"The amino acid composition and nutritional value of leaf protein is similar to milk protein, which is understandable since cows produce milk from the amino acids produced in their rumens by bacteria digesting the leaves the cows have eaten. The bacteria perform the refining processes that Pirie believed could be done technologically, and they also degrade or detoxify the major toxins and allergens.

The nutrients produced in the cow's rumen are selectively absorbed into the cow's bloodstream, where the liver can further filter out any toxins before the amino acids and other nutrients are absorbed by the udder to be synthesized into milk. If cows are fed extremely bad diets, for example with a very large amount of grain, the filtering process is less perfect, and some allergens can reach the milk, but since sick cows are less profitable than healthy cows, dairies usually feed their cows fairly well." Ray Peat, PhD

[On intestinal complaints from whole fruit]

"Any fruit that seems crisp, or stringy, or starchy is likely to cause problems. The natural ripening process in many fruits can turn fiber into sugar, but it’s rare to find those in stores." Ray Peat, PhD

"The balance of the hormones, especially steroids, is the most important factor in hernias or organ prolapse or other connective tissue weakness. Too much cortisol creates a catabolic condition, weakening fascia, ligaments, muscles, etc., and the constructive hormones are pregnenolone, DHEA, testosterone, and vitamin D. Vitamin D, especially when the diet contains an abundance of calcium, lowers the parathyroid hormone, which is catabolic. When the PTH is high (because of high dietary phosphate and/or low calcium and vitamin D), muscles and tendons are weakened." Ray Peat, PhD

Q: "Ray, do you think apartments are inhernently bad? I've almost never felt well in an apartment, compared to a well ventilated and spacious house."

A: "Yes, I think it’s mainly the sense of confinement. In a bad climate, such as Florida, there’s a similar feeliing of imprisonment, even if it’s a big house in a pretty setting." Ray Peat, PhD

Q: "Why do you think in any fruit orchard I've been, those small ones owned by the people, I've almost never seen fruit that was really good? I'm not sure if it is the time and care that's being dedicated to it, or if just different, larger lands are needed to produce very good fruit. I haven't had that many experiences though, so just a couple anectodes I guess."

A: "I’ve known people who had a few trees with very good fruit, where the trees were appropriate for the soil and climate. I have visited a few orchards that people had planted and tended according to the beliefs of trained agronomists, that looked tidy, but where the trees didn’t seem happy or well nourished. The soil needs lots of organic material to make acids to dissolve minerals, so there should be a rich ecology around the trees." Ray Peat, PhD

[On feeling more inflammation during dusty spells]

"Fine dust particles harm the entire organism." Ray Peat, PhD

[Solution?]

"Staying indoors with an air filtering system." Ray Peat, PhD

[On suppressing everyday meat cravings]

"Cheeses, of varied flavors, and some eggs, occasional chicharrones, occasional sea food, seem to do it. I think the iron in eggs and oysters can provide enough to prevent an iron hunger." Ray Peat, PhD

[What are the factors to consider when trying to tolerate coffee, avoiding jitters?]

"Thyroid, sugar, calcium, vitamin D; cream with it is very important." Ray Peat, PhD

[Do you think there is any problem with UHT milk on the long run?]

"Over a period of years it could make a difference, because of being more oxidized." Ray Peat, PhD

[What kind of problems?]

"Nothing established for milk, but some kinds of highly oxidized food can contribute to gradual accumulation oxidized proteins in tissues." Ray Peat, PhD

"In 1974, when I decided to write Nutrition for Women, I was motivated by the awful treatment I saw women receiving, especially during pregnancy, from physicians and dietitians."

Ray Peat, PhD

[Is optimal health from a cellular metabolic perspective achievable in today’s society with the lack of availability of optimal foods and with all the toxins and pollution in the environment?]

"If optimal means the best possible under bad circumstances, yes, otherwise, no. Optimal health requires optimal food, and a change of society." Ray Peat, PhD

"Milk & meat are a major source of Vitamin C. It turns out that all animal tissues contain lots of Vitamin C. They [scientists] were simply not measuring the right material. Vitamin C, the reductant, is not the biologically effective intracellular Vitamin C. Dehydroascorbate functions as an oxidant, not an antioxidant, in our cells, and you have to use a different procedure for measuring the oxidant form of Vitamin C which is intracellular. So if you use the wrong technique, you are blind to the amount of actual Vitamin C in our foods. All the official agencies are still deliberately staying blind to the amount of Vitamin C in our diet." Ray Peat, PhD 2021-09-21

[HOMEMADE ICE CREAM RECIPE]

"I blend an egg (warmed to 40 degrees C) with a cup of sugar (also warmed) and a cup of coconut oil until it's smoothly emulsified, and maybe half a cup of powdered milk for extra texture, then add milk to fill the blender (total volume a little over a liter), with strong coffee or orange juice for flavor, or other fruit or vanilla, etc. The high oil content, and powdered milk, make it freeze without crystallizing, so the ice cream machine isn't necessary." Ray Peat, PhD

[IS GLYCOL SAFE?]

"Ethylene glycol is toxic, propylene glycol is safe in small amounts." Ray Peat, PhD

[LANGUAGE QUESTION]

"I think it takes months of exclusive saturation in a language to use it like a native, but the accumulation of knowledge in other languages doesn’t detract anything from the language that’s actively used. The vocabularies of English and French are so similar that they reinforce each other." Ray Peat, PhD

"Our cow, in southern Oregon, grazed on half an acre of grass, and each milking, morning and evening, produced nearly five gallons. While milking, she got a treat of a quart of ground grains with some minerals, and a slab of alfalfa or other hay. I think the main problem in Mexico is that the small producers seldom recognize the plants that give the milk bad flavors. If you pinch a leaf of a smelly weed in the pasture, you can recognize it in the milk and cheese." Ray Peat, PhD

Happy Birthday Ray. You keep giving.

"The lockdown of the mental world seems to be succeeding in containing the virus of critical thinking. This is increasing the likelihood that the Great Reset will succeed. With its success, the Qualified people might achieve their dream of eternal life in a technological paradise (if necessary, in orbit around a dead Earth); all their imagined scenarios include artificial intelligence as the survival factor.

Accepting their assumptions, the possible outcomes are as predictable as the entropic death of the universe; however, if their assumptions about the nature of life, mind, and the universe are wrong, their plans and expectations are wrong. Sensing that their arbitrary assumptions are indefensible, they must prevent criticism." Ray Peat, PhD (2020)

Some Effects of Progesterone in Men Copyright 2021 - Ray Peat, PhD

Classifying progesterone as a “pregnancy hormone” and a “female sex hormone” has seriously limited understanding of its function in both men and women. It is a stabilizer of cellular structure and function in all organs, similarly in men and women. This stabilizing effect is especially important in the nervous system, where it is protective against stress. In both men and women, a progesterone deficiency is associated with problems including seizures and bipolar disorder, irritability/elation, aggression, and depression, as well as sex-related problems.

In the 1970s, an acquaintance told me that he had become impotent following his vasectomy. I was familiar with the progesterone deficiency produced in women by tubal ligation and by intrauterine contraceptive devices, and I had seen a study of men’s hormones following a vasectomy, in which an isolated deficiency of progesterone sometimes occurred, so he decided to try some progesterone. He later said that a single dose had corrected his erectile problem. Other young men with erectile dysfunction, from other causes, had similarly good results with small amounts of progesterone.

When a problem is quickly and permanently corrected with a small amount of progesterone it seems likely that the progesterone acted in the brain to shift the balance, maintained by endorphins, away from the stress induced inhibition of progesterone and testosterone synthesis. At the same time, though, that progesterone is lowering cortisol, it is also reducing inflammation, partly by acting as an antagonist to aldosterone. Increased aldosterone is associated with erectile dysfunction (Chang, et al., 2019; Wu, et al., 2018, 2016), and it interacts locally as a testosterone antagonist. In this, and other situations involving testosterone antagonists (estrogen, cortisol, aldosterone), progesterone can have a directly testosterone- supporting effect.

After the age of 35 or 40, many men experience a decline in their resistance to stress, corresponding to the decline in protective substances such as DHEA and progesterone. Often a small amount of progesterone, 5 or 6 mg (for example, a drop of Progest-E the size of an unpopped kernel of popcorn) can make a difference, sometimes lasting for a few days or more. Paying close attention, the effects are usually noticeable within about half an hour. At a certain level, progesterone can antagonize the effects of testosterone; in younger men, 2 or 3 drops can have that effect. That effect passes within a day of stopping the progesterone. If a younger man uses progesterone topically, for example for sunburn, a little olive oil should be applied to the skin first to make it spread easily; if it’s used on a large area, the same anti- testosterone effect is likely to be noticed.

REFERENCES
Surgery. 2019 Mar;165(3):622-628. Risk of severe erectile dysfunction in primary hyperaldosteronism: A population-based propensity score matching cohort study. Chia-Hui Chang, Shih-Chieh J Chueh, Vin-Cent Wu, Likwang Chen, Yen-Hung Lin, Ya-Hui Hu, Kwan-Dun Wu, Yao- Chou Tsai.
Asian J Androl. Jan-Feb 2018;20(1):24-29. Aldosterone induces inflammatory cytokines in penile corpus cavernosum by activating the NF-κB pathway. Fei Wu, Zu-Quan Xiong, Shan-Hua Mao, Ji- Meng Hu , Jian-Qing Wang, Hao-Wen Jiang, Qiang Ding.
World J Urol. 2016 Jul;34(7):999-1007. Elevated plasma aldosterone is an independent risk factor for erectile dysfunction in men. Fei Wu, Shanhua Mao, Tianfang Yu, Haowen Jiang, Qiang Ding, Gang Xu.
Endocrine. 2018 Sep;61(3):372-382. The emerging role of aldosterone/mineralocorticoid receptors in the pathogenesis of erectile dysfunction. Fei Wu, Yun Lin, Qingyong Liu.

Q: "Hi Ray. Do you think there is a correlation between effective schooling systems and the culture being rigid, with people being kept well trained and in line?"

A: "Yes, the schools seem to be important for social control." Ray Peat, PhD