
- [Aldosterone](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/aldosterone/index.md)

## Cited passages

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

### Source 1 — Biochemical Health, Reduction and Oxidation — Politics & Science 2015

Ray Peat · Interview · 2015

> **Jon Barkhausen:** You are talking about cellular respiration. When you’re talking about the process of making the energy we all use; can you give us a little cliff note version of that?
>
> **Ray Peat:** Yah. Looking at us in our environment, we are really sort of sandwiched between the sugar energy we get from plants and the carbon dioxide that we make as the final product of the energy from the sugar. A series of changes in the sugar molecule, each oxidation of that molecule adds a little chemical energy to the cell, that the cell can use to make proteins. As it degrades the sugar, it builds up amino acids and proteins and fats. When you are unable to oxidize the sugar all the way down to carbon dioxide, and produce lactic acid instead, halfway, you are losing the greatest part of the energy stored in the glucose molecule. And that lack of energy has its repercussions. But when there is really a lack of oxygen to continue the oxidation, that NADH, which allowed pyruvic acid to take this shortcut off into the semi-toxic lactic acid, that has to be renewed before you can even make another lactic acid. So, without oxygen, you need some kind of oxidant to even continue producing that kind of low energy from the sugar to pyruvate and lactic acid. And to do that, cells can produce fat and get rid of their electrons by building them into fat. So building fat in a way is an alternative (very bad one) to using up oxygen and making CO2. So, interestingly, cancers, which get stuck in the exclusive use of converting glucose or amino acids to lactic acid as their energy supply, they also get stuck making fat. Fat becomes their oxygen in effect. And then, when they still have mitochondrial function, the cell burns fat as its energy. So it's really a deranged and crazy kind of metabolism to produce an irritant lactic acid, and to do that it has to make fat which is then used as fuel with its own consequences.

### Source 2 — Endotoxin, Free Radicals, and Inflammation — KMUD July 2009

Ray Peat · Interview · 2009 · http://www.l-i-g-h-t.com/files/herb-doctors-bowel-endotoxinnew.mp4

> **Ray Peat:** Coke, began working out the implications for how to defend our cellular respiratory system from these toxins in the environment. And one of the substances he worked with was the anthraquinone. He went to Brazil and the famous Brazil wood, it's red because of the anthraquinone. But he explored all of the quinones that he could and found that they work with vitamin E, vitamin K, and coenzyme Q and thyroid to maintain and protect respiration.

### Source 3 — A Bioenergetic View of Osteoporosis [Generative Energy #25]

Danny Roddy · Interview · Mar 24, 2016 · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wAlMUFN1g0

> **Danny Roddy:** In Ray's article, Osteoporosis, Aging, Tissue Renewal, and Product Science, he talks about an inherent condition in humans called osteopetrosis, or marble bone disease. And that's caused by a lack of carbonic anhydrase enzyme in them to retain very high levels of carbon dioxide. And they just have incredibly thick bones, hence the name marble bone disease. And on the flip side, you mentioned earlier that breathless exercise increases lactic acid and causes bones to basically disintegrate over time. Do you want to talk about how cellular respiration is guiding the whole process of bone remodeling and deterioration?

### Source 4 — Optimizing respiration (Townsend Letter — Unknown 1997)

Ray Peat · Newsletter · 1997

> Changes in simple electrical fields can cause radical changes in the behavior of cells. Changes in respiration cause many changes in chemical and electrical gradients, and the intensity of respiration is known to be a central factor in the development and preservation of biological form. Child's work on the developmental importance of metabolic gradients (summed up in *Patterns and Problems of Development*, 1941) has been confirmed and refined, despite the immense effort that has been spent on genetic mystification of the processes that create and maintain form.
>
> The quality of the developing brain of the fetus, the deterioration of the aging immune system, and hundreds of other processes are governed by the quality of respiration.
>
> [references]

### Source 5 — Politics And Science: Diabetes 2000-2001

Ray Peat · Interview · Jul 26, 2013

> **John Barkhausen:** So I think that's what Jim wants to know is, you know, what does the mitochondria actually do?
>
> **Ray Peat:** Yeah, the essential function as far as the whole energy balance goes of the mitochondrion is that it is where oxygen receives the electrons from glucose primarily. The most efficient thing is for glucose to be oxidized, giving up its electrons to oxygen, creating water and carbon dioxide as oxygen is also added to the carbon skeleton of the glucose. Fats are metabolized in a a slightly different pathway also to oxygen but there is a competition between fats and glucose and the most efficient use of oxygen is when you're burning glucose and if you're forced to burn fats you lose efficiency and if they're unsaturated fats you not only lose efficiency but you damage the structure of the mitochondrion because the electrons are not taken up quickly enough by oxygen and they escape to oxidize the mitochondrion itself. So if you cut off the oxygen supply or use for any reason, you tend to create damage and destruction of the mitochondria by these escaping electrons the thyroid function is to activate the enzymes which take up electrons and so while thyroid intensifies oxidation it's the proper oxidation that's pulling electrons through the mitochondrion and turning them harmlessly into water And so if you interfere with thyroid, then you have the same effects that you get from cortisone or too much free fatty acids, especially pre-unsaturated fatty acids.

### Source 6 — Ask the Herb Doctor: Antioxidant Theory and the Continued War on Cancer

Ray Peat · Interview · Sep 16, 2016 · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hy5J-_oS34

> ## PUFA, Iron, and Lipofuscin
>
> **Ray Peat:** Where the actual "antioxidant" function comes in is when you have an oversupply of polyunsaturated fats (PUFA). When you don't have enough oxygen and go into that inflamed state, the electrons that can't be taken up by oxygen are free to locate on iron atoms. The electrons activate the iron, which then attacks any polyunsaturated fats in the environment. That sets up an oxygen-consuming system which produces nothing of value. The electrons go to iron, which gives its electron to the PUFA, which becomes a free radical and consumes oxygen. You get cycles of oxidation without purpose.
>
> **Sarah Murray:** So you want the oxidation to be in the cell producing carbon dioxide using sugar and oxygen—proper cellular respiration. You don't want to be in this reduced state where the PUFA and iron are hungry for oxygen.
>
> **Ray Peat:** Yes. In the process of consuming oxygen, they are creating oxygen starvation, setting up the situation to spread.
>
> **Andrew Murray:** It's a very energy-wasteful situation.
>
> **Ray Peat:** Yes, an oxygen-wasting system. The PUFA become a trap for oxygen. As they deteriorate, they interact with iron and proteins to create "imitation oxidative enzymes." They act as a short circuit between NADH and oxygen by way of iron and proteins condensed in the form of age pigment, or lipofuscin. This functions as a powerful oxygen sink, keeping the mitochondria from getting the oxygen they need.

### Source 7 — Autonomic systems

Ray Peat · Article · 2006 · https://raypeat.com/articles/other/autonomic-systems.shtml

> Wilhelm Reich, who tried to provide answers in terms of developmental interactions between the organism and its environment, found that the question led him to investigate psychosomatic disease, sexual repression, cancer, and fascism, with disastrous results for himself.
>
> Chinese medicine was familiar with many of the functions of the autonomic nervous system at a time when western medicine was organized around “the humors.” It’s easy for contemporary “western” people to see that the “winds” and the hot and cold principles of Chinese tradition are metaphors, but they are reluctant to see that their own system has grown up within very similar traditional metaphoric polarities. The successes of even a good metaphor can cause people to neglect details that could support a more complete and accurate image of reality.
>
> Contemporary science carries a load of bad metaphors, because the educational system doesn’t tolerate a critical attitude. Potentially, a good metaphor (e.g., Vernadsky’s suggestion that an organism is “a whirlwind of atoms”) could blow away many bad metaphors, but the present organization of science is tending in the other direction: Commercial interests are creating a culture in which their metaphors are replacing the traditional science in which there was a certain amount of honest intellectual exploration.
>
> In talking about consciousness, sleep, stress, biological rhythms, aging, and energy, I have often focussed on the efficient use of oxygen for energy production by the mitochondria, i.e., cellular respiration. Every situation demands a special kind of adaptation, and each kind of adaptation requires a special distribution of cellular and organic activity, with its supporting local respiratory activity. There is a lot of local self-regulation in the adapting organism, for example when the activated tissue produces increased amounts of carbon dioxide, which dilates blood vessels, delivering more oxygen and nutrients to the tissue. But the distribution of excitation, and the harmonious balancing of the organism’s resources and activities, is achieved by the actions of the cortex of the brain, acting on the subordinate nerve nets, adjusting many factors relating to energy production and use.
>
> On the level of the mitochondria, adrenaline and acetylcholine have slightly different effects. (Metabolic studies with isolated mitochondria are so remote from the normal cellular condition that their results are nothing more than a hint of what might be occurring in the cell.)

### Source 8 — Ray Peat Email Advice Depository — Post 6

Ray Peat · Email · Jan 16, 2013

> ## Thread 10
>
> **Question:** When you say several effects of co2 shuts off glycolysis, do you mean anaerobic glycolysis or all glycolysis, if all glycolysis how does glucose enter mitochondria without breaking down to pyruvate?
>
> **Ray Peat:** Meaning the entry of lactate into the blood stream inappropriately, which would usually be called aerobic glycolysis, though you can't be sure how much oxygen is getting to the cells when CO2 is deficient, since its absence causes many problems in oxygen delivery and use.
>
> **Question:** So when CO2 isn't deficient glycolysis, meaning glucose to pyruvate, is fine?
>
> **Ray Peat:** Yes, as part of oxidative metabolism, it's better than burning too much fat.

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