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In a 2010 interview, the late Ray Peat, a biologist and physiologist specializing in the bioenergetic theory of health, reviews some of the key benefits of CO2 and how it works in the human body. This article is a summary of the main points covered in this interview.

I apologize for the quality of the video. It was recorded 13 years ago and appears to have been filmed on a cell phone. In 2010, the cameras were not very efficient. However, the audio is decent and, more importantly, this information is really hard to come by since Ray Peat is no longer with us. Only 2 people had viewed it when I first watched it.

It is so interesting that I have watched it four times. I believe that optimizing your carbon dioxide (CO2) levels is one of the most important strategies you can implement to slow the degeneration of aging.

On this topic, I'm going to speak with one of the world's leading breathing experts, Peter Litchfield, Ph.D., who will explain why most breathing techniques don't work because they don't attack not to the underlying breathing habits that lower CO2 levels.

CO2 is essential for optimal health

CO2 is generally considered simply a harmful waste from breathing and a “pollutant” that endangers the Earth by increasing global temperatures.

In fact, CO2 drives mitochondrial energy production and improves oxygen delivery to cells. It is also essential to most life forms on Earth, especially plants. In fact, CO2 appears to be a more fundamental component of living matter than oxygen. All this was well known in decades past, but knowledge about the beneficial effects of CO2 is being eradicated over time.

Importantly, CO2 allows for more efficient energy production in the mitochondria, which explains why people who live or spend time at altitude tend to be healthier and have fewer chronic health problems. such as asthma. The reason is that the pressure of CO2 relative to oxygen is higher at altitude.

A simple method to increase CO2

According to Forbes Health, biohacking is "a term used to describe various tips and tricks aimed at improving the body's ability to function optimally, and perhaps even extend lifespan."

To mimic altitude to increase CO2 levels, simply breathe into a paper bag for a minute or two. The bag should be neither too small nor too large (the ideal size is 15 centimeters by 38 centimeters). Breathe into the bag, covering your mouth and nose, until you feel better.

With each exhale, you expel carbon dioxide. By rebreathing the carbon dioxide inside the paper bag, you are effectively increasing your carbon dioxide levels. According to Ray Peat, it has been shown that breathing into a paper bag several times a day can lower blood pressure by 30 points and stabilize it after a few days of repetition.

CO2 and lactate have opposite effects

As Ray Peat explains, CO2 and lactate have opposite effects. So where lactate causes problems, CO2 has beneficial effects.

For example, elevated lactate production is a common theme in diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, heart failure, shock, and general aging. It promotes inflammation and degrades mitochondrial function. Conversely, low concentrations of CO2 are associated with seizures, muscle spasms, inflammation, hypothyroidism, stroke and clotting disorders.

According to Ray Peat, all of these problems, whether caused by high lactate or low CO2, can be successfully treated with various CO2 therapies, such as CO2 baths (where CO2 is pumped in the bathtub, much like bathing in sparkling mineral water) or the addition of CO2 in a standard hyperbaric treatment.

Easier ways to increase the CO2 content of your tissues include breathing into a small paper bag several times a day as noted above, having adequate calcium intake, and supplementing with salt, bicarbonate soda or soft drinks.

Ray Peat recounts how he told a person suffering from transient ischemic attacks, who had visited the emergency room several times with symptoms of stroke and paralysis, to drink a soda or sparkling water when the attacks were occurring because the bubbles in soft drinks are CO2 gas. “It worked for him,” he said.

CO2 promotes efficient energy production

Lactate is the byproduct of glycolysis, or non-aerobic respiration. It occurs when mitochondria are compromised and unable to metabolize glucose. Instead of being burned in the mitochondria, pyruvate is oxidized to lactate in the cell's cytoplasm. When this phenomenon occurs in the presence of oxygen, it is the Warburg effect, which is the main pathway used by cancer cells.
CO2 Mercola
As shown in the graph below, glucose can be metabolized in two different ways. When fat intake is too high, glucose is burned by glycolysis, which does not use oxygen and produces lactate. This method of energy production is very inefficient, as it only generates 2 ATP per glucose molecule. And, in the context of this article, no CO2.
CO2 Mercola
When fat intake is between 15 and 40 percent and glucose intake is high enough, fat can be burned for fuel in the mitochondria. This generates up to 38 ATP per glucose molecule. During this process, NADH and CO2 are also produced.

If fat intake is greater than 40% and carbohydrate intake is less than 200 grams per day, glucose is burned during glycolysis in the cell's cytoplasm, producing lactate which suppresses lactate. oxidation of glucose and shifts metabolism towards fat burning.

Lactate also promotes inflammation and fibrosis. CO2, on the other hand, limits the formation of lactate, increases the oxidation of glucose, helps trigger the formation of mitochondria (meaning it increases the number of mitochondria in your cells), and increases the cellular ATP concentrations.

As Ray Peat explains, the products of glycolysis (pyruvate and lactate) compete with CO2 for binding sites inside the mitochondria. Glycolysis decreases energy production by reducing CO2.

Summary of energy production

In summary, the two key points of all this are:

1. The most efficient way to generate cellular energy is to burn glucose in the electron transport chain of your mitochondria (aerobic respiration). In addition to generating up to 38 ATP molecules per glucose molecule (compared to two for glycolysis), this method generates approximately 50% more CO2 than fat oxidation.

For glucose to be metabolized in your mitochondria, your dietary fat intake must be low enough that it does not inhibit glucose oxidation. Although there is no hard evidence on how much fat you should not exceed, I believe you should limit your fat intake to 30 or 40%, depending on your individual needs, in order to optimize your glucose metabolism.

2. There are two possible energy states:

i. A state of glycolytic stress in which energy production is reduced by CO2 inhibition.

ii. A state of energy efficiency in which CO2 is produced and lactate is removed.

CO2 protects against lipid peroxidation

CO2 also contributes to protection against the harmful effects of lipid peroxidation. Lipid peroxidation is a process in which free radicals and other harmful oxidants attack lipids (fats) that have carbon-carbon double bonds. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) such as linoleic acid (LA) are particularly prone to this phenomenon.

The key that many don't recognize is that lipid peroxidation increases when CO2 levels are low, because CO2 protects fats from damage. As Ray Peat explains, when CO2 is low, PUFAs increase their production of lipid peroxides (phospholipid oxidation products).

Lipid peroxides degrade into reactive aldehydes such as malondialdehyde and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (4-HNE), which damage DNA and proteins, causing them to malfunction. Lipid peroxidation is known to contribute to conditions such as cancer, atherosclerosis, and neurodegenerative diseases, to name a few.

Ray Peat cites an experiment in which it was shown that by increasing the CO2 level in human tissues to three times normal, the amount of lipid peroxides fell to zero. CO2 therefore has a powerful anti-inflammatory effect and effectively protects against lipid peroxidation.

This is important information because most people today consume extremely excessive amounts of PUFA-laden grain oils, and therefore have very high levels of LA stored in their cells.

Increasing CO2 in your tissues can be an effective way to limit LA-induced damage as you work to remove excess LA from your tissues and replace it with healthy fat (which may take six or seven years).

How lactate and CO2 influence stress

Ray Peat also expands on an in-depth discussion with many distinct elements to explain how lactate and CO2 influence the stress response and other parts of human biology that impact disease, including cancer.

For starters, the enzyme cytochrome oxidase (also known as complex IV in the mitochondrial electron transport chain, which uses oxygen) governs your rate of oxygen consumption.

Thus, the greater the quantity of cytochrome oxidase and the more active it is, the higher the oxygen consumption. Cytochrome oxidase is also responsible for increasing the total number of mitochondria in the cell, depending on oxygen consumption.

When you saturate a cell with a very large amount of CO2, you quickly increase the amount of cytochrome oxidase in the cell and stimulate its activity almost instantly. This shifts the oxidative balance of the cell toward the oxidized state, as electrons are removed from the system. This reduces the reductive stress in the cell, which is the desired goal.

In healthy cells, there is a balance between NAD+ and NADH that is essential for energy production. Diseases like cancer or diabetes disrupt this balance, leading to excess lactate and decreased NAD+. Carbon dioxide is essential because it prevents excess lactate production and maintains a healthy NAD+/NADH ratio.

CO2 also influences cell water balance, promoting an oxidized cellular state with reduced reductive stress that allows for proper oxygen utilization. Hyperventilation, or excessive breathing, which reduces CO2, typically leads to overproduction of lactate, which contributes to stress and disrupts cellular balance.

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