Peat Archive

Ray Peat viewed aging not as an inevitable genetic program but as an accumulation of metabolic damage — primarily from the interaction of polyunsaturated fats, iron, estrogen, and stress. Central to his theory of aging is the age pigment lipofuscin, which accumulates in cells as a product of lipid peroxidation and cross-links proteins, impairing cellular function. He saw aging as essentially the same process as the diseases commonly associated with it: cancer, heart disease, dementia, and metabolic decline.

Peat emphasized that aging is accelerated by the same factors that suppress metabolism and promote stress: PUFA consumption, estrogen dominance, hypothyroidism, inadequate nutrition, and exposure to environmental toxins. Conversely, maintaining high metabolic rate, adequate thyroid function, protective hormones (progesterone, DHEA, pregnenolone), and avoiding stored PUFAs can slow or partially reverse the aging process.