Anxiety

Anxiety is most often a symptom of low thyroid and high estrogen, a physiological state bordering on shock in which energy production fails and compensatory stress hormones dominate. 2 Peat observed that low thyroid people chronically have anxiety because when energy production goes down, the body compensates with increased adrenaline and cortisol, and some individuals function with several times the normal amount of adrenaline production. 8 This hormonal pattern is characteristically marked by the substitution of lactic acid for carbon dioxide, creating a vicious circle where an anxious episode increases lactic acid, which prolongs the anxiety and drives hyperventilation. 2

The metabolic disruption of anxiety directly impairs intestinal barrier function. When a person thinks of something anxiety-provoking, adrenaline and the sympathetic nervous system shut down circulation to the intestine, and if this persists, it weakens the cells, allowing endotoxin from the gut to enter the bloodstream. 3 This circulating endotoxin fatigues the liver and increases the brain's concentration of tryptophan and serotonin, both highly inflammatory mediators that reinforce the stress state. 3 Peat noted that anything which stresses an organism and lowers blood sugar is likely to release histamine and serotonin improperly, and that coffee and the antihistamine cyproheptadine can protect against this cascade. 3

Carbon dioxide functions as the body's natural nerve stabilizer and anti-anxiety molecule. When anxiety triggers hyperventilation, carbon dioxide is lost, platelets release more serotonin, and a process begins that slows thinking and induces retreat. 5 Peat recommended practices that increase carbon dioxide retention, such as breathing into a paper bag until it feels uncomfortable, swimming underwater, or absorbing CO₂ through the skin in a sealed bag, which he reported could lower blood pressure significantly. 2 Thyroid, progesterone, and pregnenolone all act as anti-stress agents that help cells retain carbon dioxide and magnesium, shifting the balance away from lactic acid production. 2

Nutritional factors are tightly coupled to the anxiety state. Peat identified vitamin B6 as essential for regulating neurotransmitters, noting that it is wasted by estrogen. 1 He also suspected that increased aldosterone could account for anxiety and panic, and warned that extra magnesium, potassium, or phosphate could worsen the condition, while sodium, calcium, and vitamin D would tend to lower it. 6 The flavonoids, by promoting natural mitochondrial respiration and carbon dioxide production, suppress the inflammation and lactic acid production that sustain anxiety. 7

Dinkov has extended this framework by implicating serotonin (5-HT) as a direct causal agent in anxiety disorders, noting that 5-HT antagonists are potent and rapid relievers of anxiety without the receptor downregulation problems of benzodiazepines. 10 He cited animal research showing that chronically stressed mice and rats with high anxiety immediately adopt a subordination behavioral profile, surrendering to intruders they would otherwise fight off, a phenomenon mirrored by even slight serotonin elevations removing dominant status in alpha male baboons. 9 Dinkov also pointed to the possibility that the current epidemic of generalized anxiety disorder may be iatrogenic, caused by serotonin-elevating drugs such as SSRIs. 10