A Holistic View of Carbon Dioxide Physiology

Is it at all important to understand the real role of CO2 in the human body?  Read on!

The common idea of the role of carbon dioxide in human physiology is that of a "waste gas".  That is, it is commonly thought of as solely a useless byproduct of metabolism and something that the body must continuously eliminate.  As Dr. Ray Peat illuminates, however, CO2 is actually a most important regulator and facilitator of oxygen usage at the cell and tissue level.

In Altitude & Mortality, he explains that "Carbon dioxide, produced in the cells, releases oxygen into the tissues, relaxes blood vessels, prevents edema, eliminates ammonia, and increases the efficiency of oxidative metabolism."  In effect, it opposes all the harmful consequences of increased lactic acid.

He notes that increased lactic acid contributes to many, and varied, chronic degenerative diseases, including cancer, heart disease, and cataracts.  This notion fits nicely with a holistic view of physiology in that anything, including lactic acid, that interferes with normal oxidative metabolism, whereby glucose is oxidized to produce CO2, interferes with efficient energy production leading to "stress physiology" via the many compensatory mechanisms available to temporarily fill an energy deficit.  These adaptive mechanisms all function at a tremendous cost to the resilience of the organism as a whole, ultimately depleting energy and leading to a chronic inflammatory state.

So, what causes increased lactic acid production?  According to Dr. Peat, hypothyroidism, or decreased thyroid function, is the primary cause of elevated lactate, via low blood sugar, high adrenaline, and finally hyper-ventilation, which further depletes CO2 in a vicious cycle.  In this context, decreased thyroid function potentially includes both the thyroid gland itself, as well as the thyroid hormone.

References

Altitude & Mortality - Ray Peat