Peat Archive

Ray Peat's understanding of cancer drew heavily on Otto Warburg's discovery that cancer cells ferment glucose even in the presence of oxygen (aerobic glycolysis). Peat viewed cancer not as a genetic disease caused by random mutations, but as a metabolic disorder — a reversion of cells to a primitive, proliferative state driven by inadequate respiratory energy. This perspective places cancer on a continuum with aging, inflammation, and stress.

Peat argued that the factors promoting cancer are the same factors that suppress oxidative metabolism: estrogen, polyunsaturated fats, endotoxin, serotonin, radiation, and low thyroid function. Conversely, the factors that protect against cancer support efficient respiration: thyroid hormone, progesterone, carbon dioxide, aspirin, vitamin E, and adequate nutrition. He was critical of conventional cancer treatments and noted that many chemotherapy agents are carcinogenic themselves.