# Epilepsy

Category: Conditions

Also known as: seizures, seizure disorder

Epilepsy is fundamentally a disorder of brain energy metabolism, where a failure to sustain the high metabolic rate of neurons leads to an excitotoxic state. Peat argued that the core pathology is not a primary electrical misfiring, but a cellular energy crisis where excitation…

11 passages · 1 author · 1997–2022 · Most-cited: [Ray Peat](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/voices/ray-peat/index.md)

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

## Synthesis

**Epilepsy** is fundamentally a disorder of brain energy metabolism, where a failure to sustain the high metabolic rate of neurons leads to an excitotoxic state. [Source 1, 2] Peat argued that the core pathology is not a primary electrical misfiring, but a cellular energy crisis where *excitation outpaces the cell's ability to produce energy*, leading to a destructive cascade. [Source 2, 5] This excitotoxicity, in its simplest sense, occurs when an excitatory transmitter like glutamate acts on a cell whose energetic reserves are inadequate to sustain the provoked activity. [Source 5] The condition is closely tied to **hypothyroidism** and **estrogen dominance**, which create the physiological preconditions—such as edema and hyponatremia—that lower the seizure threshold. [Source 1, 5]

The metabolic vulnerability in epilepsy is heavily influenced by systemic hormonal and mineral imbalances. Hypothyroid individuals tend to lose sodium easily, while unopposed estrogen increases water retention without equivalent sodium retention, creating a state of *dilutional hyponatremia* that directly predisposes brain cells to swell and seize. [Source 1, 5] This is why neurologists historically used excessive water intake or hyperventilation as diagnostic tools; both cause cellular overhydration and a loss of **carbon dioxide**, which is a crucial regulator of neuronal stability. [Source 7, 9] Peat emphasized that carbon dioxide deficiency, often caused by hyperventilation, reduces oxygen delivery to the brain, constricts blood vessels, and impairs the Krebs cycle's ability to consume excitatory amino acids like glutamate and aspartate. [Source 3, 7] The drug acetazolamide, which retains carbon dioxide by inhibiting carbonic anhydrase, has been effective in preventing seizures, asthma, and altitude sickness precisely because it corrects this deficiency. [Source 7]

The excitotoxic cascade itself is a self-amplifying process driven by the release of **polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs)** and the loss of ionic control. Once a cell's energy production fails, calcium enters the cell, potassium leaves, and enzymes are activated that produce free fatty acids like linoleic and arachidonic acid, along with prostaglandins and free radicals. [Source 3, 5] These PUFAs cause mitochondrial damage and edema, further impairing energy production and making the cell more excitable. [Source 8] Peat noted that protein kinase C, promoted by unsaturated fats and estrogen, facilitates the release of excitatory amino acids, while estrogen also stimulates acetylcholine release and free radical production, creating a bias toward increased excitation. [Source 3] In contrast, **saturated fatty acids** do not have these damaging effects, and the ketone bodies produced by a ketogenic diet—such as beta-hydroxybutyrate—are protective both by providing an alternative energy source for damaged mitochondria and by acting as a structural analog to the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA. [Source 8]

Therapeutic intervention, in Peat's framework, centers on restoring energy production and blocking the excitatory cascade at multiple points. The brain itself is a major steroid-forming organ, producing **pregnenolone** and **progesterone**, which have a quieting, anti-excitatory effect and raise the seizure threshold. [Source 6, 10] Progesterone opposes estrogen's excitatory actions and has been used successfully to reduce or replace anticonvulsant drugs, which Peat condemned as both neurotoxic and teratogenic. [Source 3, 11] However, when a person is resistant to progesterone and requires extremely large doses, it typically indicates that the liver is failing to detoxify estrogen and excitatory substances, necessitating support for thyroid function and liver glycogen storage through a diet rich in sugar (such as orange juice) and gelatin, while avoiding the excitatory amino acids cysteine, tryptophan, glutamic acid, and aspartic acid. [Source 6, 10] Adequate intake of the alkaline minerals—**sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium**—from sources like fruit, milk, and well-cooked greens is also critical for stabilizing the nervous system and preventing the intestinal irritation that can promote seizures by increasing systemic nitric oxide and sodium loss. [Source 4, 6]

## People also ask

### How does a cellular energy crisis cause a seizure?

Peat argued that when a neuron's energy production fails, it cannot handle normal excitatory signals, leading to an excitotoxic cascade where calcium influx and the release of polyunsaturated fatty acids further damage mitochondria and cause the cell to fire uncontrollably.

### Why is carbon dioxide considered protective against epilepsy?

The corpus describes carbon dioxide as a crucial regulator that improves oxygen delivery to the brain, prevents blood vessel constriction, and helps the Krebs cycle consume excitatory amino acids, so a deficiency from hyperventilation can trigger seizures.

### What dietary changes does this perspective recommend for seizure control?

The entry suggests a diet rich in sugar and gelatin to support liver function, while avoiding excitatory amino acids like glutamate and aspartate, and ensuring adequate intake of sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium from fruit, milk, and well-cooked greens.

## Related concepts

- [Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/dehydroepiandrosterone-dhea/index.md)
- [Acetylcholine](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/acetylcholine/index.md)
- [Albumin](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/albumin/index.md)
- [Alkalosis](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/alkalosis/index.md)
- [Alzheimer's and Dementia](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/alzheimer-s-and-dementia/index.md)
- [Anemia](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/anemia/index.md)

## Cited passages

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

### Source 1 — Epilepsy and Progesterone

Ray Peat · Article · 2006 · https://raypeat.com/articles/articles/epilepsy-progesterone.shtml

> Water retention and low sodium increase susceptibility to seizures.
>
> When I was in high school, our dog found and ate a pint of bacon grease, and shortly afterward had a convulsive seizure. I knew of veterinarians who treated seizures in dogs with a vermifuge, so it seemed obvious that a metabolic disturbance, especially if combined with intestinal irritation, could cause fits. It was undoubtedly such observations that led some physicians to advocate removal of the colon as treatment for epilepsy.
>
> Pregnancy and the menstrual cycle have been recognized as having something to do with seizures, but when seizures occurred only during pregnancy, they were classified as nonepileptic, and when they had a clear premenstrual occurrence, they were likely to be classified as "hysterical fits," to be treated with punishment. It has been observed that all "recognized" anti-seizure drugs are teratogenic, and women who are taking such drugs are told that pregnancy might kill them if they stop the drug, but that their babies will have a greatly increased risk of birth defects if they take the drugs during pregnancy. This is why a better understanding of epilepsy is very important.
>
> Old therapies are mainly important for the insight they can give into the nature of the physiological problem. Some of the well established clinical-laboratory observations (F. Mora, and C. S. Babel, for example) give strong hints as to the physiological problem, for example, low albumin, high prealbumin, low magnesium and high calcium all suggest hypothyroidism. (Problems with the bowel, liver, and sex hormones are highly associated with hypothyroidism, both as causes and as effects.)
>
> Water retention was so clearly involved in seizures that increased water intake was used as a diagnostic procedure (R. Grinker). Unfortunately, animal experiments showed that water intoxication increased susceptibility to seizures even in normal individuals. Low sodium content in the body fluids also predisposed to seizures, so that someone with hyponatremia (low blood sodium) would be more susceptible to induction of a seizure by excessive water intake. (Excessive water uptake is still recognized as a factor in seizures, but now it is seen as part of a complex process, involving energy, hormones, and transmitter substances. E.g., Kempski; Chan.)

### Source 2 — Ask the Herb Doctor - January 2022

Ray Peat · Interview · Jan 20, 2022

> ## Aspartame and Brain Cancer
>
> **Ray Peat:** Cell phones have corresponded—if a person habitually holds their cell phone to the right ear, the incidence of brain tumors on the right of a particular kind has increased sharply since the use of cell phones. It happens that they are both causes of excitotoxicity. The electromagnetic field excites the cells and you need to provide energy to keep up with that or the cell dies. Ongoing experiments show that when cells are endangered by such things as MSG or aspartame, if you intervene by giving them a super amount of sugar—glucose or other sugar—will save the neurons simply by feeding whatever is needed to keep up with the high level of excitation. The excitotoxic conflict between unavoidable stimulation of excitation combined with something interfering with the oxidation of glucose applies to epilepsy, for example. If the cells aren't able to keep up their energy production and use with the excitation, the seizure gets out of control and damages the tissue. Any cell that can be exaggeratedly stimulated can be rescued if you keep the sugar supply up. But if it isn't kept up, then that cell can become cancerous, can form brain tumors, or can just die, leading to dementia or various types of brain function loss.

### Source 3 — Epilepsy and Progesterone

Ray Peat · Article · 2006 · https://raypeat.com/articles/articles/epilepsy-progesterone.shtml

> Once an excitotoxic state exists, the consequences of cell exhaustion can increase the likelihood that the condition will spread to other cells, since any excitation can trigger a complex of other excitatory processes. As calcium enters cells, potassium leaves, and enzymes are activated, producing free fatty acids (linoleic and arachidonic, for example) and prostaglandins, which activate other processes, including lipid peroxidation and free radical production.
>
> Protein kinase C (promoted by unsaturated fats and estrogen) facilitates the release of excitatory amino acids. (See J. W. Phillis and M. H. O'Regan, "Mechanisms of glutamate and aspartate release in the ischemic rat cerebral cortex," Br. Res. 730(1-2), 150-164, 1996.) Estrogen supports acetylcholine release, which leads to increased extracellular potassium and excitatory amino acids. (See R. B. Gibbs, et al., "Effects of estrogen on potassium-stimulated acetylcholine release in the hippocampus and overlying cortex of adult rats," Br. Res. 749(1), 143-146, 1997.) Estrogen also stimulates the production of free radicals. Calcium, free radicals, and unsaturated free fatty acids impair energy production, decreasing the ability to regulate potassium and calcium.
>
> The increased estrogen associated with seizures is associated with reduced serum calcium (Jacono and Robertson, 1987). Feedback self-stimulation of free radicals, free fatty acids, and prostaglandins create a bias toward increased excitation. Ammonia is produced by stimulated nerves, and normally its elimination helps to eliminate and control the excitotoxic amino acids, glutamate and aspartate. The production of urea consumes aspartic acid, converting it to fumaric acid, but this requires carbon dioxide, produced by normal mitochondrial function.
>
> A deficiency of carbon dioxide would reduce the delivery of oxygen to the brain by constricting blood vessels and changing hemoglobin's affinity for oxygen (limiting carbon dioxide production), and the failure to consume aspartate (in urea synthesis) and glutamate (as alpha-ketoglutarate) and aspartate (as oxaloacetate) in the Krebs cycle, means that as energy becomes deficient, excitation tends to be promoted.

### Source 4 — Learned Helplessness KMUD 2013

Ray Peat · Interview · 2013 · http://www.l-i-g-h-t.com/files/herb-doctors-learned-helplessness-nervous-system-and-thyroid-questionaire.mp4

> **Andrew Murray:** The root is more a bile stimulant and the leaf is specifically diuretic; and it contains potassium. So it's better than furosemide and the others so called potassium-sparing diuretics. Anyway, I am more interested in helping you out with Dr. Peat's advice for your epilepsy.
>
> **Ray Peat:** The minerals are very important too for getting the balance of the nervous system. Making sure you have enough of all of the alkaline minerals: potassium, sodium, calcium and magnesium. Fruit and milk are very important for those.
>
> **Andrew Murray:** You recommend coffee as a good source of magnesium, and calcium is in milk and dairy products, and then sodium from just regular salt; and you do advocate people use salt.
>
> **Caller:** [Explains that she's tried a vegan diet before, basically starved herself, depleted herself of minerals and was regularly diagnosed with low sodium. She finds that you can get calcium and magnesium from nettle (or any large leafy green) and that coffee is acidic.]
>
> **Andrew Murray:** Dr. Peat, what do you think about coffee and acidity?

### Source 5 — Epilepsy and Progesterone

Ray Peat · Article · 2006 · https://raypeat.com/articles/articles/epilepsy-progesterone.shtml

> The most popular anticonvulsant drugs are both neurotoxic and teratogenic, that is, they damage the patient's brain, and greatly increase the incidence of birth defects. The Nazis justified their horrible medical experiments as "science," but the effects of epilepsy medicine in the last half century have been similar in effect, grander in scale, and without any scientific justification.
>
> Besides the specific promotional efforts of the drug industry and their branch of government, there is a broader situation that makes their work easier. It is a culture of goony ideas, that ultimately emanates from the academic elite, which (since Descartes, and before) places "thought" above evidence. In biology, "genes" and "membranes" are confused ideas that are used to justify actions that aren't based on evidence. For the Nazis, "cultural degeneracy" was a medical-biological-political category based on that style of thinking. In the United States, "genes" for epilepsy, hyperactivity, language development, IQ, eclampsia, etc., are "found" at Harvard/MIT/Stanford/Yale/Univ. of California, etc., by an elite whose wits have been dulled by environmental deprivation, that is, by a lack of criticism.
>
> By manipulating the diet and environment, animals can be made more or less seizure-prone, and it happens that the changes that affect the brain affect all other organs, in ways that are now fairly well understood. Examining the cellular events associated with a seizure is useful for therapy and prevention of seizures, but the same methods are helpful for many other conditions. It is now clearly established that stress can cause brain damage, as well as other diseases. Now that our public health establishment has eliminated smoking from public places, maybe they can find a way to reduce stress and disease by removing morons from positions of power.
>
> Excitotoxicity, in its simplest sense, is the harmful cellular effect (death or injury) caused by an excitatory transmitter such as glutamate or aspartate acting on a cell whose energetic reserves aren't adequate to sustain the level of activity provoked by the transmitter. Once an excitotoxic state exists, the consequences of cell exhaustion can increase the likelihood that the condition will spread to other cells, since any excitation can trigger a complex of other excitatory processes.

### Source 6 — Ask the Herb Doctor: Exploring Alternatives

Ray Peat · Interview · May 20, 2016 · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbNIeuojUk0

> ## Caller: Seizures and Epilepsy
>
> **Caller:** My daughter is 35 and has had seizures since she was 5. We tried Progest-E; she was taking about one to two bottles every three days. She reduced her medication by 75%, but she couldn't keep up that volume.
>
> **Ray Peat:** Has she had her thyroid hormones, including Reverse T3, measured? When someone is resistant to progesterone and needs extremely large amounts, it's usually because their liver is letting estrogen and excitatory substances accumulate. It takes a super-normal amount of progesterone to steady things. If you eat things your liver needs—avoiding proteins with excitatory cysteine and favoring gelatin or glycine—and shift the balance toward more sugar (orange juice) and efficient thyroid function, the liver can store sugar and eliminate the excitatory estrogen.

### Source 7 — Buteyko Breathing - Bud Weiss, 2008-09-15

Ray Peat · Interview · Sep 15, 2008

> **Ray Peat:** Yes, and there is a drug called acetazolamide, the brand name is Diamox. It used to be considered a diuretic, but it became popular to prevent altitude sickness because it causes you to retain carbon dioxide. And hyperventilators are people who are susceptible to altitude sickness. So taking this acetazolamide makes you retain your carbon dioxide by inhibiting the carbonic anhydrase enzyme, and prevents altitude sickness, but it also prevents overbreathing and alkalosis at night. People who have sleep disordered breathing, it is found that acetazolamide will usually cure that. And it is very effective in treating asthma which is one of the pretty direct ways to show that carbon dioxide deficiency is so closely related to asthma and other breathing disorders. Epilepsy is another thing that can be prevented with acetazolamide or anything that raises your carbon dioxide. Neurologists used to demonstrate an epileptic brain wave just by having a person hyperventilate.
>
> **Bud Weiss:** Yes, we've been able to stop epileptic seizure. When someone knows that they have... Generally they know when their aura starts, and so if they practice reduced breathing when that comes up, they don't have seizures.

### Source 8 — The Gaba System Defenses and Tissue Renewal

Ray Peat · Article · 2007

> A ketogenic diet produces acetone, acetoacetate, and beta-hydroxybutyrate ("ketone bodies") and these are protective against seizures (Rho, et al., 2002). Besides providing energy to mitochondria, hydroxybutyrate is structurally close to GABA. Other close analogs, gamma-hydroxybutyrate, gamma-butyrolactone, and 1,4-butanediol, clearly act as regulatory substances, rather than as mere energy sources, though mitochondrial energy supply is an important issue in seizures. Even acetate itself is protective (Urion, et al., 1979).
>
> A feature common to many antiseizure chemicals is a series of saturated carbon atoms, for example valproic acid (2-propylpentanoic acid), valeric acid (pentanoic acid), dipropylacetic acid, isoleucine (2-amino-3-methylpentanoic acid), and leucine (2-amino-4-methylpentanoic acid).
>
> The main difference between metabolism of glucose and metabolism of fat for energy is that fat can't be metabolized into lactic acid, while glucose and fat can both be metabolized to carbon dioxide. When mitochondria are damaged, cells compensate by producing and excreting lactic acid. Alzheimer's disease has been described as "diabetes of the brain," because the demented brain uses glucose and oxygen very slowly. The easily metabolized medium chain triglycerides can improve mental functions in Alzheimer's patients (Reger, et al., 2004).
>
> Although diabetes is described as an inability to use glucose, diabetics usually have increased lactate in their blood, indicating that glucose is being used wastefully, at the same time that some energy is produced from fat. Mitochondria damaged by chronic exposure to PUFA have a low rate of oxygen use and energy production. In old age, and sometimes in younger people, mitochondria lose some of their DNA, and are unable to produce the proteins needed for full metabolic activity. In younger people, a type of mitochondrial defect causes seizures and lactic acidosis. The production of lactic acid tends to raise the intracellular pH (especially when carbon dioxide isn't being produced) while it tends to lower the blood's pH. High intracellular pH is excitatory.

### Source 9 — Protection and Restoration of the Nervous System 2005 Confer, 2005

Ray Peat · Interview · 2005

> **Ray Peat:** And when you look at any condition, such as dementia, cancer, arthritis, epilepsy, paralysis, migraines, emphysema, all of these are physical processes, as well as biological processes. And a common feature that they have is that the cells get too wet. The gel that’s put into a watery solution without enough salt or sugar, or things dissolved in water, swells up, and can eventually decompose, just from getting too wet. All of the fatiguing, inflaming, tumor-forming, atrophy-producing biological processes involve this accumulation of water out of control. The gel is no longer in control and excluding watery stuff; the gel is forced to take up too much water. And along with the water, it’s forced to take up random amounts of proteins and fats and salts that shouldn’t be there. For example, the healthy cell excludes calcium and takes up magnesium; if you immerse it in too much water, without enough sodium, that alone will cause the cell to take up calcium; and calcium and the water excite the cell. So, for example, to apply this to epilepsy, if you make a person drink too much plain water, it can bring on a seizure. Another way that neurologists can test for epilepsy – they used to do this – is actually have the person drink a pint of water; and if they had a seizure, that proved they had epilepsy. Or they would have them hyperventilate; and if they had a seizure from hyperventilating, that proved they had epilepsy. When you hyperventilate, you reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in your blood. That allows water from the blood to move out into the cells, such as the brain cells, causing them to swell, get excited and, in the case of epilepsy it can cause a seizure, or in another situation it can cause cramping pain. Are there any questions or comments on this point ?

### Source 10 — Ask the Herb Doctor: Exploring Alternatives

Ray Peat · Interview · May 20, 2016 · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbNIeuojUk0

> ## Caller: Seizures and Epilepsy
>
> **Caller:** Do you know of any alternatives for seizure medication?
>
> **Ray Peat:** Since we were just talking about the intestine, that should always be taken into account. Make sure you aren't disturbing your system by eating green smoothies, too many nuts, or raw foods. Irritation in the digestive system will increase the things that promote seizures or lower the threshold for them. The brain is one of our biggest steroid-forming organs; it produces considerable amounts of DHEA, progesterone, and pregnenolone. These have a quieting effect. When the brain is under stress, those increase to compensate. There are foods that specifically excite and damage the nerves and predispose you to seizures. Amino acids including glutamic acid, aspartic acid, cysteine, and tryptophan are the worst for lowering the seizure threshold. Supplements of progesterone have been used to reduce sensitivity. The threshold to excitation increases in proportion to the amount of pregnenolone and progesterone.
>
> **Sarah Murray:** I had a client with grand mal epilepsy who was able to wean herself off all medication and resume driving. She sticks to a strict diet that doesn't feed intestinal bacteria, takes pregnenolone and progesterone, has a thyroid prescription, and takes anti-adrenaline herbs like valerian, skullcap, and passionflower.

### Source 11 — From PMS to Menopause: Female Hormones in Context

Ray Peat · Book · 1997

> **Ray Peat:** (Since all of the drugs used to treat epilepsy are known to cause birth defects, it would certainly seem reasonable to take advantage of progesterone's anti-seizure effect, especially during pregnancy. It wouldn't be hard to ascribe liability for the prenatal injury of thousands of people, to the pharmaceutical industry and regulatory agencies, who seem to conspire to keep this information away from the medical profession.) Some publications fail to distinguish between natural progesterone and the frequently harmful synthetic progestins. Some recent animal studies are showing that prenatal progesterone increased body size, but even more, it increased brain size, for an improved brain/body ratio. First, it was established that good prenatal nutrition produced big, healthy babies with big heads, high intelligence, and good disposition. Then, experiments with rats showed that prenatal treatment with prolactin, which stimulates progesterone synthesis in that species (but blocks it in humans) produced large brained, intelligent animals (95th percentile for brain size and intelligence). It has since been established that a large brain is associated with a long life span. Prenatal stress produces many minor physical "stigmata," and these have been shown to be associated with hyperactivity. Excess estrogen (and other toxins, and associated deficiencies) reduces brain size and damages behavior. (In animals, the effects of prenatal stress can be passed on to the third generation.) Progesterone opposes estrogen, and promotes prenatal nutrition. Dalton's studies of babies whose mothers received natural progesterone showed greatly improved intelligence." Another researcher, deliberately attempting to improve intelligence (Dalton simply intended to treat PMS and toxemia of pregnancy) claims "his" babies have a 200 IQ. Other investigators find that progesterone babies have strong, serene, independent characters.

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