The Benefits of Lactate - This is Not a Waste Product!

Hypoglycemia can cause cause excessive glutamate concentrations creating excitotoxiogy. R

Lactate infusions can reduce the response to epinephrine, thus reducing the risk of hypoglycemia, while causing brain lactate uptake. R R R R R

5. Increases Alertness 

Lactate can increase norepinephrine, which is responsible for concentration, alertness, and brain blood flow. R R

Lactate also increases orexin (hypocretin), a neurotransmitter that regulates arousal wakefulness and appetite. R

Lactate supplies the brain with energy to produce and regulate the orexin system. R

6. Increases Mitochondrial Function

Lactate up-regulates mitochondrial oxygen consumption. R

Glucose does not increase the power of oxygen in mitochondria as well as lactate. R

It is also dose dependent. R

Lactate can also activate a series of steps that create new mitochondria. R

1. May Worsen Hepatic Encephalopathy

In studies with rats with chronic liver disease, they developed brain edema. Lactate was shown to be increased. R

2. May Worsen Alzheimer's Disease

The levels of lactate have been reported to be higher in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with AD. R

Although, regular exercise and physical activity have shown to be protective against many pathologies, such as cardiovascular diseases, and dementia, including AD. R

3. May Signify Brain Tumors

High levels of serum lactate have been reported to be non-invasive biomarkers of malignancy for brain tumors. R

Exercise

I believe the high/clear-headedness we get from exercise is from not only endorphins, but from lactate's ability to increase vasodilation and oxygenation of the brain tissue.

Fat cells can produce lactate under anaerobic circumstances, depending on the fat mass. R

Lactate can then enter the brain. R

Also, endurance training increases the number of lactate transporter molecules, making it easier for lactate to reach the brain and give you more energy. R

Exercise also creates more mitochondria via lactate. R

If you want to perform better in a race, train very hard in brief spurts. This increases lactate that improves the muscle's mitochondrial levels, letting them burn more lactic acid. You will be able to work harder and longer. R

In the hippocampus, exercise leads to a burst of extracellular lactate which remains at high levels for at least 50 min and is completely blocked by inhibition of glycogenolysis, which also blocks long-term memory. R

Electrical Stimulation

Upon electrical stimulation, the metabolic activity of the brain could be increased and, as a consequence, more glucose and oxygen were taken from the blood, with a parallel increase of carbon dioxide and lactate released into the blood. R

Electrical stimulation of the brain makes it more susceptible to hypoglycemia. 

Hypoxia

I've found the best way to induce hypoxia is HIST (High Intensity Strength Training). I'll do this with a mask to limit oxygen consumption. 

Hypoxia increases lactate release from fat cells. R

Hypoxia can also be induced by intense exercise at high altitudes (2300-5700m). R R

Fructose

25% of consumed fructose turns into lactate. R

Vitamin C

Vitamin C will lower neuronal glucose, allowing the body to prefer lactate as an energy source. R

Piperine

Piperine can increase lactate production in the muscle. R

Bacteria

Probiotics:

• Lactobacillus strains have been shown to produce lactic acid R R

Kombucha:

• Has many lactic acid bacteria R

• One problem I find with Kombucha is that it can increase histamine, so beware if you have histamine intolerance. R

Sourdough Bread:

• Bacteria strains in produce lactic acid. R

  • Lactobacillus alimentarius 15M

  • Lactobacillus brevis 14G

  • Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis 7A

  • Lactobacillus hilgardii 51B

Fermented milks:

• Kefir, Koumiss, laban, yogurt, cottage cheese.

Other Fermented Foods:

• Sauerkraut, kimchi, pickled veggies, dosa, ogi, gari, balao, pulque, trahanas, kishk, soy sauce, olives, Sour Beer R

L-lactate is produced by the host, whereas D-lactate is of bacterial origin. R

In glycolysis:

1. Glucose is broken down to two molecules of pyruvate

2. Pyruvate then either enters the mitochondria

3. It is further oxidized in the TCA (tricarboxylic acid cycle)

4. Or it is reversibly reduced by NADH(H+)-dependent lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) to lactic acid

5. This is in order to regenerate NAD+ for glycolysis.

In order to limit acidification in the cell, both lactate and protons have to exit the cell.

During intense exercise, ATP is mainly generated from blood glucose and muscle glycogen to fuel glycolysis. R

ATP is used for muscle contraction. R

Accumulation of pyruvate in anaerobic conditions (hypoxia) should inhibit glycolysis. R

A large part of muscle-derived lactate is transported to the liver where it is used to synthesize glucose through gluconeogenesis. 

Astrocytes also act as a lactate shuttle. Essentially glutamate is taken up by astrocytes, converted into glutamine, then released to the neuron where it completes a glutamate-glutamine cycle. As a byproduct of this cycle, there is a release of lactate which can be taken up by neuron s to produce ATP. R

Lactate has been reported to potentiate NMDA glutamate receptor-mediated currents, which play a central role in neuronal plasticity and memory processes. R

In doing that, lactate activates a cascade of molecular events which ends up with stimulation of the expression of synaptic plasticity-related genes, such as Arc, c-Fos, and Zif268. R

LDHA 

Used to inhibit the LDHA enzyme:

• Oxamate R

• Epigallocatechin gallate R

• Quinoline 3-sulfonamide R

• Serum D-lactate levels might be a simple and reliable diagnostic marker for appendicitis (90% accurate). R

• Transduction of a signal which decreases cAMP could represent a feedback mechanism, opposing the effect of catecholamines, which induce glycogen breakdown and production of the lactate itself. R R

• 5 Ways Lactate Can Improve Health and Performance R