Peptide Therapy Explained: HGH Peptides, Risks, and What Patients Should Know | Vitality Unfiltered

Vitality Unfiltered Podcast

Host: David J. Bauder, PA-C
 Guests: Shah Ahmed, MD | Stephanie Lattimore, NP

In this episode of Vitality Unfiltered, we explore one of the fastest-growing—and most misunderstood—areas in modern medicine: peptide therapy.

Peptides are short chains of amino acids that act as signaling molecules in the body, influencing a wide range of physiologic processes. In recent years, peptides—particularly those related to growth hormone signaling—have gained popularity for their potential roles in metabolism, recovery, and overall health.

David J. Bauder, PA-C, founder of Weight Loss & Vitality, along with Dr. Shah Ahmed and Stephanie Lattimore, NP, break down the science behind peptide therapy and clarify how these compounds interact with the body.

The discussion includes peptides such as sermorelin, tesamorelin, CJC-1295, BPC-157, MOTS-c, PT-141, and TB-500, as well as the mechanisms by which some peptides stimulate natural hormone production through the pituitary gland.

The episode also addresses the evolving regulatory environment, including recent changes in FDA classification, and why these shifts have impacted availability and clinical use.

A central focus of this episode is safety. Many peptides available online are marketed as “research compounds” and are not subject to the same regulatory oversight as pharmaceutical-grade products. This raises important concerns about contamination, mislabeling, dosing variability, and overall quality.

This discussion emphasizes that while peptide therapy is an area of growing interest, it must be approached with caution, clinical oversight, and a strong understanding of both physiology and regulation.

In This Episode We Discuss

• What peptides are and how they function in the body
 • The role of growth hormone–related peptides and secretagogues
 • Key peptides including sermorelin, tesamorelin, CJC-1295, BPC-157, MOTS-c, PT-141, and TB-500
 • The evolving FDA regulatory status of peptides
 • How peptides influence metabolism, recovery, and physiologic signaling
 • The risks associated with unregulated “research peptides”
 • Concerns about contamination, mislabeling, and inconsistent dosing
 • The importance of pharmaceutical-grade sourcing and medical oversight
 • How to approach peptide therapy from a safety-first perspective

Key Takeaway

Peptide therapy represents an evolving area of medicine, but it is not without risk. Understanding the science, regulatory landscape, and importance of quality-controlled sourcing is essential to making informed decisions.

Contact Weight Loss & Vitality

📞 Call: 571-550-9000
 🌐 Visit: https://weightlossandvitality.com

About Vitality Unfiltered

Vitality Unfiltered is a medical podcast exploring the science of hormones, longevity, metabolism, weight loss, aesthetics, and precision medicine.

Each episode provides clinical insight from healthcare professionals who treat these conditions every day.

Our goal is simple: to help people better understand the biology of their health so they can make informed decisions about wellness, prevention, and long-term vitality.

Disclaimer

This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. The peptides discussed may not be FDA-approved for general use. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making decisions about treatment.

⚠️ Disclaimer
This podcast is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Listening to this episode does not establish a provider-patient relationship. Always consult your qualified healthcare professional regarding medical concerns, diagnosis, or treatment.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Vitality.

SPEAKER_02 0:02

Vitality Unfiltered.

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Unfiltered with David Bowder.

SPEAKER_02 0:10

And we're back for another episode of Vitality Unfiltered. I'm David Bowder, your host. With me today from Weight Loss and Vitality from Riverhead, New York, Dr. Shaw, and from Washington, D.C. nurse practitioner Stephanie Lattimore. Today's conversation, peptides. You cannot go on any social media platform for any length of time without being slapped in the face with peptides. Okay? There's so much traffic out there, some from questionable resources, some legitimate, about peptides have changed somebody's life. Peptides can do this. New peptides coming out. So today we're going to kind of like discuss what a peptide is, kind of try to give some real factual information so the listeners can understand exactly what's going on in the peptide market today. So, Dr. Shaw, what is a peptide?

SPEAKER_01 0:59

So, very simply, a peptide is a short chain of amino acid acids that impact some known pathway or mechanism in the human body. So a lot of these peptides that are on the market have some mechanistic reason for being produced. They usually, you know, improve like GLP1s, for example, are probably the most commonly prescribed peptide today. Impact satiety signaling, food noise signaling, glucose regulation, insulin secretion. Um, another common one is growth hormone secretogogs like sermorelin, tesimarelin. Um, and then what differentiates these peptides probably is that, you know, these are FDA-approved peptides for specific indications, but then very commonly being used for kind of off-label purposes. And then there's kind of like everything else. There's like a couple in the pipeline that will probably work out. Then there's like some that have only animal data. And then there was a bunch that were on formulary at compound pharmacies, got banned, and now recently got unbanned. And this is where the space has gotten a little murky.

SPEAKER_02 2:05

Yeah, space is really crazy right now. It really is. And uh, and I think that's what we need to just make sure we we pull out in this episode is um just a real informative type presentation here so the listeners can understand. It's like, yeah, so let's start off with um thinking from the top. One of the most one of the oldest and most common peptides out there is semorin. Sometimes sometimes sometimes people call it semorlin, semorin, same thing. Um you got some experience with that.

SPEAKER_03 2:34

So I've been prescribing the peptide Smorlin for a couple years now, in addition to the GLPs, um, which are peptides. Surmorlin's the only other peptide that I prescribe because right now it's really the safest old one of the oldest. Very effective, a lot of good data, FDA approved. Human growth hormone, not analog, but word of the day.

SPEAKER_01 2:55

Yeah, secretagogog.

SPEAKER_03 2:56

Socretagog. Um, acts on the natural human growth hormone in the body to kind of optimize you and to produce that. Really beneficial for those, I want to say 30, 40, 50s and up, maybe weight, um, weight training, high performance activity, um, weight loss. It can definitely be an adjuvant in the weight loss um regimen a patient is on to really optimize patients um to tap into that human growth hormone that declines as we age. So somorlin's tried and true. I feel very safe prescribing it. Most patients are good candidates, um, very few contraindications, injectable into the adipose um either daily or on a regimen, you know, every three days once you get to that kind of maintenance stage. But SMORIN, love it. What else do you guys know about it?

SPEAKER_01 3:44

Yes, just a quick comment on Sumorlin. Um, it's just really important to emphasize like there is a known mechanism of action with Surmorlin and uh not to be confused with growth hormone abuse, right? Growth hormone abuse in the PED space, bodybuilding space was the injection of exogenous growth hormone. So the level the chance that you could get supraphysiologic levels of growth hormone was high, right? And obviously to a certain therapeutic benefit, but also there was there are risks, right? You know, if there's a known known cancer in your body, it can grow faster. Um, if you have sleep apnea, that can get worse. If you have carpal tunnel already, the soft tissue there can grow, that can get worse, things like that. Whereas when you use a growth hormone secretagog and the compound sermorelin, or the other one that's very popular now, testomerelin as well, it incentivizes your brain to make as much growth hormone as it can, right? It just kind of like turns the volume up of what your brain could do or would do. Um, and then downstream, obviously, growth hormone will impact IgF1 and then all of the downstream effects from that. So it's worth uh discussing the risks and benefits, but a cycle of sermorelin or tesomeralin is not a bad idea as an adjunct to weight loss.

SPEAKER_02 4:54

Yeah, it works really well in in that certain group of patients, uh, specifically if they're looking for some lean muscle mass. I always think of somorlin kind of like as the general peptide. You got peptides out there that focus, and we can talk about that in a bit, but we got peptides that focus on joints, tendons, ligaments, mitochondria, uh dysregulation. Um, you got peptides that work with hair and skin. I mean, they they're all over. And I honestly I think that's the future of medicine where we're going is there's gonna be peptides that's gonna, you know, we're gonna dial stuff in if if this stuff can ever get pushed through. Yes. It's gotta get pushed through, which we'll hit cover in a second. But in regards to SMORin, tesamorin and smorlin really are really the only FDA-approved peptides. All right, when we talk about growth hormone. You know, just a little background on SMORIN. You know, that was originally established in the early 1990s, went through all the clinical studies, was originally established for a pediatric treatment for kids that couldn't grow. Largely in the mid-1990s, it was dis it was replaced when growth hormone, or omnitrobe, genotrope, when those really started, the synthetic growth hormones came out, which you were alluding to, which are the ones that potentially have the bad side effects. Um it was largely replaced and it wasn't really available anymore. So it kind of fell off the schedule and it was just kind of disappeared. But integrative functional medicine never thought, never forgot about it. We always kept this kind of in the space and and it's a very, very safe, very safe, just you know, like just how you described it is like it's really unless it's just really hard to hurt somebody with it. I mean, it's just like it's a pretty safe, safe treatment for set, especially somebody that's trying to optimize body composition. Um, why don't you talk a little bit more about tesimorlin? All right, where it was to develop from it.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

So it's funny, uh, tesumorlin has a very specific indication. I honestly don't know what the genesis is of some of these medications, but it specifically is for the removal of visceral adiposity in HIV patients on antiretroviral therapy. One of the side effects of certain antiretroviral therapies is the development of visceral adiposity. So tesamerelin has been purported to be a slightly more potent version of syrmarelin, exact same mechanism of action, like very recent FDA approval and human data in adults, which is really nice. And that's kind of like what's become the off-label use from 503A compounding pharmacies for tesamerelin. Based on kind of market rates, it looks like tesamerolin is slightly more expensive than uh Cermarelin. Um but I'm finding patients who get really good therapeutic benefit from CERMARELIN and want to try tesimerelin, try it. Some notice a difference, some don't. But again, just another option.

SPEAKER_02 7:29

You know, um before it was so tesumorelin now is available in some compound in 503 BAB pharmacies out there. But prior to that, the brand, oh my God, it was like six, seven thousand dollars a month was the cost of this stuff. I mean, it was profoundly expensive. And it was brand new on the market. Brand new on the market, right? And it just was like it um it was just hard to get. And then just recently, a few compounding pharmacies have been picking that up and go with that. I guess then we get into then we can kind of talk about what was available and then what got unavailable, all right, before we get to kind of like some other ones. And routinely, prior to the FDA getting involved with peptide therapy three years ago or so was I think about the timeline, two and a half years ago. Peptide therapy represent and at weight loss and vitality, peptide therapy it represented a big market share of our patients. It really did. I mean, AOD, 9064, BPC157, uh CJC1295, these were big peptides for us. And they those peptides are something. But when we were prescribing them, you know, they were coming from a legitimate 503B, 503A pharmacy, patients got good results, and um we used them a lot. And then just recently, so if we we break that down without going through, it doesn't really matter to go through all of the mechanisms of how they work, but when you really think about those three peptides, BPC157, it's really a tailored peptide to really focus on ligaments, tendons, and joints. It's very, very good peptide for that area. Then you have um CJC1295, great peptide for muscle composition. All right. Worked worked really well. And then AOD 9604, um, really, really good peptide for fat removal. So these were dialed in very specific peptides. And um just recently the FDA lifted this. Um I don't know what that means though, because that would mean that the FDA would have to put it back on a list before the compounding pharmacies start picking this up again. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:28

So where did they so I've seen these, I've been with weight loss and vitality now for two years, and I've seen these in patients' charts, and they ask about them, and uh and SMORLAN's really cornered the market for in my experience. Where did these peptides go?

SPEAKER_02 9:39

Aaron Ross Powell They just got removed from this uh the the so the FDA three years ago came out and said that um they were there was a safety concern based off of there was inadequate studies, partially true, uh, that they could not guarantee the immunological function of these peptides. They were concerned about what it would do to the immune system.

SPEAKER_03 9:59

Sure. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 9:59

So they took it off of the list that made it available for compounding pharmacies to make. And that's what opened the door to the other markets for the next problem.

SPEAKER_01 10:09

And that's this is what I want to jump into. I was just about to say that where did they go? The patients that were motivated found them. Okay, and that's where the big problem happened. So uh these peptides should be legitimately sourced through either your retail pharmacies or through compounding pharmacies. These are legitimate pharmacies, right? But now what happened is that research grade peptides not intended for human use are being sold under the guise of, you know, they protect themselves by saying that each vial is intended for research purposes, but they are very heavily marketing themselves for human use. And so this is what you see on social media advertisements, social media influencers, and there are certain ways to get certain peptides from foreign sources. And the problem with this is that if there is no oversight for a from a pharmacy standpoint, because you have to remember pharmacies are controlled entities in the United States, right? There's certain sterility requirements, like certain things have to be compounded under a hood. Um, there's certain concentration requirements, things like labeling requirements. These research grade, you know, they could be in a garage, a warehouse. Like we don't know where they're coming from. They could be from foreign countries. They could just, if you're lucky, it's just saline and there's nothing in there. If you're really unlucky, it has 70% endotoxin or is unsterile, things like that. This is where the market has become a little bit dangerous. And that's where we're trying to caution our, you know, listeners about. It's like it's it might feel like you're getting a little bit of FOMO, everyone's using them. Just be cautious, just be careful. It is our strong preference that you use FDA-approved, pharmacy-sourced, provider-guided peptide therapy.

SPEAKER_03 11:49

And I think what's I think the peptide boom is really, I get a lot of articles that I'm reading, and I got a lot of questions from patients. The peptide potential is just exponential. So people are really excited about it, but we just have to put safety first. I had a really good patient that I've known for a long time request a specific sleep peptide, and I just don't know a lot about them. So I did some research. Reputable pharmacy, you know, everything checked out. I ordered them. They were a supplement. So, like an oral supplement. We could have a no a whole other episode on how the, you know, on how nutritional supplements and medical supplements are also somewhat unregulated. And it's kind of the wild, wild west, but not somewhat unregulated, like basically unregulated.

SPEAKER_01 12:29

Unregulated.

SPEAKER_03 12:30

So the point was it came and it's really this proprietary blend that's big question mark. It's the the bottom line was it it's safe, it's not gonna hurt the patient, but is it gonna do anything for them?

SPEAKER_01 12:40

Might be like a waste of their money.

SPEAKER_03 12:41

Yeah, and I just don't I didn't feel great about it. And I, you know, and I don't really think he got the results he was looking for with a sleep peptide, but the marketing is so strong. Right. I know from my experience with GLPs that the gold standard for peptide administration is subcutaneous injection into the adipose. So already taking a pill, I was kind of strap scratching my head, suboptimal. The other thing I've seen a lot on social media, my Instagram, is a tanning peptide that tans your skin. Right. And I just have so many questions about how that works. And there's just too many.

SPEAKER_01 13:12

I can't, I personally can't keep track of all of them. There's just like too many. I don't think peptides should be, they're gonna head in one of two directions, right? They're gonna either get shuttled into the supplement space where it continues to be heavily unregulated and people can just kind of experiment on themselves. There's a part of me that likes the patient autonomy component of that, but these are tapping into known pathways, right? They can be quite powerful. Yeah. And that's the part of me that says, you know what, they should be more shuttled into the pharmacological space. You know, yes, they're short chain amino acids. They might be very easy to synthesize, which they are. That's the beauty of it. But because of the profound effects, the downstream effects of them tapping into known biological systems and homeostatic mechanisms, I do think they need FDA oversight and pharmacological oversight.

SPEAKER_02 14:00

I missed one peptide when I was going over another FDA-approved one, is PT141, which is specifically tied to libido and sexual sexual health. All right. So that that's that's one that is actually still available. And you'll prescribe that subcutaneous. Yeah, subcutaneous injection. Injection. Awesome. It works. Yeah, that's a good one. That's a good one. You know, when we think about this uh long term, you know, I I mean I I blame the FDA. I'm sorry. I I I mean, it it's just it's just dumb. And you know, these patients that want you know, the patients want this stuff, you know? And so there's a choice, right? You can either you know people are gonna get the get it. And why can't we do it safely or we can do it unsafe. And you're you know, that by the FDA coming out and blocking this and taking it off a list and not allowing patients for access, all you're doing is just opening the door for unfavorable outcomes uh ultimately. And I get it, you know, it's a kind of a double-edged sword because you don't have the long clinical studies on this stuff, and you don't know, you know, they haven't gone through three clinical studies and and you don't know what the 10-year, 20-year effect is of this stuff. But at the same you do know what the effect is when 67% of the available online peptides have endotoxins in them. And that ultimately doesn't end well for the patient. And um, you know, that's a tough call. I mean, ultimately, um and then you have some new ones coming like some other ones that just have never even been available through the compounding pharmacies like TB500, amazing, amazing peptide, um MOTC, changing the dysregulation of the mitochondrial for an energy perspective. I mean, it's just a probably one of the best peptides ever to be made from the for the aging person. Um I'm not endorsing anyone going out there and getting it. All right, full disclosure. But I mean it's well, we would like to see them.

SPEAKER_01 15:54

I'd like to see more research, more trials, more like you know, it would be nice to see this stuff get vetted out and get better dosing protocols and better sources and better ways to synthesize them, better ways to administer them. Like people are interested. They're interested in this.

SPEAKER_03 16:08

And when patients come to me now asking for them, I don't I don't knock them for going down the Reddit rabbit hole online. They're advocating for their health and well-being and and longevity, and I want to be a resource for them when I can prescribe them safely, when they become available. And I think I'm optimistic. I think that the peptide boom is here, and I'm hoping that these peptides will get approved because there is so much potential.

SPEAKER_02 16:31

Yeah, somebody's gonna have to pick it up though and run it through the studies.

SPEAKER_01 16:34

Yeah, that and that's the big question. You know, the current, and I'm curious, like as to, you know, what will change. Like either it's not gonna happen or like the FDA will have to change the way they approve drugs. I think that might be the next step because I just as a this is a little bit of a tangent, but for example, female testosterone therapy, right? We have women on testosterone.

SPEAKER_02 16:54

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:55

Celebrity women on testosterone, social media, postmenopausal women, women are on testosterone. No FDA approved testosterone.

SPEAKER_02 17:03

Why?

SPEAKER_01 17:04

It's absolutely bananas.

SPEAKER_02 17:06

Decades and decades of of women have been on testosterone. Right. Um, I just saw the urologist testify in front of the FDA about this. I sent you the link, right? And she Oh, Rachel Rubin. Yeah, she was advocating for like what is the problem? She goes, I got a thousand patients in clinic on testosterone, and they're all men. Believe it or not, women also have testosterone.

SPEAKER_01 17:24

And it's just this this disjointed concept of But unless a pharmacolog whatever pharma giant picks up the project, like as it stands today with the FDA, unless a pharma giant stands up and says, we're gonna run trials, like the whole exhaustive multi-billion dollar process of running trials on testosterone formally under the guise of FDA approval, then it won't get approved. Like that's the current problem. Yeah. And and I think peptides are in the same situation. So pay patients have just taken the power into their own hands.

SPEAKER_03 17:57

It's an access issue for sure.

SPEAKER_01 17:59

And a safety access, a safety problem now, on top of it. Yeah, both problems.

SPEAKER_02 18:04

Um yeah, anything else to share?

SPEAKER_01 18:07

No, that's all I think. I'm excited to see what's to come. I think peptide therapy is a modality of therapy that should be explored. I'm optimistic, um, but definitely be careful and just be smart about it. I believe it's gonna be a part of precision medicine moving forward.

SPEAKER_02 18:19

And I think in 20 years from now, it is going to we're gonna have a peptide um that's gonna essentially be designated to treat almost any problem that we have in the body. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:29

That's where I think this is. I think that's the most optimistic view, and that that's that's nice. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:33

And if you are interested in somorolin or another peptide therapy or a compounded GLP, make sure you know where you're getting it from and who you're getting it from and what's in it.

SPEAKER_02 18:42

Yep. Great talk. All right. And uh if you enjoy the show, make sure you click the subscribe button so you don't miss the next episode, and we will see you next time.

SPEAKER_00 18:49

Thanks for joining us on Vitality Unfiltered with David Bowder. Addressing norms, busting myths, and uncovering health realities for a more vibrant life today. For more expert insights and real talk, make sure to subscribe and join us next time.