Peptides—short chains of amino acids that bind to cellular receptors to trigger specific bodily responses—have become increasingly popular as people seek to optimize their health and extend their lifespan. Insulin and GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic are peptides, but the current excitement centers on therapeutic peptides being used off-label in ways not approved by the FDA. “Basically, if you get the right peptide for your needs, it’s like a key that opens a door,” explains Michael Aziz, an internal-medicine physician and author of The Ageless Revolution. “It triggers the body to do a certain thing.”
Popular peptides include GHK-Cu copper for skin health, with one study showing it can do more for skin than Retin-A and vitamin C. The “workhorse” peptides cited by Andrew Huberman and other longevity advocates are CJC-1295, BPC-157, and ipamorelin. These peptides are injected five days a week for weeks or months at a time. BPC-157, according to Aziz, “will help you remodel your gut and your brain, improve your joints, and rebuild collagen.” Aziz himself takes BPC-157 to help recover from a recent facelift, calling himself “61 turning into 30.”
However, significant regulatory and safety concerns exist. Most therapeutic peptides aren’t approved by the FDA, and many approved peptides are used off-label. If purchased online, they are “considered research-grade chemicals” without the same purification and oversight as pharmaceutical-grade products. “We don’t know if they’re safe or sterile or if their lab is clean,” Aziz cautions. “They could be doing harm. We don’t know.” There is no medical specialty for peptides in the United States, and many doctors rely on research from Europe or Russia, where therapeutic peptides originated.
Jennifer Herrmann, a functional medicine practitioner, emphasizes that peptides aren’t a substitute for basics: “They’re certainly not going to be a substitute for exercise, nutrition, sleep, or hormones. You can’t not exercise. You can’t not eat right. You can’t not sleep.” The safest approach is to work with an experienced doctor rather than order peptides from the internet.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://us.headtopics.com/news/everyone-is-injecting-peptides-but-what-do-they-even-do-78091036