Are Peptides As Healthy As People Claim?

Your body naturally contains amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins. “Peptides are chains of amino acids that are signaling molecules,” says Dr. Christine Maren, D.O., a board-certified physician and functional medicine expert in Broomfield, Colorado. They travel around and affect multiple systems, including your heart, blood vessels, endocrine system, immune system, nerves, and brain. 

While many peptides exist in your body already, others are derived from food sources like animal products and plant proteins. Peptides can also be made in a lab for you to take, either as an injection or orally, for certain purposes. And this is not a new concept. 

“The classic example of a peptide is insulin,” says Chris D’Adamo, Ph.D., an expert in functional, integrative, and lifestyle medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Your pancreas manufactures insulin, but if you have diabetes, your body either doesn’t produce enough or can’t use it effectively. So, injectable insulin is considered a baseline diabetes treatment. 

GLP-1 receptor agonists, such as semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and the GLP-1/GIP medication tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound) are also peptide medications that mimic naturally occurring hormones in the body to help manage blood sugar and promote weight loss. And if you ever stirred collagen into a drink for skin or joint benefits, you’ve given yourself a peptide. 

But even though peptides have been used for decades, lately it seems like they’ve multiplied. The names now invading your social media algorithm and podcast stream sound as indecipherable as your parents’ wifi password: AOD-9604, BPC-157, CJC-1295, MK-677, Thymosin Alpha-1, and more. (So many more.) 

Unlike weight loss, these newer peptides are credited with more nebulous benefits, like "aging backward,” “longevity,” and “energy through the roof.” And it’s done with limited data and no large-scale studies to ensure safety or efficacy (meaning they may not help at all).