The FDA announced in mid-April that it will hold a meeting over the summer to discuss the potential of easing restrictions on more than half a dozen of peptide injections, which are a class of unapproved therapies that have been trending among celebrities and fitness influencers.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., one of their most vocal supporters, has opened up about personally using peptides while recovering from injuries and has pledged to relax regulations related to their use.
So, what are peptides exactly – and why is the wellness industry so obsessed with them?
Peptides 101
Peptides are short chains of amino acids – or protein fragments, in other words – that occur naturally in the body, according to PBS.
They’re also found in protein-rich staples like eggs, milk, meat, and legumes, just to name a few.
Their recent popularity largely stems from increased adoption of the most commonly used peptide, the GLP-1, which stands for “glucagon-like peptide-1.”
“GLP-1 treatments opened the door for the mainstream public to become comfortable with injectable therapies for weight loss and metabolic health,” said Greg Novacheck, who has spent 20-plus years in the health, nutrition, and performance space and currently works in an advisory capacity in the performance and hormone sector.
“Once that stigma and taboo were taken away, the umbrella category of peptides followed behind it. Today, social media has taken what were once niche and hushed conversations and made them everyday topics and terms for young people and housewives,” Novacheck told FI.
The Most Popular Peptides
Novacheck says that, beyond GLP-1s and GLP-1 analogs, the most widely used peptides include growth hormone-related peptides (secretagogues) and compounds like BPC-157, TB4/TB500, and GHK-Cu.
Dr. Jessica Duncan, an obesity-certified MD and Chief Medical Officer at ivim Health, said the most popular peptides that she’s hearing about from her patients include:
- BPC-157 and TB-500 for injury and recovery
- CJC-1295 and ipamorelin for sleep, recovery, and body composition
- AOD-9604 for fat loss
- The GLP-1 family: semaglutide, tirzepatide, retatrutide
So, is there any validity to these claims?
The Research on Peptides (or Lack Thereof)
Novacheck pointed out that, because the “peptide craze” is under 10 years old, many are still being researched.
Duncan agreed, adding that support for the aforementioned claims varies from peptide to peptide.
“GLP-1s have years of large randomized trial data. A peptide like BPC-157 has some compelling animal data and a lot of anecdotal reports or small human studies, but the larger scale human data isn’t there yet,” Duncan told FI.
Allison Christel, a nurse practitioner specializing in diet and nutrition, echoed these sentiments and also highlighted a major problem associated with wellness influencers.
“GLP-1 drugs have solid research behind them, but most other peptides have only early animal studies that have never been tested in large groups of real people. Social media skips over that detail, so a study done in mice turns into a viral post claiming something is ‘proven’ before it’s anywhere close,” Christel told FI.
As a result, Novacheck says the biggest risks associated with peptides are sourcing, purity, and lack of oversight.
“There is limited long-term human data for many of these compounds. People are often experimenting on themselves without fully understanding that – or the compounds themselves,” Novacheck told FI.
Duncan added that most of the peptides on the market today come from “research use only” suppliers.
“We have no idea what’s actually in those vials. Patients are injecting unknown substances, at unknown doses, without medical oversight,” Duncan told FI.
“Beyond that, there are real biological concerns: certain growth-hormone-related peptides have theoretical cancer risks because they stimulate cell growth pathways. Some peptides interact with hormones in ways we don’t fully understand long-term. And without a clinician monitoring the patient, side effects get missed,” she explained.
Despite these risks, all three experts feel that peptides are likely here to stay – so how can we make them safer for consumers?
Making Peptides Safer
Novacheck says that improving the safety of peptides starts with better regulation “around compounding, clearer distinctions between approved and experimental compounds, and more human clinical data.”
“Clinical trials would be the gold standard, but they take years and cost a lot of money for drugs that are hard to patent, so that is a slow road,” Christel told FI.
While Duncan agrees that clinical trials are the most obvious solution, she says many patients aren’t going to wait for the results before using peptides, offering the following recommendations:
- Require a prescription and clinician oversight for every peptide on the bulks list, not just a checkbox intake form. “Real visits, real follow-up, real monitoring.”
- Mandate sourcing from FDA-registered 503A or 503B compounding pharmacies. “The biggest single safety upgrade right now is getting people off ‘research-grade’ gray-market product and onto pharmacy-grade product made in inspected U.S. facilities.”
- Build registries. “If we’re going to have widespread peptide use ahead of full RCT data, the least we can do is collect real-world outcomes systematically so we learn from the population that’s already using them.”
- Set clear marketing rules. “Right now, peptide clinics can make claims that would never fly for an FDA-approved drug. That needs to change.”
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