Alex Hogan , 2025-05-08 08:30:00
A constellation of social media wellness influencers, YouTubers, and podcasters have been extolling the health benefits of peptides. There seems to be a peptide for just about anything you could dream of. Want to lose weight? There are GLP-1s, of course. Would you like to have a year-round tan? You could give melanotan a shot. Have a nagging sports injury? Try BPC-157 on for size!
Peptides are chains of amino acids produced naturally in the human body, and they influence a whole host of bodily functions, from metabolism to inflammation to muscle growth. Synthetic peptides have been used in medicine for quite some time — insulin, for example, is a synthetic peptide.
But many of the peptides being discussed across YouTube and Spotify do not have proven medical applications like insulin. Some peptides are offered off-label by direct-to-consumer health platforms like Hims & Hers and Eden. Other peptides, however, are only available from online retailers that sell “research peptides.” These are intended to be used in laboratory settings and are not considered safe for humans.
In this video, STAT examines what might be driving people to experiment with unregulated peptides, and talks to experts about why this is so risky.
