Dr. Josh Axe (0:00)

Hey, welcome to Dr. Josh Axe Show. I am Dr. Axe. And each and every week on this show, we dive deep into the science and principles behind how to grow in body, mind and spirit and take both your health and your life to the next level. On today's episode, I will be talking about peptides. Peptide therapy. Now, peptide therapy is growing incredibly fast in popularity due to people like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Talking about it. Jennifer Aniston, Hugh Jackman, so many celebrities and professional athletes using it for performance. And one of the things that I want to share with you about peptides today is how it can help you heal issues like hypothyroidism, issues like low testosterone in men, low estrogen in women, autoimmune disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and so much more. I'm going to dive in and talk about how peptides could be one of the greatest healing therapies of all time. And it's something the FDA and the government have been trying to keep from you for years now, until finally physicians, functional medicine, physicians and people like RFK are now coming out and saying, no, these peptides can have incredible healing benefits and be better than hormone replacement therapy for most people as well. We'll dive into that and more on today's episode. And I want to share with you how peptides personally transform my life, maybe even save my life. I was told by an infectious disease doctor that I might never walk again. And I had a injection into my back that happened. It was a natural injection of stem cell. And somehow my disc and my bone got infected and also had an abscess. And I sat down with a doctor who said, josh, listen, best case scenario is you're going to have chronic pain the rest of your life. Worst case is this is going to kill you and this infection has really spread. He said, there's a chance you'd have to have metal in your spine, we'd have to do major surgery, and you could be permanently disabled. And I had about 48 hours of feeling like my life was a wreck. And then I just spent time in prayer, and I felt like God really led me towards and told me, just walk with me. You're going to heal. And so I decided to pour thousands of hours into research into how to heal my body and overcome the spinal infection and all the damage that was done to my discs and my vertebra and my spine. And one of the things I came across was peptides. And I had a man, this incredible man who I got turned onto, who came over to my house and he said, Josh, I think you really need to try these two peptides, BPC157 and TB500. And this was when I was starting my healing journey. I was getting in a hyperbaric chamber every day. I was doing ozone and IVs. And I was just starting to be able to get to the point where I could crawl and get into a pool. And I started taking BPC157 and TB500. And it accelerated my healing. And I noticed a real difference in my body and healing from this. And so I can tell you for myself, I've used this for personal injury. It helped me heal. I've now used it with patients with inflammatory bowel disease. It helped them see better results. I've used it with patients with hypothyroidism, men with low testosterone. And the benefits have been absolutely incredible. And so I want to share, this is something not only that I've recommended to patients. I've used peptides personally and saw an incredible break through in my own health and healing that another doctor thought wasn't even possible. And maybe you're in that place in life right now where you're saying to yourself, I need that sort of breakthrough. I need healing that doctors doubt can happen. Maybe you even doubt that can happen. And peptides could be an incredible part of your healing journey. So here's what peptides are. They are small chains of amino acids, between 2 and 50 to be exact, which are the building blocks of proteins. And they play a crucial role in so many functions of the body, including cellular communic. Now I want to compare the differences between amino acids, peptides and proteins and how they typically function in the body. Amino acids are typically used for metabolic processes, protein synthesis, neurotransmitter production. They're basically building blocks in your body. And some of the individual amino acids have benefits for different things. For instance, lysine is used to boost your immune system, where L glutamine is an amino acid that's good for your gut microbiome, for actually healing leaky gut. Whereas you have one like L arginine, which is good for cardiovascular health. And then you have, of course, some of the other, then you have peptides. These tend to be the most related to hormones. They are for cellular communication, signaling, and play regulatory roles in the body. And so some peptides can include. And some of these, You've heard of BPC157, TB500, but here's some others you may not realize are peptides. Glutathione, creatine, Collagen, These are all peptides as well. And then of course, proteins, we know these longer structural sources of protein that you're gonna find in a lot of things like chicken breast and grass fed beef and eggs and wild caught fish. These are structural components. So these help build up your tissues in your body that also can act as antibodies, they can act as enzymes, and there is overlap between all of these. But generally amino acids are single. Peptides are shorter strands of amino acid where proteins are longer strands of amino acids. And as I mentioned earlier with peptides, these are growing in popularity due to their significant benefits. Now I do want to mention probably the most popular peptide today, or at least the fastest growing, is semaglutide, which is found in products like Ozempic and Wegovy. And this semaglutide, while it's a peptide and it's more natural and can have some benefits. Well, actually, by the way, Ozempic is synthetic, as are a lot of the peptides people are taking today. But it does have side effects in the body, which we'll get into with Ozempic later. As I mentioned, there are a lot of different peptides that are very popular that people are using today. Again, BPC157 is probably the single most popular. But I'm going to dive into a lot of the other benefits of peptides today regarding not just weight loss and muscle building, but also balancing out your immune system to reverse autoimmune disease, longevity, mitochondrial healing, having more beautiful healthy skin, and a number of other things we're going to get into today when it comes to peptides. Now here's part of what peptides do. As I mentioned earlier, peptides stimulate the body to produce its own hormones or repair mechanisms naturally. And here's an example of what this could look like. If proteins are like long, detailed instruction manuals, peptides are the quick post it notes that give your body direct instructions to heal, grow and function optimally. For example, taking CJC 1295 or ipamorelin, these stimulate the release of growth hormone, whereas thymosin alpha 1 modulates the immune system, helping reverse and heal issues like autoimmune disease. Whereas BPC157 promotes healing in the muscles, tendons and the digestive system. Think of peptides as keys that unlock specific biological processes in the body. Just like a key fits into a lock to open a door, peptides bind to receptors on cells to trigger responses such as increased collagen production, fat burning or enhanced muscle recovery. So here's how peptides work, according to the Wisconsin Institute of Functional Medicine. They say steroids precision allows for the development of treatments that can mimic or influence your natural biological processes, offering a more targeted approach. An example of this might be taking BPC157, which tells your body to regenerate tissues faster, While something like CJC 1295 signals the body to produce more growth hormone. And so very, very targeted, precise approach for helping specific conditions and functions within the human body. And according John Hopkins Medicine, there are more than 100 peptide drugs currently FDA approved in the US to help treat conditions such as diabetes, metabolic disorders, cancer, obesity, digestive issues and more. And there are an additional 170 peptides in active clinical development, according to an article in the journal Nature now. The article states peptide drug development entered a new era with the advent of the 21st century due to the improvements in in technology. And the Journal of Drug Discovery today states that the number of therapeutic peptides being developed is actually closer to 500. And the peptides industry itself is far greater than 70 billion annually. And this is going to grow massively over the next 10 years, with the most popular of peptides being glucagon, like peptides known as GLP1 agonists and other types used to manage and treat obesity and diabetes. And I want to state something as a fact. Peptides, just because they sound more natural and generally they can function more naturally than drugs in the body does not mean they're all good and none of them have side effects. Now I think one of the things we are seeing is many peptides like BPC157 has far less side effects than other peptides. Okay, so like the GLP one. And part of it also has to do with your dosage in terms of we see this with GLP1. If you were doing a microdose of about 10%, the recommended dose by most physicians, and you were eating following a healthy lifestyle, you really are going to have very few side effects with those versus when you're doing the very high dose that many people are taking. We're seeing massive muscle wasting, a connection to thyroid cancer, gastroparesis. So poor nutrient absorption and stagnation in the body. So we're seeing all that with that peptide. So again, I just want to state here that just because it says it's a peptide does not mean it's not a drug. It doesn't mean that it's automatically healthy. However, again, I do think there are numerous benefits of many of the peptides. I'm going to walk you through today. And peptides have many benefits. And if you have any one of the conditions or goals I'm about to go through, you may want to consider peptide three. Now I do want to mention as a first line of defense, even before peptides, I tend to recommend healthy diet, healthy lifestyle, okay, those primarily as a first line of defense. And so if somebody has an issue like low testosterone, I don't recommend the first thing they do is go and take a peptide. And I definitely don't recommend they go and take hormone replacement therapy first. The first thing I recommend is let's look at your lifestyle. Let's get better sleep, let's consume foods that are going to be a great form of medicine for reducing hot flashes and menopausal symptoms, for helping boost testosterone in men who have that issue. Let's do a diet, let's do herbs, let's do lifestyle, let's work out. And then if you still need a little bit of an extra boost, then let's go to peptides next. Then after that, if you still are having issues, then try hormone replacement therapy. And then if you're still having issues, maybe there is a drug that you consider. But for the most part I found in almost every single case, the body can heal and regenerate with just doing lifestyle, diet and exercise followed by something like peptides. And that is the best approach for longevity and for complete healing. If you have any one of these conditions I'm about to go through, peptide therapy could have a massive benefit for you. And number one, disc pain, low back pain and neck pain. If you're suffering with any sort of spinal issue, peptides can help regenerate the tissues faster and reduce inflammation. And as I shared earlier for myself, peptides I truly believe help save and transform my life. Helping me regain my health after a major, major spinal injury. Also joint injuries and ligament damage. Whether it's a torn ACL or a meniscus or a shoulder issue, some sort of joint, ligament or tendon issue, it helps accelerate recovery. In fact, I have a close friend of mine, his daughter tore her meniscus and we had her taking BPC150TB5,100 and her recovery was much faster because of it and had more complete healing to get back to her sport as a high school athlete. Also as I mentioned, muscle recovery and performance. Gut issues like leaky gut, ibs, ibd, sibo, it promotes intestinal healing and reduces inflammation. Autoimmune disorders, it helps regulate immune function, reduces flare up skin conditions like wrinkles, scars and acne. Acne, even psoriasis and rosacea, metabolic disorders and weight loss so they can improve insulin sensitivity, mitochondrial dysfunction and chronic fatigue. There are peptides that support energy production and cellular repair, thyroid dysfunction and Hashimoto's and other forms of hormone imbalance. There are peptides that can help with that, neurodegenerative diseases and cognitive decline, and so much more. So there are numerous benefits of using peptides and I want to go through eight of the biggest benefits according to an article that was published in the Bio Organic and Medicinal Chemistry Journal. And they looked at various peptides and one of the biggest benefits they found was around anti aging and longevity. Specifically, peptides like epitalin and thymolin have been linked to anti inflammatory effects. Extended lifespan and enhanced cellular repair. And there are other other peptides such as CJC 1295, MOTs and ipamorelin which help with skin elasticity, muscle tone and fat metabolism, have major benefits. Number two, healing injuries and tissue repair. Specifically, doing the combination of BPC157 and TB500 can help you heal disc issues, low back and neck pain, tendon injuries, ligament injuries as well as. So there are major, major benefits of those two peptides for that metabolism and weight management. Now of course we all know about semaglutide, which I think in micro doses may have benefits, but the larger doses, it's far too detrimental to people in damaging their body by causing them to lose up to 50% of the muscle that they're losing in terms of their overall weight loss. There are other peptides that may have better benefits for overall helping stoke your metabolism, such as Tessamorelin. And it's been shown in studies to help reduce abdominal and visceral fat around your organs. That's the fat you actually want to lose because it's tied to chronic illness. One of the fourth big benefits of peptides is mitochondrial support and energy production. There are two peptides in particular. One is called Mott C, it enhances mitochondrial function, helps combat fatigue and SS31. This protects mitochondria from oxidative stress and improves energy levels and cognitive function. And then we have number 5 performance and athletic recovery peptides. This is where CJC 1295 and IPamorelin boost your growth hormone production, which improves muscle tone and strength and endurance. And BPC157 supports joint and muscle recovery post exercise. So doing those in combination together can have athletic performance benefits. In fact, one of the leading doctors I know, his name is Dr. Seeds in Colorado, he works with a lot of athletes And Olympic athletes on using peptides to help them train and recover faster and get better results as well. So we're going to see these continue to grow in popularity by being used by athletes as well. Number six is gut health and digestive repair. BPC157 is great for leaky gut. And IBS, where KPV, that stands for leucine, proline and valine, has strong anti inflammatory effects for gut healing and then skin rejuvenation. There's one called GHKCU that stands for copper peptides. This stimulates collagen and elastin production, reduces wrinkles and scarring, and then epitalin helps with cellular regeneration for younger looking skin. So we're seeing a lot more of these peptides being used for anti aging and for beauty and for skin health and then for thyroid and hormone balance. Thymosin alpha 1 supports immune health and thyroid function. I now want to take a closer look and walk you through some of these individual peptides, how they work and how they can benefit your body. So think about this as a masterclass on peptides so you know how they can benefit you and others in the future. The first one, again, one of the most popular peptides, my favorite peptide that helped me heal and regenerate my tissues is bpc. This peptide is most known for its regenerative properties. It aids in healing muscles, tendons and ligaments. It promotes recovery from injuries. It is a synthetic peptide derived from something called body protective compound, which is naturally found in the gastric juices of your stomach and your duodenum, where it plays a role in protecting and healing the gut lining. Now, if you want to get compounds that are Most similar to BPC157 via your diet, your best bet is consuming stomach and duodenum. Okay, so those tissues followed by collagen, rich bone broth and fermented foods such as sauerkraut, these have certain compounds that support the gut and help your body produce more. Bpc, this body protective compound that helps you regenerate and heal. This is also why keeping your gut microbiome healthy is so important. But in that amazing bone broth and fermented foods like sauerkraut actually help your body produce more BPC on its own to heal more. But overall, if you want to get the most powerful dosage, you want to do a BP157 injection. That's how most peptides are taken, typically in a syringe. Similar that you would take insulin, which by the way, insulin is a peptide peptide hormone and it is injected into your fat tissue and then absorbed that way and redistributed in the body to help your body heal. But that's the way most commonly people take these is via injections. Now you can take BPC157 in a capsule or as a sublingual or a nasal spray as well are other ways that people can get it. But by far the highest absorption and the most powerful effect on the body is going to be in an injection into your subcutaneous fat tissue. Now a second peptide that I love, it's thymosin beta 4, also known as TB500. This peptide plays a major role in tissue repair and regeneration. And it's typically coupled with BP157. Typically these two go together at optimizing healing and reducing inflammation. It's naturally produced in the thymus gland in your own body and it's found in almost all human cells where it plays a critical role in immune regulation and tissue regeneration. It also acts as a major actin sequestering protein which helps cells move to sites of injury which, this is key when you injure a tissue or an area of your body. One of the things that happens if you have poor cellular communication is your body isn't getting enough healing factors there to fully heal the site of injury. This happens as we age more often too. Did you ever notice when you hurt yourself as a kid, two days later you were back to 100% or even the next morning you woke up and you were good again. And as you've aged, you like you injured this area and two weeks later, two months later or two years later, you still have that injury. Part of that is due to your body. That cellular communication isn't what it should be. And this is one of the major benefits of peptides in general is they support cell signaling and BP. And TB500 is maybe the single best at helping regenerate and heal an area by increasing cell signaling and cell communication to make sure the healing factors get to the area of your body that's actually injured. So major major benefits there. And that's why combining that TB500 with the BPC157 is so powerful for healing is not only do you have all these healing anti inflammatory factors and the tissue regeneration benefits of the BPC157, but TB500 helps direct it to the right site to make sure that area is healed. I've had so many people I've worked with who've had major injuries. Shoulder pain, low back pain, knee pain and they took that combination of BPC157 and TB500 those peptides and saw great results in the body. Typically the dosage of pairing those together is you'll do about 5 milligrams of each per week for about eight weeks is the typical dosage. And then you'll take some time off and do it. So you'll have five days on, two days off, and that's one milligram a day if you're injured. Now oftentimes there are lower dosages done around 250 to 500 micrograms. But if you have an injury and want to heal from it more quickly, typically people will do about that 1 milligram five times during a week in order to get maximum benefits and go anywhere from 6 weeks up to 12 weeks for maximum healing and repair. Next up is CJC 1295. This is a growth hormone releasing peptide that stimulates your own growth hormone which supports muscle growth and fat loss. This mimics the natural GHRH produced in the hypothalamus which regulates growth hormone release from the pituitary gland. And although there is no natural food source of CJC 1295 itself, certain amino acids like arginine and ornithine found in meat, dairy and nuts can support natural growth hormone production. But again, this is a good one if you are wanting to naturally build and grow muscle and a very similar one. Next up is Tessamorelin. Tessamorelin is a synthetic growth hormone releasing hormone that stimulates the pituitary gland to secrete growth hormone leading to increased insulin like growth factor in the body. And it's primarily used to reduce visceral fat tissue in the body. And this is where again I just want to say, if you're taking a peptide, whether it be GLP1 or Tessamorelin, make sure you're also following a healthy diet and lifting weights and doing the right things. Because the reality is this, if you exercise while you're using something like this, you're doing weight training, you're going to be actually building muscle long term and you're going to have greater benefits than if you're just taking a peptide and you're not doing the other supplement supportive things with it. This is why even for myself when I was taking BPC157 and TB500, I'm eating sauerkraut, I'm drinking bone broth, I'm taking collagen protein in a protein that has stem cells in it. I'm doing these things regularly to get the maximum benefits. And I want you to think about doing that very same thing when you're using peptides. And another peptide that's often paired with Tessamorelin is Ipamorelin. And it is a growth hormone known as a secretagogue, which basically means it helps your body secrete more growth hormone, which then aids in muscle recovery and repair. Now here's a peptide not a lot of people are familiar with, and it's melanotin 2. And it's originally developed to promote tanning. Okay. So after melanin or melatonin in a similar way as well. It's been explored for its potential effect effects on sexual function and appetite suppression. And it mimics alpha melaninocyte stimulating hormone, which is produced in pituitary gland and plays a role in skin pigmentation and sexual arousal. While there are no foods that contain this melanin producing peptide, carrots and sweet potatoes have the closest thing in enhancing melanin production. If you want to couple it with something there. So this isn't really a peptide I typically, usually ever recommend to people, but it is a peptide that is available. And then another growth hormone producing peptide is Sermorelin, very similar to Ipamorelin and Tessamorelin. Now, you can increase this in your own body by getting adequate sunshine and taking vitamin D and magnesium. So sunshine or vitamin D and then getting enough magnesium helps produce this in your own body. And that's one of the great things to know about this, is that you can get the benefits of peptides by simply changing your diet and your lifestyle. However, most people want additional benefits to those things, which is why they're going to use peptides as well via injection, nasal spray, or orally. The next peptide is PT141. This is known for its potential to enhance sexual function and it targets the hypothalamus to activate sexual arousal pathways without affecting the vascular system. And you can, in addition to taking this, do things that will support and improve blood flow. So it'd be good to combine with something like beetroot juice and ginseng to support sexual function along with this peptide. Now, I want to hit on another favorite peptide of mine, and that's, that's thymosin alpha 1. This peptide modulates the immune system, enhancing immune response and offering potential benefits for immune related conditions like autoimmune disease or a weakened immune system. If you have immune deficiency, it's naturally produced in the thymus gland and plays a role in T cell development and immune regulation. While it's not found in food Zinc, vitamin C and selenium rich foods are good to take with this to help activate and balance your immune system. Along with eating foods like drinking bone broth, doing more vegetables, more wild caught meat, and more medicinal mushrooms like Maitake mushroom, they're going to aid and support the immune system. This next peptide is the fastest growing and most popular peptide today. It's GLP1 agonist. It's a semi glutide drug that you'd find in ozempic and wegovy. And these peptides mimic the action of the natural hormone glucagon. Like peptide known as GLP1, which is produced in the small intestine and plays a key role in appetite control and blood sugar regulation. Now there are certain foods that stimulate GLP1, such as high protein foods, high fiber foods, especially vegetables, fermented foods as well, or high probiotic rich foods. These stimulate GLP1. Additionally, omega 3 fatty acids in vinegar also help. Now I want to say this, GLP1, of all the peptides has the most negative studies and the most evidence proving it is not good to take long term. So GLP1 is a hormone I typically don't recommend unless in maybe a few small instances you're doing a microdose and with it you're also changing your diet. You're eating more protein and more fiber and more probiotic rich foods and more omega 3s and more again and vinegar. That's going to be very similar in that fermented food category. But do those four things eat more protein, eat more fiber like vegetables and berries, eat more fermented foods, get more omega 3s, do that, your body will stimulate more GLP1 that way and it's more effective and much more beneficial for your long term health than taking a semi glutide drug long term. In addition, weightlifting and exercise. Okay, if you exercised and did those four foods and that was the primary part of your diet I just talked about, that's great. And then listen, I don't have a problem with. If you're working with a functional medicine practitioner and they for a few months have you on a microdose of GLP1 along with all of these other things, healthy lifestyle, you know, maybe there's a time and place for that, but for most people you just don't, you don't even need the semaglutide, you just need to change your lifestyle. Because here's the reality, the side effects are too severe for aging. You think about this when you take semaglutide like Ozempic the weight that you lose. According to one study, 50% of your weight you're losing is muscle. And so if you lost, you know, 10 to 20 pounds, let's say. I think, I think in the study they referenced £20. You're aging yourself 20 years. When you take a drug like Ozempic or Wegovy. Think about that. Do you want to do that? Do you want to age yourself and your muscle 20 years? Your muscle is a longevity organ. It's critical for your metabolism. It's critical for you not being frail and weak when you get older. Think about how hard it is to put on muscle mass, how many of you guys work out, and you know how hard it is to put on lean muscle mass. And the fact that you could take a drug that's going to cause you to lose likely double the amount of muscle mass you should be losing. I mean, I mean, these are big, big reasons that you should not take and would not want to take a semiglutide drug, a GLP1 agonist like an Ozempic or Govy. You're much better off doing those four things I just mentioned, which actually boost your body's own release of GLP 1. Eat a high protein diet, high fiber diet, a diet high in probiotics, and a diet high in omega 3 fatty acids. If you do those things and combine that with exercise, you'll burn fat, you'll lose weight, you'll optimize GLP1 naturally in your body. Are you tired of doctors dismissing your symptoms or worse, even making you feel crazy? Even if your blood work comes back normal, it doesn't mean your health is where it should be. Think of your blood like a delivery truck carrying nutrients and hormones. But the real payoff happens when your cells open the package and use what's inside. If your cells are stuck in what's called cell danger response, triggered by stress, toxins or infections, they go into protective mode. In this state, cells close off and don't properly take in or utilize the hormones or nutrients they need from the bloodstream. Now, this makes the blood work often appear normal, so doctors often miss the deeper issue, leaving you feeling tired, gaining weight, experiencing mood swings, and dealing with other symptoms while other cells remain in a state of limbo. Visit BeyondBloodwork.com to learn how you can start changing this in as little as 30 days. The next peptide I want to cover is one of my favorites as well. It's known as MOTS C. It stands for mitochondrial derived peptide. And MOT C is a mitochondrial boosting peptide that plays a key role in cellular metabolism, energy regulation and even insulin sensitivity. Now what's so unique about MOT C is that it activates something in your body called ampk. This is the master regulator of your metabolism and promotes fat oxidation and muscle endurance. In fact, in studies on longevity and increasing your lifespan and your health span to where you're still active in your 80s and 90s, one of the key pathways was activating AMPK for lengthening your life and adding quality of years to your life. And MOT C helps do that. MOT C supports also weight management, exercise performance, and as I mentioned, reduces oxidative stress so you age more slowly. And although MOT C is naturally produced in the body, its activity can be supported through other things that we could talk about. Actually, fasting tends to be very good for MOT C. Exercise is very good. And then polyphenol rich foods, especially green tea, extra virgin, olive oil and berries. So this is a really incredible longevity and mitochondrial supporting peptide that is one of my favorite peptides that I recommend on a regular basis. Now here's another peptide that you're going to recognize if you've heard and you've been in the natural health industry a pretty long time. It's known as IGF1 that stands for insulin like growth factor. And IGF1 is a hormone naturally produced in the liver in response to growth hormone stimulation and is crucial for muscle growth, cell repair and brain health. And it plays a role in mediating many anabolic processes. So that means muscle building and growth in the body. And IGF1 levels naturally decline with age, leading to reduced muscle mass and slow tissue repair. There are certain foods that have this peptide in it, such as grass fed dairy is the highest, followed by lean meats like grass fed steak. Whey protein as well is a natural boosting source of IGF 1 production. But again, of course, this is also found in a peptide as an injection, an oral or nasal spray as well. And then here's another popular peptide that has a lot of benefits for skin and for tissue regeneration. Sometimes this peptide is paired with BPC157TB500. It's known as GHKCU. It's known as the copper peptides. And it's a naturally occurring peptide that binds to copper ions, which supports wound healing, skin regeneration and anti aging. And it's found in human plasma, so in your blood, in your saliva and in your urine, but decreases as we age. And it also enhances collagen production, improves skin elasticity and has Antioxidant properties that protect against free radical damage. And though it's not present in food, maintaining healthy copper levels through foods like nuts and seeds and organ meats can support your body's skin repairing benefits due to the copper concentrations. The next peptide I want to cover is SS31. Now, this is a great one to pair with MOT C when it comes to longevity and mitochondrial health. It's also known as a Lemipre Tide. It's a synthetic peptide that targets your mitochondria, where it binds to cardiolipin, which stabilizes your mitochondrial membranes and improves your cellular energy production. So this is a peptide that could be really beneficial for people with chronic fatigue syndrome, Lyme disease, or people wanting to promote longevity. It also reduces oxidative stress on the mitochondria and prevents neurodegenerative diseases like heart failure and dementia. Though it's synthetic, it supports the natural function of your mitochondria in your body. And a diet high in antioxidants like berries, matcha, green tea and dark green leafy vegetables can also help support your body along with taking SS31. And then I want to hit on a few just quickly here. Other peptides that you probably are aware of, or maybe were not aware, are peptides. One, of course you're aware of, it's collagen peptides, right? So collagen peptides are found primarily in bone broth. And collagen peptides are short chains of amino acids derived from collagen, which is the most abundant protein in the human body. It makes up the majority of your skin, hair, nails, joints, connective tissue and gut lining. And these peptides are broken down forms of collagen, making them easier for the body to absorb and use to repair. Your body. And collagen, as I mentioned, is naturally found primarily in bone broth, as well as in things like chicken skin or fish skin in your diet. And of course, you can supplement with collagen peptides, as many people do today. Typically, you want to do about 10 to 50 grams a day to support your joints and skin and gut health of collagen peptides and a few others I'll mention here. Glutathione, your body's master antioxidant, is known as a tripeptide. And so glutathione is important for liver detoxification. So for your body to detox, to heal, people would get Glutathione IVs or take something called Nac N acetyl cysteine orally, which is the greatest precursor to glutathione and supporting the body that way. And then creatine for building muscle, supporting brain health. That's also a peptide. And so many people today take creatine, and that's a good peptide to pair with some of the other growth hormone peptides or BPC157 and TB500. If you're looking to regenerate and heal your tissue as part of whether you're doing physical therapy or your daily workouts, these are really powerful to take together, you know, as peptides are growing in popularity, we are seeing so many more athletes, biohackers, celebrity and wellness experts who have shared their personal stories on how peptides have positively impacted themselves. You know, a few of these people, One is Sylvester Stallone. He's known, of course, for his roles as Rocky and Rambo and so many other roles he's played over the years. And he's used some of the various peptides that support human growth hormone over the years. He just recently stated Hugh Jackman, to prepare for his role as Wolverine, he used peptide therapy to aid in muscle recovery and in looking more lean and muscular. And of course, there's a peptide that's actually called the Wolverine peptide. It's known as BPC157, that healing and tissue repair. And this is one that Hugh Jackman took in getting ready for his role as Wolverine, which if you saw him, he was very, very fit and jacked. And peptides along with his. Listen, I want to say too, Hugh Jackman didn't just take peptides. He worked out for hours a day. He ate very clean. And so remember, if you're going to get the maximum benefits of peptides, eat a healthy diet and have a healthy lifestyle. Now here's someone else who's using peptides and she recently stated this, Jennifer Aniston. She has revealed that she relies both on collagen peptides as well as peptide injections into her skin, but also is using peptides like argiline, tripeptide 1 and tetrapeptide 21 for keeping her looking younger. And then Joe Rogan, he's a podcaster comedian that we all know of. He uses BPC157 to aid in healing injuries. He said he had a recent injury and was astounded at how fast it helped him heal. Here's someone else. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. That's right. RFK has spoken about the potential of peptides for regenerative medicine and how they support neurological recovery and anti aging. Now, he has not come out publicly and said he uses them personally. However, I've had other people say they know he does. He has said he wants to make them easier to get for people and remove some of the barriers that the FDA is creating. In fact, in a recent social media post, Kennedy accused the FDA of suppressing the use of psychedelics, peptides, stem cells, raw milk, and hyperbaric chamber therapies. And so he came out and said he wants to remove the red tape related to these incredible healing therapies. Now, I want to take a minute and compare peptides to hrt. That's hormone replacement therapy. Now, hormone replacement therapy involves the direct supplementation of hormones such as testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, or thyroid. Hormones that we know all decline as we age. What HRT does is it directly replaces these hormones in the body, so your body no longer produces sufficient quantities on its own. And this is commonly used for menopause andropause or conditions like hypothyroidism or adrenal insufficiency. But what happens, as I mentioned with hormone replacement therapy, it causes something in the body called a reverse feedback loop. So here's what happens. Your body is creating a certain level of estrogen or testosterone. Well, when you start taking it exogenously, so from the outside in, your body says, oh, okay, I'm getting it already. So the reverse feedback loop is now it stops producing it on its own. That's what happens with hormone replacement therapy. And in Chinese medicine, this is known to be incredibly unhealthy because what it does, it's like taking a tap that's in your own body. You have your own water being created in your body. You're turning it off. Now you only rely on an outside source. Well, there are other things that happen in the body when you shut off your inside source. And it's known in Chinese medicine to cause stagnation, which increases the risk of cancer, according to Chinese medicine, in certain individuals, when it's done for longer periods of time. And so this is why I'm not a fan of hormone replacement therapy as the first thing you do. Now, listen, if you are an absolute wreck and you have major, major health issues because of your hormone imbalance, I think there's a time and a place for hormone replacement therapy. Okay, I do think there's a time and place for it, but I think it all should be done the shortest dose possible, and you should be doing all the other things with it. So if somebody has a hormone imbalance, like low testosterone, for instance, or low estrogen the first thing they should do is start using food as medicine, you know, for women. Let's do more organic soy and more flax and more black cohosh and these things that help naturally stimulate your body's own estrogen production. Let's get better quality sleep. Let's start doing things that help build yin in the body and in a calmness. Let's then try peptides after that that are going to support estrogen production. That's what somebody should focus on doing first. Or a very similar thing with testosterone. Men go and eat more red meat and organ meats, get more healthy fats like almond butter, go and get walnuts, right? Get more of these foods, take panax, ginseng and fenugreek and then take peptides like epamorelin, Tessamorelin and BPC157 and then go lift some weights, do that. And then if you exhaust those things and you're still very, very off hormonally, then go and do hormone replacement therapy, but not before you exhaust and do everything else you know you should be doing. And so this is what, and there are plenty of plants that I mentioned, soy, flax as an example, and black cohosh and many other herbs that are going to support progesterone, that are going to support estrogen, that can support thyroid hormone. You really want to start there as much as you possibly can. And the reason why peptides are better for long term use is that they don't have the reverse feedback loop. For example, peptides support the body's natural hormone production. Peptides like CJC 1295 for example, stimulate the pituitary gland to release, to release more growth hormone, which allows the body to adjust production based on natural feedback loops. Unlike hormone replacement therapy, peptides do not suppress the body's ability to produce its own hormones. And the other great thing about peptides is they have fewer side effects, unless we're talking about high doses of semaglutide. You know, hormone replacement therapy can cause side effects such as water retention, mood swings, acne, or increased risk of hormone related cancers such as breast and prostate, according to multiple studies. And peptides, when used appropriately, are often better tolerated and have fewer side effects because they enhance natural processes rather than overriding them. And peptides are targeted and specific. Peptides act on specific pathways, while hormone replacement therapy affects the entire hormonal system and may cause imbalance in other areas. So again, moral of story is this. Try lifestyle and diet first and then peptide second and then third would be something like a hormone replacement Therapy. Now, I wanted to mention again, you can find peptides in food. In fact, organ meats are your greatest source of peptides. Okay, so you find it in bone broth, we find it in the thymus gland. If you have thymus, you find it liver, kidneys, heart, adrenals. Throughout your entire body you have these peptides. So in Chinese medicine and well, throughout history, people ate organ meats. And if they had an issue with their heart, they ate heart. If they had an issue with poor detoxification, they ate liver. Right? And so organ meats are your greatest source of peptides out there today, along with things like bone broth, which of course is basically pulling it from the ligaments and tendons, just getting it in that liquid form. But that is your greatest source of food based peptides is organ meats and bone broth. Now, there are plants that also support peptide production, such as flaxseeds, beans and soybeans. Specifically, they have phytoestrogens, which can be great for the body. Nuts and seeds also can, and so can protein rich foods. Another great source of peptides is colostrum. Colostrum in raw dairy, is loaded with peptides that support growth and tissue regeneration. So if you want to get peptides via dietary sources, organ meats, bone broth, raw dairy products, you know, certain seeds and beans and many other foods as well, a lot of herbals also have a lot of these peptides that boost peptides in the body. However, for many of you, what you're going to want to do is you're going to want to follow a really healthy diet, use food as medicine for supporting these peptides within your own body. But in addition, consider taking either these oral or injectable peptides as well to help take your health to the highest level possible. You know, one question I commonly get from people is, well, where do I get peptides? Well, what I would recommend is you find a good practitioner, a functional or integrative medical practitioner that can help recommend the right peptides for you in the right dosages. By the way, when you're working with somebody with peptides, that same person, if you know they're really good, they're typically also going to recommend that you change your diet, okay. Or other dietary or supplement protocols to help you optimize your health. Now, I'm not saying that you have to do that, but again, if you truly want to be healthy, you should be changing your diet and optimizing exercise and lifestyle along with taking peptides as well. And if you want to look for Good suppliers. It's hard. There are a lot of people out there selling peptides today. I know that there are a lot of brands out there. One that I've used and trust is Peptide Sciences. But there are a lot out there. But you want to make sure. Typically finding a good physician near you that uses peptides is the route you want to take. Now, I want to go through some misintrust about peptides. Number one, peptides are illegal. That's not true. Many peptides, more than 200, are either available legally as research compounds and are in clinical trials, but they are not FDA approved for medical treatment or readily available in stores. And the way this works today is just because the FDA has not approved them as medicine doesn't mean they're not legal for you to use themselves. In fact, here's how I would put peptides. Right now. Many of them are like raw milk. You can take, you know, they're marked for animal purposes or for research purposes. Now we're all drinking raw milk, right? Or maybe not all of you. I'm drinking raw milk, okay? A lot of you that listen to this show, you're drinking raw milk, but it's not FDA approved. And it's different state by state. But again, there are many clinical trials proving their safety, proving their efficacy and their just monumental benefits. And so again, peptides are legal. They're just not approved by the FDA for medical treatment. Currently, here's another myth. Peptides are steroids. Now, peptides are different than steroids in artificial hormones. Peptides work by enhancing your natural biological processes, not artificially increasing hormones like anabolic steroids. Steroids are a class of lipophilic organic compounds and their mechanisms and effects are very, very different. Here's another one. Peptide therapy is a new and untested treatment. Here's the truth. Peptides have been utilized in medical treatments for over a century, 100 years. For instance, insulin, a peptide hormone, was first used for the treatment of diabetes back in 1921. And I mentioned glutathione, creatine, collagen. There are many peptides that have been used that have numerous benefits that have been used for over 100 years. Here's another myth. Peptide therapy is only for anti aging purposes. Here's the truth. While peptides can aid reducing signs of aging, they also play roles in metabolism, tissue repair, reversing medical conditions like autoimmune disease, supporting thyroid health, boosting immune function, loads of benefits. And people of various ages and health conditions can benefit from peptides. Many peptides are Safe, but still, I do want to say there are some negative consequences for some people. And so you really want to listen to your body and how you're reacting to these under the help of a guided medical professional. You know, some people have noticed feeling nauseous, diarrhea, temporary redness, increased hunger, allergic reaction, hormonal issues. So again, make sure to really listen to your body. This is a form of medicine. Okay. And so you do want to be cautious and wise when you're using them and work with a practitioner. And I think generally, when it comes to safety, the peptides that are the safest, like the BPC157, the TB500, the KPV, these peptides are typically used for tissue repair and healing. I think that the safety of those or how people react tends to be even better than some of the peptides that influence hormones more directly. But overall, again, if you're working with a great practitioner, they're going to know exactly what to do with you, the right dosage, and basically monitor how you're doing with these. So as I've said, peptides are sort of. They're not supplements, but they're not necessarily medicine per se. They're kind of live somewhere in between and how they impact your body. And again, I think first and foremost, diet, exercise, lifestyle, that's first. And then if you want an extra boost, then you can do some peptides with that and work with a trained physician on them. And as I said, peptides have helped me tremendously heal from an issue that a doctor thought I would never heal from. And so they do have tremendous benefits. And I've used them with so many patients and people I've worked with over the years and saw amazing, incredible benefits so many times when people were kind of at wit's end or saw a roadblock in what they wanted healed. And so I hope you've enjoyed this episode on the power of peptides. I want to say thanks so much for tuning in here to the Dr. Josh Axe show, where each and every week I explore the science and principles how you can take your health the next level, physically, mentally and spiritually. Also, make sure to subscribe, like, share you know, how many people have questions about peptides. Millions, millions of people want to know the best peptides they should use, how they should use them. So, hey, do me a favor and share this episode. People need to know the truth. And also, thank you so much for subscribing, being part of the movement here with me. I'll see you on the next episode.