The Truth About Peptides

What exactly is a peptide? So let's start with the basics.

A peptide is essentially a short chain of amino acids.

Amino acids are often described as, uh, the building blocks of protein.

When a relatively small number of amino acids are linked together, we generally call that structure a peptide.

Longer and more complex chains form proteins.

Your body produces thousands of peptides naturally.

Many of them act as biological messengers.

They can tell cells to release hormones, control appetite, regulate blood sugar, produce collagen, influence inflammation, repair tissue, or even communicate with the brain.

Therefore, the word peptide does not describe one type of treatment.

It describes an enormous category of molecules.

Saying, "Are peptides safe?" is a little like asking, "Are medicines safe?" Which medicine? At what dose? For which person? For what condition? And manufactured by whom? Right? Insulin.

So diabetes, right? So like diabetes, right, insulin is a peptide hormone.

GLP-1 is a peptide hormone.

Several FDA-approved fertility drugs, metabolic medicines are peptide based.

Therefore, peptides themselves are not inherently experimental, illegal, or dangerous.

The real question is what evidence exists for the particular peptide you're interested in? Produced to what standard? For what particular person or purpose? Right? So why are some peptides like FDA-approved and others are not? So we've got to dive into FDA approval.

To receive FDA approval, a pharmaceutical company generally has to establish several things.

First, the drug needs to be properly identified and consistently manufactured.

Second, preclinical research is normally required, including laboratory and animal work.

Third, it must progress through human clinical trials.

So phase one generally focus on safety, how tolerab- tolerant- tolerable it is and dosages.

Phase two asks whether the treatment appears to work and continues assessing safety, and phase three usually involves much larger groups and companies the drug against a placebo or an existing treatment, right? The company must then submit the full package of evidence to the FDA, and then the FDA evalu- evaluates whether the drug's benefits outweigh its risk for a defined population.

Okay? The process can take years, years [laughs] and cost an enormous amount of money.

This leads to a popular claim like Peptides like BPC 157 is not approved because it cannot be patented, so nobody will pay for the trials.

Why can it not be patented? Because it's produced in the body.

What exactly is a peptide? So let's start with the basics.

A peptide is essentially a short chain of amino acids.

Amino acids are often described as, uh, the building blocks of protein.

When a relatively small number of amino acids are linked together, we generally call that structure a peptide.

Longer and more complex chains form proteins.

Your body produces thousands of peptides naturally.

Many of them act as biological messengers.

They can tell cells to release hormones, control appetite, regulate blood sugar, produce collagen, influence inflammation, repair tissue, or even communicate with the brain.

Therefore, the word peptide does not describe one type of treatment.

It describes an enormous category of molecules.

Saying, "Are peptides safe?" is a little like asking, "Are medicines safe?" Which medicine? At what dose? For which person? For what condition? And manufactured by whom? Right? Insulin.

So diabetes, right? So like diabetes, right, insulin is a peptide hormone.

GLP-1 is a peptide hormone.

Several FDA-approved fertility drugs, metabolic medicines are peptide based.

Therefore, peptides themselves are not inherently experimental, illegal, or dangerous.

The real question is what evidence exists for the particular peptide you're interested in? Produced to what standard? For what particular person or purpose? Right? So why are some peptides like FDA-approved and others are not? So we've got to dive into FDA approval.

To receive FDA approval, a pharmaceutical company generally has to establish several things.

First, the drug needs to be properly identified and consistently manufactured.

Second, preclinical research is normally required, including laboratory and animal work.

Third, it must progress through human clinical trials.

So phase one generally focus on safety, how tolerab- tolerant- tolerable it is and dosages.

Phase two asks whether the treatment appears to work and continues assessing safety, and phase three usually involves much larger groups and companies the drug against a placebo or an existing treatment, right? The company must then submit the full package of evidence to the FDA, and then the FDA evalu- evaluates whether the drug's benefits outweigh its risk for a defined population.

Okay? The process can take years, years [laughs] and cost an enormous amount of money.

This leads to a popular claim like Peptides like BPC 157 is not approved because it cannot be patented, so nobody will pay for the trials.

Why can it not be patented? Because it's produced in the body.