Ray Peat on Coffee and Caffeine

Short answer: Ray Peat called caffeine a vitamin-like nutrient. He wrote that coffee acts in parallel with thyroid and progesterone, protects the liver, supplies magnesium and B vitamins, and that its bad reputation comes from experiments with huge doses on an empty stomach.

What Ray Peat wrote about coffee

He compared caffeine to thyroid and progesterone. It raises the metabolic rate, and it increases progesterone in the blood and the brain. He saw women's premenstrual coffee craving as a sensible form of self-medication. Source: Caffeine: A vitamin-like nutrient, or adaptogen. Questions about tea and coffee, cancer and other degenerative diseases, and the hormones

He treated coffee as food. It provides significant magnesium, plus niacin and vitamin B1. Source: Caffeine: A vitamin-like nutrient, or adaptogen. Questions about tea and coffee, cancer and other degenerative diseases, and the hormones, Rosacea, inflammation, and aging: The inefficiency of stress, Phosphate, activation, and aging

He cites studies linking coffee to healthier liver enzymes and protection against alcoholic cirrhosis, and says coffee, tea and caffeine are protective against breast cancer. Source: Caffeine: A vitamin-like nutrient, or adaptogen. Questions about tea and coffee, cancer and other degenerative diseases, and the hormones

He explained the scare stories. Bad effects usually come from large doses given quickly. The effect on blood pressure is slight and may not happen with normal use. Source: Caffeine: A vitamin-like nutrient, or adaptogen. Questions about tea and coffee, cancer and other degenerative diseases, and the hormones

He stressed the sugar connection. Caffeine speeds up the burning of glucose, so coffee on an empty stomach mostly shows the effect of falling blood sugar and rising adrenaline. In animals, the harm from large amounts of caffeine in pregnancy was prevented by adding sugar to the diet. Source: Caffeine: A vitamin-like nutrient, or adaptogen. Questions about tea and coffee, cancer and other degenerative diseases, and the hormones, Fatigue, aging, and recuperation

He wrote that caffeine protects cells in ways similar to niacinamide, and restrains an enzyme that produces free radicals under stress. Source: Rosacea, inflammation, and aging: The inefficiency of stress, Caffeine: A vitamin-like nutrient, or adaptogen. Questions about tea and coffee, cancer and other degenerative diseases, and the hormones

Coffee with a meal strongly blocks iron absorption. He says he always tries to drink coffee with meat for that reason. Source: Iron's Dangers

What he suggested in practice

• Drink it with food, not on an empty stomach.
• Have it with sugar, since caffeine raises the use of glucose.
• Coffee with meat, to block the absorption of iron.

Where he wrote about it

This topic comes up in 23 of the articles on his site. These are the most relevant ones:

• Caffeine: A vitamin-like nutrient, or adaptogen. Questions about tea and coffee, cancer and other degenerative diseases, and the hormones · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Rosacea, inflammation, and aging: The inefficiency of stress · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Hot flashes, energy, and aging · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Iron's Dangers · original on raypeat.com ↗
• BSE ("mad cow"), scrapie, etc.: Stimulated amyloid degeneration and the toxic fats · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Glucose and sucrose for diabetes · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Cholesterol, longevity, intelligence, and health · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Meat physiology, stress, and degenerative physiology · original on raypeat.com ↗

My take

Coffee raises the metabolic rate and glucose oxidation, especially with sugar, calcium, gelatin and salt. That is how I drink it.

Quick answers

Did Ray Peat drink coffee?

Yes. In his article on iron he writes that he always tries to drink coffee with meat, because coffee taken with food blocks iron absorption.

What did Ray Peat say about caffeine?

He called it a vitamin-like nutrient with effects parallel to thyroid and progesterone, and wrote that it protects the liver and supplies magnesium, niacin and vitamin B1.

Should coffee be taken with sugar, according to Ray Peat?

He wrote that caffeine increases the oxidation of sugar, and that studies of coffee on an empty stomach are really measuring low blood sugar and adrenaline.