I argued in part II of this series that consumption of unsaturated fats fails to create a properly oxygenated fuel mix, which leads to a rise in mitochondrial acetyl-CoA and NADH levels along with a drop in NAD+ levels. This is reductive stress. The system that replenishes NAD+ while burning fat is the production and …

Acetylation Turns on Lipogenic Enzymes; How Seed Oils Cause Reductive Stress, Part III Read More »

In part I of this series I introduced the analogy of reductive stress as a flooded engine.  If there is too much fuel and not enough air, an engine will flood.  Elevated circulating acylcarnitines in obesity are analogous to black smoke out of the tailpipe of a flooded engine – unburnt fuel spewing back out …

The Mitochondrial Bottleneck as the carburetor screw; How seed oils cause reductive stress, part II Read More »

I’ve been writing a lot about reductive stress and its role at the heart of both oxidative stress and obesity.  I’m aware that the term reductive stress isn’t terribly intuitive.  It’s a wonky, scientific term and calling it “the opposite of oxidative stress” really does little to aid in understanding for non-redox scientists.    I’ve been …

The Flooded Engine, An Analogy; How Seed Oils Cause Reductive Stress, Part I Read More »

The idea of this series is that the underlying condition that drives obesity forward is reductive stress, as defined by the NAD+/NADH ratio being too low (not enough NAD+).  CD38 is a membrane bound enzyme, expressed in most tissues, that increases throughout life, steadily reducing NAD+ levels​1​.  It is the body’s “primary NADase”, the main …

CD38 links obesity, bacterial-induced inflammation, and reductive stress Read More »

The WebMD entry on alpha lipoic acid (ALA) begins with, “Alpha-lipoic acid is an antioxidant”.  ALA can in certain situations act as an antioxidant, but in general it does not act as an antioxidant.  If you read my article about antioxidants you’ll know that in a redox reaction, when one thing in a reaction is …

The Pro-oxidant Alpha Lipoic Acid makes you lean, Antioxidants make you fat (sometimes) Read More »

I recently had an informal debate with someone who believes that obesity is caused simply by consuming more calories than you burn.  In his mind, the obesity epidemic started because our modern processed food is too palatable, it overwhelms our hypothalamus and causes us to overeat.  When I asked how that fact that dioxins – …

PUFA Induced Reductive Stress as a Unifying Mechanism in Obesity Read More »