Dr. Deb Muth

What if the reason you’re not healing isn’t that you need another diagnosis?

0:08 It’s that your cells aren’t receiving the right signals. Because the body doesn’t run on diagnosis, it runs on

0:16 communication. And peptides are one of the most powerful, most misunderstood

0:21 tools we have for cellular signaling, immune balance, tissue repair, gut

0:27 lining support, metabolic control, brain signaling, sleep cycles, and even sexual

0:35 wellness. Today, I’m going to do what most people won’t. Define peptides in

0:41 plain English for you. break them into categories by what they’re best at and

0:47 tell you which ones are FDA approved on the list and which ones are commonly

0:53 used off label or investigational with the evidence that actually says these

1:00 work. This is going to be a powerful episode and if you’ve ever felt like you’re hearing hype without clarity,

1:07 this one’s for you. So, as usual, grab your cup of coffee or tea and settle in

1:13 as we talk about peptides that can fit into your healing journey. We’re going

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1:54 All right, here we go, guys. I am excited to dive into peptides with you.

2:00 So understanding peptides is foundational, right? And I’ve been

2:06 studying peptides now for about nine years. Um, and I find that they are

2:13 incredible. Um, so I want to break down for you what peptides actually are, what

2:19 they do, and some of the top peptides that are available today, and how they

2:25 can be utilized. Because I think it’s really important. And I think it’s it’s there’s a lot of confusion out there about what these things actually are and

2:32 are they safe? Are they not? When do we use them? What’s the science behind them? So, we’re going to dive in and

2:38 we’re going to talk about all things peptides. So, let’s get ready here. Here we go. So, peptides are short chains of

2:45 amino acids and they typically range anywhere from 2 to 50 amino acids and

2:51 they’re linked by peptide bonds. So think of them as the superglue that holds the amino acids together. They sit

2:58 between the amino acids and they are full proteins in terms of their size and

3:04 their complex structure. And what makes peptides particularly interesting in

3:10 medicine is their role as signaling molecules. They’re essentially the

3:15 body’s text messages carrying specific instructions to cells and tissues. And

3:21 unlike our proteins which often serve as structural roles or act as enzymes,

3:28 peptides typically function as hormones, neurotransmitters and growth factors and

3:33 they bind to specific receptors on the cell’s surfaces or within the cells and

3:39 they trigger this effect. It’s like a cascade effect of a biochemical reaction

3:45 that ultimately changes the cellular behavior. So basically, it’s changing

3:50 the way the body’s cell structure acts. And this is why peptides can be so

3:56 incredibly powerful and therapeutic when you introduce the right peptide signal.

4:02 Now, you could theoretically redirect cellular processes toward healing,

4:07 towards metabolism, immune balance, tissue repair. Any of those things can

4:14 be manipulated to do a certain thing once we add the peptide. The challenge

4:19 in peptide medicine though lies in distinguishing between those peptides that have been rigorously studied,

4:26 proven safe and effective and approved by regulatory bodies like the FDA versus

4:31 those that exist in what we call the gray zone of a promising clinical data.

4:36 But they really lack human validation so far. And this distinction is critical because the presence of a plausible

4:43 mechanism does not guarantee safety or efficacy in living humans. So, this is

4:50 really important and we’re going to dive in and look at some of the research on all of these different peptides that are

4:56 available and I’m excited to say there’s some amazing peptides being studied right now that unfortunately are not

5:01 available. But I can’t wait to see them hit the market for us because it is going to be a gamecher as far as health

5:09 and longevity. So there is a quality control issue and there is a hidden

5:14 variable in peptide medicine with this and it’s one of the most underappreciated aspects of peptide

5:21 therapy particularly for non-FDA approved peptides. It’s quality control.

5:26 When we discuss pharmaceutical medicines, we take for granted that the pill contains what the label says. Not

5:32 always true depending on where it comes from. You guys, if you’ve heard my episodes before talk about how many of our medications are made in China and

5:41 have been contaminated with other things, you will realize that that is not always true. So, just because it has

5:48 the FDA stamp of approval on the medication, it still does not necessarily mean it’s safe and we still

5:54 need to do our homework on it. So, sorry for digressing on you guys, but you know, when we get a medication, we we

6:00 think that what the amount says is what is there, doesn’t have contaminants, it’s manufactured with good

6:06 manufacturing practices. You’ll see that listed as GMP on the bottle, and it’s been stored properly, it’s been

6:12 maintained stable, and with research peptides and compounded formulations,

6:17 none of this can be assumed. So, I will share a story with you. There was a gentleman that was purchasing these

6:24 peptides online from a research facility and um did not know that they were

6:30 coming from China and he was ordering a particular growth hormone peptide and

6:35 after a little while he had he had done fine for the few first few bottles. After a little while he started having

6:42 some complications. He started getting really irritable and angry and ragy and

6:47 he didn’t quite know what was going on. And so he decided to go get some testing done. He had some blood testing done and

6:53 his testosterone level was over 5,000. So for those of you who know what testosterone level should be for a guy,

7:00 they really shouldn’t be any higher than about 1,00200 would be absolute max that we’d want to see. Now he was taking

7:06 testosterone but not to that degree. And prior to adding this peptide, his

7:12 testosterone was very stable. What they ended up finding out was the peptide that he was getting, whoever was

7:18 manufacturing it added testosterone to the peptide. They felt like if if it had growth hormone, that was great, but if

7:25 it had growth hormone and tes testosterone, all the better. And he didn’t know that. And this is the

7:31 problem that we can have with peptides if you don’t source them properly. if you’re not working with somebody that

7:37 knows how to source them and can prove that they are what they say they are. Um, I’m sure there’s a whole bunch of

7:42 studies out there too of people getting these peptides and paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for them over their

7:48 lifetime and finding out they were nothing more than just sterile water. So, you really do need to be careful

7:53 with your quality control. Now, this kind of leads us right into the next topic that we’re going to talk about and that’s the manufacturing question,

8:00 right? The FDA approved peptides are manufactured in facilities subject to

8:05 the FDA inspection rules following our GMP regulations and these facilities

8:11 must validate their manufacturing process, demonstrate consistency batch to batch, test for purity and potency.

8:18 They need to test for bacterial endotoxins and sterility and they need to maintain detailed records. So, when a

8:25 pharmaceutical company submits a drug application, the FDA inspects the manufacturing facility as part of the

8:32 approval process. If you’re getting peptides from a different country, none of that is happening. And there are some

8:38 ways for us to determine if that is what you’re getting. Typically, the rule of thumb is if your peptides are coming

8:44 with a different colored top, every one of them has a different colored top. Those are typically being sourced out of

8:49 China. I wouldn’t say that’s 100% but that’s kind of the rule of thumb that people follow. So compoundingies these

8:56 are thearmacies that make our bio identical hormones. They can make medications in any dose or strength or

9:02 route. There are thousands...

Episode 256 – How Peptides Work, Benefits, and FDA-Approved vs Off-Label Use Explained