# Oxidation

Category: Metabolism

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.

8 passages · 2 authors · 2012–2025 · Most-cited: [Ray Peat](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/voices/ray-peat/index.md)

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

## Synthesis

**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. [Source 1] Peat argued that the fundamental distinction is between *proper oxidative metabolism* and *destructive lipid peroxidation*. [Source 2, 4] 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. [Source 3] 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." [Source 6]

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). [Source 2] In the presence of CO2, the essential electron-moving co-factor NAD/NADH is more oxidized, meaning oxygen is doing its work better. [Source 2] The active thyroid hormone, T3, stimulates this oxidative metabolism by activating the enzymes which take up electrons, pulling them harmlessly into water. [Source 3, 6] 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. [Source 5, 7]

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. [Source 3] 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. [Source 4] 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. [Source 4] 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. [Source 4, 8]

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. [Source 6] 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. [Source 6] 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. [Source 8]

## 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.

## Related concepts

- [Antioxidants](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/antioxidants/index.md)
- [Cellular respiration](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/cellular-respiration/index.md)
- [Lactic acid](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/lactic-acid/index.md)
- [Aldosterone](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/aldosterone/index.md)
- [Carbon Dioxide (CO2)](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/carbon-dioxide-co2/index.md)
- [Glycolysis](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/glycolysis/index.md)

## Cited passages

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

### Source 1 — Glossary

Ray Peat · Glossary

> 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.

### Source 2 — Ask the Herb Doctor: Altitude (July 2013)

Ray Peat · Interview · 2013

> **Ray Peat:** Yeah, so if, for example, in the heart, when you increase the amount of CO2 in your blood, you increase the actual amount of oxygen in the heart; it delivers the oxygen to the heart but more important than that is that it delivers it in the optimum way. It makes the oxygen go to the right places in the heart because it’s having the same effect on the heart proteins that it has on the haemoglobin and it retracts the electrons so that the oxygen doesn’t stick – or it shouldn’t -­ the electrons go directly to the oxygen down the electron transport chain and the electrons are prevented from deviating and getting off and attacking the polyunsaturated fats, which is what causes the bad oxidation that people take antioxidants for.
>
> **Sarah Johannesen Murray and Andrew Murray:** That’s the free radical damage, isn’t it?
>
> **Ray Peat:** Yeah.
>
> **Sarah Johannesen Murray and Andrew Murray:** .....that people know about, so free radical damage is where the electrons are free to interact with things that cause harm, whereas the presence of an increased amount of CO2 actually prevents those electrons from becoming wild and reacting with harmful, or the good tissues.

### Source 3 — 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 4 — 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 5 — Biochemical Health, Reduction and Oxidation — Politics & Science 2015

Ray Peat · Interview · 2015

> **Ray Peat:** I mean, if you'd ever look for anything for an idea of what perfection is, I think you'd look at a newborn creature. [1:39:47] Yeah, the rate of oxidation is highest. I'm not sure how much, how you would compare the prenatal oxidative state, but right at the newborn, the consumption of oxygen and the sugar per gram of tissue is higher than it will ever be later. And it decreases, especially at puberty with the rise of the sex hormones. The oxidation rate decreases more sharply and mortality rate increases as the oxidation rate decreases.

### Source 6 — Telegram - Danny Roddy - 2025-11-02

Danny Roddy · Telegram Message · Nov 2, 2025 · https://t.me/dannyroddy

> # Telegram - Danny Roddy - 2025-11-02
>
> **Danny Roddy** - 13:08
> Digital IDs won't just be for people, but for everything aka "tokenization."
> **Danny Roddy** - 13:15
> Censorship and surveillance will be unprecidented in the new system, which is being implemented right now through laws like the Genius and Clarity Acts -- not in some distant future.
> **Danny Roddy** - 14:21
> There are many low-effort health people that haven't done the work to understand Ray's ideas, have merged his work with something silly or dangerous, and invoke his name constantly online.
>
> **Danny Roddy** - 15:37
> The empire quickly securing Venezuelan oil is probably strategic before a much larger geopolitical or economic shift.
>
> **Danny Roddy** - 19:11
> Briefly Examining "Mineral Balancing" Foundations 1/2
>
> When Ray talks about oxidation, usually in reference to oxidative metabolism, he is referring to cells speedily passing their electrons to oxygen to produce ATP, CO2, water, and heat.
>
> A healthy cell has few free electrons because oxygen vacuums them up so quickly (Szent-Györgyi's "first rule of electrobiology").
>
> The active thyroid hormone, T3, stimulates oxidative metabolism, limiting the need for the adaptive stress systems (hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenals) and keeps both sympathetic and parasympathic divisions of the nervous system quiet.
>
> For good health, the idea is to maintain a high degree of oxidative metabolism throughout life -- similar to the metabolic state of a healthy ten-year-old.
>
> Basic tests to identify the velocity of oxidative metabolism would be the underarm temperature, resting pulse rate, total cholesterol, and the achilles reflex tendon test.
>
> **Danny Roddy** - 19:16
> Briefly Examining "Mineral Balancing" Foundations 2/2
>
> In contrast, Dr. Lawrence Wilson centers on the idea of "oxidation types" to describe individuals whose oxidation rate was too fast, so-called "fast oxidizers," which is sympathetic dominant and maintained by high thyroid and high adrenal function.
>
> Or too slow, so-called "slow oxidizers," which is parasympathetic dominant and maintained by low thyroid and low adrenal activity.
>
> Identifying the state is based on different ratios on hair tests, personality, symptoms, etc.

### Source 7 — Politics & Science: Two Hour Fundraiser II

Ray Peat · Interview · Feb 22, 2012 · http://l-i-g-h-t.com/files/politics-science-two-hour-fundraiser-2.mp4

> ## Thyroid as the Master System
>
> **John Barkhausen:** I've heard the complaint about your writings before that "all he ever thinks is wrong with us is our thyroid," and somehow that's a put-down. How do you respond to that?
>
> **Ray Peat:** It doesn't apply just to people; it applies to all complex organisms practically. The difference between us and a fungus is that we've had a lot of thyroid and oxidative metabolism that the fungus hasn't benefited from. All of our functions are characterized by high-energy oxidative metabolism—the brain more than any other part. As you look at the animal kingdom, the outstanding thing is that their oxidative metabolism increases as they go up the so-called evolutionary scale. Oxygen is driving our existence, and our existence is culminating in a bigger, more expensive brain that other animals couldn't afford because their thyroid function wasn't adequate. It's really the essential thing. Given oxygen and sugar and a few other materials, thyroid is the catalyst for making things run right.
>
> **John Barkhausen:** The thyroid does seem like the master system in terms of energy production for everything.

### Source 8 — Generative Energy #35: CO2, Ketosis, and Mitochondria | PUFA, Sugar, Iron, and AGEs | Progesterone and Cell Stability

Ray Peat · Interview · Aug 29, 2020 · https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Iz99Wy5JmrbohNj4OZCxP

> **Ray Peat:** Basically, no thought. Just referring to the idea of antioxidants. need to restore when vitamin E, for example, gets oxidized, vitamin C will replenish the electron and then NADH replenishes vitamin C's electron and so on. And so they extrapolate much too far from the idea of of protective antioxidants and forget that what we want is pro-oxidation to protect against those destructive oxidations.

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