# Pituitary Gland

Category: Hormones

The pituitary gland sits at the base of the brain, where it receives signals from the brain, and secretes hormones that regulate the production of various other hormones and secretions.

11 passages · 3 authors · 1993–2021 · Most-cited: [Ray Peat](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/voices/ray-peat/index.md)

Canonical page: https://bioenergeticoracle.com/concepts/pituitary-gland

## Synthesis

**Prolactin** is a pituitary hormone whose chronic elevation Ray Peat treated as a central driver of *degenerative aging*, and the gland itself as an organ whose overactivity shortens lifespan. [Source 1, 7, 11] Peat argued that the pituitary is roused in proportion to systemic failure, pushing the organism with stimulating hormones to compensate for what cells should be doing on the basis of their own energy availability. [Source 6] He cited the work of W.D. Denckla, who found that removing the pituitary gland while providing thyroid hormone allowed animals to live much longer than intact animals while maintaining a **high metabolic rate**. [Source 1, 7] Denckla identified a pituitary fraction, closely related to prolactin and growth hormone, that suppressed tissue oxygen consumption and accelerated aging, which he termed the *oxygen blocking hormone*. [Source 1, 7]

The pituitary gland sits at the base of the brain, receiving signals and secreting hormones that regulate other glands, a role that once earned it the title "leader of the endocrine orchestra." [Source 1, 3] However, Peat emphasized that its regulatory dominance emerges only under conditions of low energy. When thyroid function is robust and energy is abundant, tissues largely regulate themselves, and the pituitary has little to do. [Source 6] When thyroid function fails, the pituitary becomes overactive, secreting hormones like **TSH**, **ACTH**, and prolactin in an attempt to force compensatory responses. [Source 6, 11] Peat stressed that almost everything the pituitary does has a constructive, adaptive effect to overcome stress, but the substances it produces are all harmful if their activity is continued. [Source 11] He recommended that all pituitary hormones should be kept minimal, a state achieved when the body is producing sufficient thyroid, progesterone, and energy. [Source 11]

Estrogen is a primary driver of pituitary pathology in Peat's framework. He noted that estrogen stimulates cell division in the pituitary gland and is a firmly established cause of **pituitary tumors**, particularly prolactin-secreting tumors that were rare before the introduction of oral contraceptives. [Source 2, 4] Estrogen increases prolactin by suppressing thyroid function and directly stimulating the pituitary's secretion, and it can do so through every conceivable synthetic route. [Source 4, 9] Prolactin, in turn, acts on the thyroid gland to decrease its activity and on other tissues to increase *glycolysis* with lactate production while decreasing oxidative metabolism. [Source 10] This creates a vicious cycle where estrogen elevates prolactin, prolactin suppresses thyroid function, and the resulting low thyroid state further disinhibits the pituitary, leading to conditions like chronic milk formation in non-lactating women and menorrhagia. [Source 4, 11]

The pituitary also plays a central role in the brain-pituitary compensation system that Peat saw as the main regulator of metabolic interactions. [Source 5] He noted that if estrogen is injected, the level of **thyroid stimulating hormone** rises, which he interpreted as a hint that the peripheral effects of estrogen can be compensated for by thyroxine. [Source 5] However, the pituitary's ability to detect thyroid status is imperfect. Peat warned that the gland can detect T4 and convert a tiny amount for its own sensing purposes, so if too much T4 accumulates in tissues, the pituitary may believe thyroid status is adequate even when the liver is not producing any active T3. [Source 8] This can lead to a situation where the brain is actually suppressed by excess T4 while the rest of the body remains functionally hypothyroid, leaving the pituitary's compensatory drives unchecked. [Source 8]

## People also ask

### How does the pituitary gland accelerate aging according to Peat?

Peat argued that the pituitary releases hormones like prolactin and growth hormone to compensate for low energy, but their chronic activity suppresses oxygen consumption and drives degenerative aging, a process he linked to Denckla's "oxygen blocking hormone."

### Why does estrogen cause pituitary tumors in Peat's view?

Peat noted that estrogen directly stimulates cell division in the pituitary and suppresses thyroid function, creating a cycle where elevated prolactin further lowers metabolism, promoting tumor growth, especially prolactin-secreting tumors.

### Why might the pituitary misjudge thyroid status during T4 therapy?

Peat warned that the pituitary can detect T4 and convert a small amount for its own sensing, so if T4 accumulates in tissues without active T3 production, the gland may wrongly sense adequate thyroid status while the body remains hypothyroid.

## Related concepts

- [Albumin](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/albumin/index.md)
- [Anemia](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/anemia/index.md)
- [Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/dehydroepiandrosterone-dhea/index.md)
- [Estrogen](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/estrogen/index.md)
- [Lipolysis](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/lipolysis/index.md)
- [Melatonin](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/melatonin/index.md)

## Cited passages

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

### Source 1 — Glossary

Ray Peat · Glossary

> Pituitary Gland
>
> The pituitary gland sits at the base of the brain, where it receives signals from the brain, and secretes hormones that regulate the production of various other hormones and secretions.
>
> Removing the pituitary gland (or its equivalent) and providing thyroid hormone, he found that animals lacking the pituitary lived much longer than intact animals, and maintained a high metabolic rate. Making extracts of pituitary glands, he found a fraction (closely related to prolactin and growth hormone) that suppressed tissue oxygen consumption, and accelerated the degenerative changes of aging.

### Source 2 — From PMS to Menopause: Female Hormones in Context

Ray Peat · Book · 1997

> ## PART ONE: ESTROGEN IN CONTEXT
> ### 1. ESTROGEN: SIMPLY DANGEROUS
>
> **Ray Peat:** The questions for this chapter came from a 3 day conference in Los Angeles in 1995. *GLOSSARY:* The pituitary gland sits at the base of the brain, where it receives signals from the brain, and secretes hormones that regulate the production of various other hormones and secretions. Prolactin is a hormone secreted by the pituitary gland during pregnancy, and during stress. It promotes milk production, removes calcium from the bones, and inhibits progesterone formation. Progesterone is the main female hormone, and is a protective hormone during pregnancy, but it is also important in men since it is a general brain regulating and protective hormone. DHEA, known as the youth hormone, is very similar to progesterone but is present in both men and women at very high levels. It can be turned into either estrogen or testosterone. The thymus gland is the main regulator of the immune system. Estrogen causes it to shrink, while progesterone protects it. Estrogen is a hormone that stimulates cell division (mainly in the breast, uterus, and prostate gland, and in the pituitary gland) and is normally produced in a monthly surge at the time of ovulation and during pregnancy. Women normally have higher levels in their blood than men do.

### Source 3 — Depression After Childbirth: How to Recognize, Treat, and Prevent Postnatal Depression

Katharina Dalton · Book · 2001

> ### The pituitary gland
>
> **Katharina Dalton:** The pituitary gland is a small, but vitally important, pea-sized organ, situated next to the hypothalamus. It was once called 'the leader of the endocrine orchestra' because it controlled so many hormones and was responsible for so many functions of the body. But now that we have a greater appreciation of the importance of the hypothalamus and its intimate relationship with the pituitary, we refer to the hypothalamic-pituitary axis, and we are no longer sure which organ holds the seat of the greatest power (see Fig. 2). The pituitary produces many stimulating hormones which cause other glands, including the adrenals, thyroid, and pancreas, to produce their own specialized hormones, but here we will concentrate only on the hormones of menstruation and pregnancy. Fig. 2 Menstrual hormones from the hypothalamus and pituitary to the ovaries and womb When GnRH is released from the hypothalamus, it stimulates the pituitary to produce two menstrual hormones: follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). From the pituitary the FSH passes in the blood to the ovary, where it has two functions. It causes one of the thousands of immature follicles within the ovary to ripen and come to the surface of the ovary, where it appears like a little blister; within it is the egg cell. It also stimulates the ovarian cells to produce the hormone oestrogen. This oestrogen passes in the blood to the womb, where it rebuilds the inner lining of the womb, which disintegrated and was shed at the last menstruation (see Fig. 2). The other hormone from the pituitary, LH, also passes to the ovary, where it acts upon the ripening follicle, causing it to burst and release the egg cell. This is known as ovulation and normally occurs about fourteen days before the onset of menstruation. The LH also causes special cells to be formed where the follicle burst, and these cells have the remarkable property of producing the hormone progesterone.

### Source 4 — From PMS to Menopause: Female Hormones in Context

Ray Peat · Book · 1997

> **Question:** You mentioned that estrogen causes pituitary tumors. If the pituitary is the "master gland," isn't that very serious?
>
> **Ray Peat:** In the early 1970s, researchers at Johns Hopkins studied a group of 300 young women living in their region who had pituitary tumors. Previously, that kind of tumor was very rare, and the researchers suggested that the estrogen in the oral contraceptive was causing this epidemic. Estrogen's ability to produce this kind of tumor is now firmly established. This type of tumor secretes prolactin. Prolactin is a hormone which is known to cause osteoporosis, and which also has a role in breast abnormalities, including cancer. It can suppress the ovaries' ability to make progesterone, and it affects sweat glands and hair follicles. If the tumor is very large, its pressure on the optic nerve can cause visual disturbances. Normally, by the age of 50, most people have an enlargement of the pituitary, and this is undoubtedly a factor in the menopause and other conditions that occur in aging. A blood test for prolactin will usually show whether a tumor is forming or not. A drug is available that will shrink the tumor and normalize the gland's function.

### Source 5 — Nutrition for Women

Ray Peat · Book · 1993

> The brain needs a large supply of glucose to function well. Incidentally, oversleeping can cause the blood sugar to fall. High estrogen can also cause low blood sugar. People have always suspected that sexual desire was part of the highest human functioning. The expectancy process in the most uniquely human part of the brain is as essential for good sex as it is for good art or good science. Adequate nutrition, including vitamin E, is extremely important for the full functioning of this system.
>
> ### Estrogen and Thyroid: A Note for Physicians
>
> The idea of physiological compensation is sometimes overlooked in interpreting endocrine interactions, with confusing results. The brain-pituitary system (not just the hypothalamus, since the whole brain and sensory system participates as "reflex setter") is probably the main regulatory or compensating system. If estrogen is injected into an animal, the level of thyroid stimulating hormone rises (Brown-Grant, J. Endocr. 35, 263, 1966). This should be taken as a hint that the peripheral effect of estrogen can be compensated for by thyroxin. If thyroid functioning is borderline, it would also suggest that elevated estrogen might be uncompensated peripherally. There are many known examples of metabolic or functional opposition of estrogen and thyroid.
>
> **Blood Sugar**
>
> Estrogen lowers blood sugar by stimulating insulin release (Goodman and Hazelwood, J. Endocr. 62, 439, 1974), and also apparently by blocking the synthesis of adrenal corticoids (Turner, General Endocrinology, Sanders Co., Phila., 1966), while thyroxin raises blood sugar (Turner, ibid.).
>
> Fat Synthesis/ Lipolysis
>
> Synthesis of lipids is promoted by estrogen (Peat and Soderwall, Physiol. Chem. and Physics 4(3), 295, 1972), while thyroxin promotes lipolysis possibly acting through adrenalin (Turner, op. cit.).
>
> **Liver Catalase Activity**
>
> Reflecting an altered respiratory pattern, liver catalase activity seems to be lowered by estrogen (Adams, J. Reprod. Fertil. 12, 9, 1970) and raised by thyroxin.

### Source 6 — #58: Bioenergetic Nutrition Continued  |  Authoritarianism  |  Intention and Learning with Ray Peat, PhD

Ray Peat (with Danny Roddy) · Interview · May 30, 2021

> ## Thyroid and Metabolism
>
> **Danny Roddy:** In obesity, is part of the look just that accumulation of mucopolysaccharides?
>
> **Ray Peat:** Yeah, usually it is. It's a mixture of Cushing's symptoms—high stress hormones of various sorts. They can go in the direction of high estrogen, high serotonin, high histamine, high cortisol, high aldosterone, or an imbalance of the androgens. Many different hormonal directions just because your thyroid is not giving you the energy to contextualize your physiology to round everything off.
>
> **Danny Roddy:** One of the most important things you've ever said that helped me clarify my blurry picture of physiology is: "When your thyroid is low, your pituitary doesn't have much to do and your ovaries don't have much to do either, and all the glands in your body have an easy job when your thyroid is high." I appreciated that because if you listen to other people, it's so ridiculously complicated to figure out LH, growth hormone, prolactin, and FSH. It's incomprehensible without the model of energy and stress.
>
> **Ray Peat:** I think it's helpful to have a mental image of a libertarian world or an anarchist society in which everyone knows what to do and how to take care of themselves. That's when energy is abundant and your thyroid is good. When the well-distributed energy availability isn't there, then you have to look to be pushed to do what you're supposed to be doing. That's where the pituitary comes in. The pituitary is roused in proportion to how everything is failing. It pushes you this way and that way to make up for what you should be doing just on the basis of your cellular needs and cellular knowledge.

### Source 7 — Ask the Herb Doctor: Longevity and Nootropics

Ray Peat · Interview · Aug 21, 2015

> ## The Pituitary and the "Death Hormone"
>
> **Andrew Murray:** The intestines being clean prevents the accumulation of inflammatory degradative processes and contributes to a longer lifespan. How about the manipulation of hormones? W.D. Denckla did an experiment removing the pituitary gland, which was shown decisively to increase life and reduce the rate of aging. The hormones borne by the pituitary—like LH, FSH, TSH, and oxytocin—are responsible for a lot of inflammatory processes.
>
> **Ray Peat:** He found that, in general, the pituitary extract, if you injected it into an animal, slowed the ability to oxidize glucose. So he called the death hormone the "oxygen blocking hormone." He tried to extract a specific protein; it was closely related to prolactin or growth hormone, but he never did identify a single protein, probably because several pituitary hormones do have some oxygen-blocking function. Growth hormone is really an adequate model of what Denckla was looking for. It is now widely recognized that the more growth hormone you have, the shorter your life expectancy.
>
> **Sarah Murray:** And doctors give patients growth hormone.

### Source 8 — Hope For Health: Hope for Health: Thyroid

Ray Peat · Interview · Oct 31, 2008 · http://l-i-g-h-t.com/files/hope-for-health-thyroid-56-mins.mp4

> ## Hypoglycemia and Thyroid Function
>
> **Ray Peat:** Several tissues produce quite a bit of it. The pituitary gland can detect T4 (the inactive form). Since it can convert it, it doesn't distinguish very strongly between whether you're taking T4 or T3; it turns off its activity whenever it sees T4 or T3. Since it produces just a tiny amount for its own detecting purposes, if you accumulate too much thyroxine (T4) in your tissues, your pituitary thinks you have enough thyroid, but your liver might not be producing any active thyroid hormone from it at all. In early experiments, they took slices of different organs and added thyroxine. They found that the liver became fully activated with a modest amount of thyroxine added. The kidneys converted a little and were slightly activated. The muscles were not activated at all. But the brain, when thyroxine was added, was actually suppressed. The brain normally has an extremely high concentration of the active T3. Locally, too much T4 affects your brain in an anti-thyroid direction. Very few doctors are aware of the risks of prescribing plain thyroxine.

### Source 9 — Diet Impacts Hair Loss & The Thyroid with Danny Roddy — Temps & Pulses (Strong Sistas, 2020)

Danny Roddy · Interview · Aug 18, 2020 · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L02TfbFlNHM

> **Strong Sistas:** So hyperlactin means that your pituitary gland is like kind of taking over and that implies that your thyroid function is low.
>
> **Danny Roddy:** Yeah, and estrogen is one of the major things that increases it. There's a Litwack paper, L-I-T-W-A-C-K, I think 1985. And it says like estrogen increases every conceivable route of prolactin synthesis. And then there's another paper I have, where again, administration of thyroid hormone is known to lower prolactin. And so it's just one of those things. Like the menorrhea, I haven't studied it, but I wouldn't be shocked if that wasn't related to high prolactin.
>
> **Strong Sistas:** Yeah. Did we get our prolactin? I want to get my prolactin tested now. I'm going to find a way. Okay. Okay. So I think that we pretty covered hair loss. Yeah. It's funny because when I was going through like trying to grow my hair, I was always looking for like the external solution. And it really, from what you're saying, seems to come down to your thyroid function and your I kind of like could that be a good summary

### Source 10 — Glossary

Ray Peat · Glossary

> Prolactin
>
> Prolactin is a hormone secreted by the pituitary gland during pregnancy, and during stress. It promotes milk production, removes calcium from the bones, and inhibits progesterone formation.
>
> Arachidonic acid stimulates prolactin secretion, and prolactin acts on the thyroid gland to decrease its activity, and on other tissues to increase their glycolysis (with lactate production), while decreasing oxidative metabolism

### Source 11 — Ask the Herb Doctor: Endocrinology (Part 2)

Ray Peat · Interview · Apr 21, 2017 · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJkzU-4p6MQ

> ## The Pituitary and Stress Hormones
>
> **Andrew Murray:** Getting back to the endocrine system, I wanted to look at the hypothalamus. TRH (Thyrotropin-releasing hormone) stimulates TSH (Thyroid-stimulating hormone) release. It also stimulates prolactin from the anterior pituitary. Dr. Peat, since prolactin is released as well as TSH, how come it doesn't generate milk production in non-lactating females?
>
> **Ray Peat:** It very often does. For many years, I've noticed that when a woman complains of menorrhagia (prolonged excessive menstruation), they are often secreting milk even if they've never been pregnant. The hormone changes leading to excessive menstruation also cause prolactin excess, and probably growth hormone excess too. It is not uncommon for a middle-aged woman to have chronic milk formation associated with the overactivity of the thyroid system because their thyroid gland itself isn't able to produce the active hormones to turn off the pituitary. Almost everything the pituitary does has a constructive, adaptive effect to overcome stress. However, in itself, the substances produced in the pituitary are all harmful if they are continued. You want to have such a responsive, high metabolic system that the tissue can respond fully to a little bit of pituitary hormone and turn it off quickly. Animals that have their pituitaries removed and are given a supplement of cortisol and thyroid will often live two or three times longer than animals with normal pituitary function. This shows that the pituitary, to the extent that it is overactive, is shortening your life and shrinking your potential.

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