Peptalk: Peptides Unpacked

#44 The Ripped Guy at the Gym Has a Secret — Steve Smith on Peptides and Beating the Odds

• Dr. Kylie Burton & Jessica Briecke

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What does it look like to spend your entire life fighting a body that attacks itself — and win?

Steve was diagnosed with dermatomyositis at 11 years old. It's a rare autoimmune disease where the immune system turns on its own muscle fibers, stealing strength, movement, and for a kid who lived for sports, identity. He couldn't lift a half-gallon of milk. 

At a young age, he was put on a cocktail of medications that caused him to balloon in weight, and then a routine school vaccination triggered a relapse that derailed his entire junior year of high school. By the time he was a teenager, he had already survived a ruptured appendix, a near-fatal surgery, and years of being dismissed, misdiagnosed, and judged for a body that was doing things nobody could help resolve.

Now at 46, he's the guy people accuse of being on steroids.

Steve didn't get there with a magic protocol or a shortcut. He got there by making health-conscious decisions starting at age 11, never touching soda once in 35 years, studying the science of movement rather than chasing ego lifts — and four years ago, discovering peptides.

In this episode, Steve sits down with Jess and Dr. Kylie to talk about what peptides actually did for someone who had every reason to give up on his body, and why he believes they're the great equalizer for anyone who's been told their best days are behind them.

What we cover in this episode:

  • What dermatomyositis actually is — and why it took four doctors and a Yale-trained specialist to finally diagnose it
  • How an MMR vaccine triggered a relapse that changed the course of his teenage years
  • The BPC-157 + TB-500 combo: how he went from a hamstring tear to running on a treadmill in two and a half weeks
  • Why he lifts for science, not ego — and what that philosophy has saved him from
  • His honest take on Retatrutide: why it works for some people and why it's not for him
  • MOTS-C: the peptide he's researching next to compensate for his one non-negotiable bad habit — sleeping only four and a half hours a night
  • Melanotan II: the air fryer story (you'll understand when you hear it)
  • Why he believes peptides are the opposition to an industry that profits from people staying sick

Steve's current stack:

  • BPC-157/TB-500 — maintenance dose, every 72 hours (non-negotiable)
  • GHK-Cu (copper peptide) — adding back in now that sourcing costs have come down
  • Tesamorelin + Sermorelin — for GH support and muscle composition
  • Melanotan II — situational
  • MOTS-C — next on deck

What's next for you? 

Want to connect more with the hosts? We'd love it! Connect with Jess at B2BwithJess.com/peptides or on Instagram @jessb.talkshealth. Grab your Blood Work & Peptides Mini Guide for free at drkylieburton.com. 

Ready to explore peptide therapy for yourself? Visit the company we recommend for pharmaceutical peptides and receive all the one-on-one support that comes included at drkylieburton.com

Want to offer peptide therapy in your business? Whether you're adding it to your existing practice or building something new, learn how to get started—and how we'll mentor you along the way—at drkylieburton.com

Legal Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before starting any new health protocol. Dr. Kylie Burton and Jessica Briecke are affiliates and may receive compensation for referrals. Individual results may vary.

You have the science. You have the tools. Now it's time to take the next step.

This is PepTalk: Peptides Unpacked—science made simple, results made real.

Meet Steve And His Why

SPEAKER_01

Peptides are powerful and often misunderstood. And we're here to change that one conversation at a time. I'm Dr. Kylie Burton. And I'm Jessica Bricky.

SPEAKER_03

This is Pep Talk. Peptides Unpacked. Science made simple. Results made real. We have a special guest with us on today. His name is Steve Smith, and I have been after Steve for months to come join this podcast. Why? Because he is ripped. And I know how many women have husbands who want to be ripped. Well, Steve's gonna have our secret sauce today. So, Steve, walk us back because it's you've had a journey with peptides. Walk us through it.

SPEAKER_00

I have uh the peptide journey. It's it's when I say it's changed my life, that's an understatement, right? We're gonna go back to my early years. And and Kylie, you you know a little bit about my history with what I've experienced since I was 11 years old. And that's a long time ago for what for what it feels like

Living With Dermatomyositis

SPEAKER_00

in my life. But I was actually diagnosed with this uh rare skin and muscle disease at 11 years old. So uh I'm a walking miracle. Um, I I'm the longest living individual that uh that has been with this disease that's relapsed four different times throughout my whole life, right? And so at 11 years old, I was diagnosed, it's called dermatomyositis. So it's essentially a skin and muscle disease that my immune system, so it's autoimmune, right, that that attacks and deteriorates my muscle fibers. So can you imagine at 11 years old being athletic, being like sports was my life, right? And being able to um have that taken away because all of a sudden my insides were attacking my outsides, my my immune system was attacking my muscles and going from, you know, being able to be a multi-sport athlete, playing soccer, doing all the sorts of things that I love, baseball and everything that um I absolutely loved and enjoyed in life, to not even being able to lift up a half a gallon of milk. Um, and so, you know, one of the things that uh really impacted my life as I continue to go through life and uh dealt with this for four years, five years going into junior high, going into high school, um, it uh it went into remission my sophomore year, right? And so I was able to make the soccer team, the high school team, all of the things, and so battled with this throughout my whole life, right?

The Vaccine Trigger And Relapse

SPEAKER_00

Uh, I don't know if I'm allowed to say this or if I should say this or not, but unfortunately, when you're a junior, uh, there's certain requirements that the state and the government puts on you. Uh, and unfortunately at the time, um I was not developed enough, not not um informed enough to be able to make an educated decision. So we tried to call the doctor to say, hey, there's a requirement for the school. I cannot get um enrolled in school without certain types of vaccinations. And unfortunately, my doctor decided to take a vacation at that time, and this was before cell phones or any technology of the sort whatsoever on that. Uh, and so we called the doctor. Doctor was not able to get us information, and I got the MMR shot, which is a live virus that actually triggered and relapsed the disease. So my sophomore year, right, uh turned into one of the most epic times of my life. The junior year turned into tragedy for me. And so it relapsed and it came back into my junior year. So it's a very, it's it's I don't think people really understand what uh when I try to explain the disease, especially when you look, when you look at me and you look at my physique and they're like, dude, there's no way that your body eats its muscles. There's no way that like anything of the sort on that piece of it. And so we'll dive into that a little bit later, but that just kind of gives you the background of it. So like my whole life has been about around health. At 11 years old, I made health conscious decisions. I didn't drink pop, I avoided sugars, I ate healthy. So essentially, essentially from 11 years old, I've always been in love with health and wealthness and fitness. And that's probably what kept me alive today. Um, and so we'll fast forward a little bit to about four years ago, and I got introduced to peptides. The reason why I got introduced to peptides was uh for the last time that my body uh decided to fight back. Um, it relapsed about six years ago. And so I was fighting it as a Was it 2020? Uh it was it was right before the world changed, right? So yeah, right around right around 2019, um, right, is when I started to feel better. Um, feel feel like I could go to the gym, uh, do those types of things. And so I decided to purchase like kettlebells, right? I I didn't want to embarrass myself because I was always healthy and strong and doing all those particular things, right? I always felt strong, but I didn't want to embarrass myself at the gym. So I started doing kettlebells, started working out, started doing this stuff, and I started to feel better. I got introduced to peptides. Um, and that's when everything just started to really align. Um, and the best things that I could really talk about with peptides, I was always nervous about medications, right? Uh, I think there's three different doctors that have my uh name in their books, and on their uh charts it says, uh, will not follow medical advice.

SPEAKER_03

So you will not follow federal advice either because you work for the Hill Air Force Base, like if I remember correctly.

SPEAKER_00

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I don't I don't work for the base, but I do, I will not follow federal guidelines either on that piece of it. I will educate myself, I will do everything I possibly can uh to make sure I make informed decisions for me and my family around health. And it's not that I'm, you know, anti-vaccine or any of those particular things, or I'm not saying that in any capacity. I just know that my body and what it did for me at 18 years old completely changed my life. So I want to take my education, make informed decisions, and be able to do what's best for me and my family. And that's why I search, research, and do all those particular things for when it comes to health and wellness, vaccinations, all of those things. I always encourage you.

SPEAKER_03

You were being required to take the COVID S-O-H-O-T.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. So so they so my job to have them go back into office, they said that I had to be able to get the shot, right? Oh, sorry, we can we can't say that.

SPEAKER_01

Uh we can on this, we can say anything on it.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, perfect. Uh so at that point, I was like, no, I couldn't. And I reached out to you. I was like, hey, what do I need to do to avoid this? I need to get a medical exemption. It petrified me to be able to go through, like, I would much rather have been on my deathbed with you know the the 19 versus anything that I have to do with getting my disease to relapse and whatnot, right? And so you you helped me assist that and make the educated informed decision and be able to help me with that.

SPEAKER_03

So on the paper. So he exempted from it.

unknown

Yeah.

Misdiagnosis And A Miraculous Diagnosis

SPEAKER_01

When you were first diagnosed at 11, first of all, I don't know how old you are, but it sounds like you had a pretty progressive doctor to even find something so rare.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, it's it's a miracle in itself. Like that's a whole different podcast. You'll have to have me come back for part two, but I could go on for for the miracles of of how I'm alive and diagnosed today is like I said, it's a whole different podcast.

SPEAKER_01

If we want to talk about peptides, that's why.

SPEAKER_00

If I share your message, yeah, it it's it's really a miracle all in itself. From the the first doctor that we went to, they diagnosed me as ringworm. I'd have to, I'd have to deal with it. Uh, because with the dermatomyositis, right? There's rashes that happen that goes all over, it builds up on your skin. It looks horrific, right? It's kind of like scaling and it looks pretty bad. And so, like, oh, it's ringworm. Don't worry about it. Just put this cream on. Uh, it's a hay fever gene. Uh, put this lotion on every single commercial during the Super Bowl to be able to make sure that you're lathered up really well. I don't know if you've ever counted how many commercials there are during the Super Bowl, but I could have easily just slipped through any tube in any capacity whatsoever. I was so lotioned up that it was just it was a horrific time. I I I refuse to watch the Super Bowl to this day just because I just I it puts the lotion on and it watches the Super Bowl again. It's just it's horrible for me.

SPEAKER_03

So and and granted, like you're 17 years old.

SPEAKER_00

So at that time I was 11. I was 11 being able to do to do that, right? And and we had no the doctors had no clue. Like there was finally there was a doctor that we went to and is like, look, I have no idea. It was the first doctor out of four that actually admitted that they had no clue. They sent me down to a they they sent me down to a dermatologist uh down in Salt Lake City, and they said, let's try to figure out the rash, let's try to figure out those things and see what it is. The dermatologist was like, Look, I I don't know either, but I actually just attended a lecture of this young, bright uh Yale University graduate. Like he's he understands rare diseases, like he just got a job at the University of Utah. He's like, I would love for you to be able to introduce you, connect you. And that's when I went over to him, and he's has was wonderful in every aspect. He ended up diagnosing me. Uh, the only way you can diagnose the disease is through muscle biopsy. Um, so I had to get it set up for a muscle biopsy. He put me on the medication immediately, which is all sorts of fun on that piece of it.

Steroids Side Effects And The Appendix Scare

SPEAKER_00

Uh, completely annihilated my whole immune system, right? Methaprednisolone, prednisone, placonil, methotrexate, whole plethora. Yeah, they completely annihilate the immune system. And then the crazy thing about that is prednisone, wonderful drug, fantastic, makes you gain weight, water weight, retention, all of those wonderful things, right? I put on so much weight in two weeks that I started to get sick. I felt sick and I stayed home and I fell asleep for like 16 hours. And I woke up and I had this awful pain in my side. Uh told my mom, she's like, just stay home the next day. So I'm like, okay, I get to miss school again. Stay stay stayed asleep for another 18 hours. I woke up, told my mom, I'm like, mom, I can't even stand up. Like, I don't know what's going on. Like, this is horrible. She calls my, she calls my grandma, and bless her heart, God rest her soul. She's like, Well, there's a flu going around that it feels just like pregnancy pains and labor pains. And so I'm like, okay, so another, another day goes by. I can't stand up. We get into this doctor, we call him up, and he's like, get down here right now. Get down here immediately. He comes down. Uh, he he it's like four o'clock in the morning. We meet him at the University of Utah, and he's like, Steve, there's something wrong. I'm like, yeah, clearly. I can't stand up. I can't move, I can't do anything. Like, I'm like, and this is what life is gonna be about. Just like, just like, this is horrible. And he's like, I think your appendix, uh, I think there you're you're there's something wrong with your appendix. So he's like, Okay, we got to get you into surgery. Within an hour, I'm on the surgery table and they're removing my appendix. Well, at that moment, on like in the surgery room, the appendix ruptures, spreads all of this wonderful stuff that the intestine covers throughout my body. The surgeon tells the doctor and says, Look, I don't know how you diagnose this as an appendix. I don't know how you thought of this. But based on his current conditions and the poison that's running throughout his body, his autoimmune disease, and all of the all of the medication he's on. If you would have been delayed by 15, 20, 30 minutes on this diagnosis, this he wouldn't make it. He wouldn't have made it. So I was in the hospital for 10 days. They were pumping, they were pumping the poison out of my body, they had tubes in my noses, there was all sorts of things. So the craziest part about it is in recovery from this piece of it, and this is why I probably I have such a health conscious is the nurse. I was just waking up out of the anesthesia. And the nurse says, You know what? This kid's smile reminds me of a kid that I had a couple weeks ago in here, looks just like him, but this kid's fatter. This is what I'm waking up to, and I hear it. My mom starts crying because of the the amount of medication that I was on, the prednisone, the puffiness in the face, right? All of those things. And she's like, it's the same one. And she's like, No, there's no way this kid was skinnier. This kid was, and I'm like, no, it's me. And so that's when I just made the determination right there that it's like, look, if I've got everything weighed against me, if I've got medication weighed against me that I can't control, I'm gonna take control of what I can control at 11. At 11. So I made a decision never to touch pop again. I have not had carbonated water, I have not had a Pepsi. I don't know what this phase is with dirty Dr. Peppers. Uh, I had to Google how to make a dirty Dr. Pepper. I was gonna say, I'm I've never heard of it.

SPEAKER_03

All these things.

SPEAKER_00

So, like every like there's there's two things in Utah that you can guarantee and know about. There's churches on every corner, and there's some type of soda shop on every single corner. Uh, and it's the craziest thing in the world, but uh, I've never touched it, haven't haven't had it. Um, and I still think to this day that's one of the reasons why I'm healthy, you know, and I'm I'm 40, I'm 46 years old. So do the math on that piece of it, but to never touch pop or do anything from 11 years old, always be worrying about you know what I'm eating, making sure that it's a healthy source of protein, carbs, everything of the source, controlling what you can because when you're on pretosome, like you just get heavy, you just get weighted. Like it's just one of those things that your body retains the water. And so people look at you and be like, oh, look at the fat kid, right? Look at the fat kid, or look at this chunky kid. Oh, like, hey, why don't you just try exercising? And it's like, golly, gee, Willakers, why didn't I think of that? Right? And so, but when you can't lift up a half a gallon of water or half a gallon of milk or do any of

Choosing Health Habits Under Pressure

SPEAKER_00

those things, you can't really exercise, can't move your body that way. And so that so that kind of gives some context.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I feel like when you're quote overweight in any way, shape, or form, the judgment.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah, is judgment and and you dismissed, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and I think I think the thing is is with being overweight, right? You never know what people are going through, you never know what they're battling.

SPEAKER_03

Exactly. You're like you're living proof.

SPEAKER_00

You're 11 years old on a horse apprentizone, yeah, yeah, and and and it built me up throughout my whole life. Like I'm fast, I'm athletic, and it's genuinely amazing to be able to be a part of that and be humbled, right? I think I got this disease for a reason. What that reason is, I don't know yet, but I still think to this day that it's for a reason and for a purpose. And what I love about it is it helped me build grit, determination, drive. I am probably the most stubborn uh individual you'll ever meet where I focus on my goals, I achieve my goals, and I am driven to accomplish those goals in every manner, what's what I possibly can, right?

SPEAKER_01

What a beautiful man. I have a son who is 24 now in the Coast Guard. Um, and he got sick at 11 months old, and it took years to get a diagnosis, and we nearly lost him during that time. And it turns out that it was Lyme disease and multiple cofactors that were involved after a camping trip. But at the time, 20, you know, 20, whatever years ago, people weren't testing the same way. And his trajectory throughout his entire life was very similar. We had a lot, a lot of a lot of very abnormal things. And he's lucky to be here. And he naturally, like you, was not we if we were back then, and yes, this happened, yes, I know I'm in the functional space, but there would be times when we went through the McDonald's drive-thru. And if I went through the McDonald's drive-thru with that one, he was mad. At you know, seven years old or eight years old when it would be a treat for most kids. And that's what mom had time for. I was, you know, whatever, mommying because my husband's job took him away from the house. And he would order the grilled chicken wrap with apple slices and a bottle of water. Always because he knew all that other stuff just made him feel lousy. Fast forward to now, similarly to you, I've always said his journey was to help others. Like there was never a moment of why my son or what, and it even for him, why me. His journey has been to help others, and he has that same grit and determination and absolutely incredible heart like you. And um, you guys are special people walking this planet here to share your story, and you've got work to do, which I'm so glad you're here with us, sharing

Grit And Helping Others At The Gym

SPEAKER_01

all of this. So I'm sorry for the experience on one hand, but on the other hand, it wouldn't, you wouldn't be you, and there wouldn't be as many people as you're able to help without having walked this journey.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and and I love that aspect and I love that perspective because there's seriously, there isn't somebody out there that I can't relate to, especially in the peptide space, especially in the health and wellness space. Like I love going to the gym, I love helping people, I love looking at people that are walking in and maybe be a little bit heavier set. And I smile at them and I nod to them and I look at them and I give them a fist bump, and I just make sure I do everything I possibly can to be able to help them feel that value add. Or if they're doing something wrong or something that I know that could possibly hurt them, I kindly walk up and be like, hey, can I offer some assistance here? Can I offer some advice? Like, not, you know, whether you take it or you don't, right? If you don't want it, I'll I'll kindly walk away. Right. But I just develop those relationships with these individuals over time to be able to help, to be able to share the wealth of knowledge that I have just because I know what it feels like to be judged. I know what it feels like to be hurt. And if you're there at the gym trying your very best, you're better than you know, 85% of the people that slept in that morning, right? And so that's where it's like every kind word that can be shared, every smile that can be offered, like we're all in this together to get better, to get healthier. And if I can impact one person's life through the knowledge that I've studied over the last 36 years of health and wellness, then then in my opinion, it's worth it, right? And that's my goal, that's my help, and that's why I love the actual like the peptide world. You know, that's why four years ago introduced to it right. Yeah. So when my body when my body is functioning properly, I am built like a brick poop house. And I uh it's actually very unique and it's very comical to me because I was supposed to be when they did those growth trajectories and all that stuff through school and all that things, right? I was destined to be six foot two. Well, if you get put on all of those medications, guess what those medication side effects all do when you're 11 years old? They stunt your growth, right? So I didn't grow at all. From it's kind of crazy. When you take the pictures through elementary, you you see me in the very back row where they always put the tall kids. And then as I progressed through school, I just continued to go further and further to the front, right? Whereas other people continue to go to the back, I just stayed the same height. That so I've been this this tall since I was 11 years old. So I'm five foot six.

SPEAKER_03

But I always tell people I'm gonna show you my height.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I've got six foot two muscles in a five foot six body. And so it really makes it beneficial when you're doing legs or you're doing, you know, if you look at my calves, um, they're basically the size of most people's thighs, right? And so when you've got a six foot two muscle composition packed into a five foot six body, when the body's healthy and well, it it looks really, really good uh as long as I'm uh staying, you know, below 15% body fat and doing the things that I need to to be able to uh not have it bulking season.

SPEAKER_03

So you know, it's funny you say that because Andrew has a friend who will come over and lift with him on occasion, and Cameron is like 6'6, and then there's Andrew who's like 5'10, and Cameron makes fun of his scrawny arms because he barely has to move the bar or has to, you know, it's it's funny how you say that, but yeah, it's it's the difference for height. Um okay, so going back, we've got this journey of weightlifting and then the peptides of. Course, fall into that journey as well.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So weightlifting.

Training Philosophy Over Ego Lifting

SPEAKER_00

So I always study the science of weightlifting, right? There's a lot of people that go to the gym, they lift heavy, they put things up. What's the good old adage? You put things up and you put things down, right? You you you lift heavy, and I look at it as that's silly to me, right? I want to lift, lift. This goes back to the proper form. This goes back to my mindset because as I was developing this grit as a child, I had to be fundamentally sound. So I would practice the fundamentals. So when the body caught up to and was healthy, my fundamentals were already surpassed everyone else because I was dedicated to the process. And that's the same thing that I do with weightlifting, right? I study the science behind it. I make sure that I'm doing natural movements, I'm not doing unhinged movements or anything of the sort. And so that's where the bodybuilding composition comes into me. I don't lift heavy on certain aspects. I don't lift heavy on it's not an ego lift to me. I lift properly and I lift fundamentally sound to be able to protect myself and give my body the best chance of recovery, the best chance of building. And I'm able to be able to stay healthier, right? To be able to prevent injury, because I don't let my ego drive the results. I let the science push me and help me to be able to be stronger, more physically fit, and do it the right way.

SPEAKER_03

I love that. Okay. So you're physically fit, you're ripped, you're you know, lifting heavy, heavy, heavy. Where do peptides fit in?

SPEAKER_00

So the best thing about my skin and muscle disease, right, is I know when I'm hurting and I know when things aren't right, and I can feel the difference be the between this piece of it. Where peptides come into

Why BPC 157 Changed Everything

SPEAKER_00

it. If you think about when you're working out, or you think about when you're hurting, or you're you're just did a marathon or something that's just taxing on your body, your body releases the lactic acid, right? And the best way to be able to describe my disease is when your body is full of lactic acid and it's hurting, and every single muscle, movement, twitch, hiccup, burp, anything of the sort just hurts and it's painful. That's the best way to explain my disease. Lactic acid, just very painful. Where peptides come in for me is specifically BPC 157. I can't speak highly enough about BPC 157. Like it is life-changing for my gut health, for my overall health, for my recovery. Like, I'm the old guy at the gym now. There once used to be a time that I was the young guy at the gym. I'm now the old guy at the gym, right? And I'm setting the pace and setting the example. And I had a young guy tell me, he's like, I don't know how you're in here for three hours. I don't know how you're able to do these things for three hours. And when you're lifting right and you're doing things right, and you're making sure that your body has has everything that it optimally needs, it'll tell you and it'll help you be able to do those things. So BPC 157, after a hard workout, uh, I take it at night and it helps my body recover, helps me grow, and helps me be able to get up for the next day. So where I discovered peptides, right, was was I don't want to put anything foreign in my body that's not meant to be there. So I started doing research about, you know, uh branch chain of amino acids, supplementation, all of those things. And that's when I got introduced to peptides because the it's just a short chain of amino acids that tells the body to do something specific. BPC one.

SPEAKER_01

It knows what to do with it, right? Because we make them naturally, so it already knows what to do. We just may not have enough for whatever.

SPEAKER_00

And so and and the best compliment that I get is I get accused of being on steroids all the time. That's the best compliment. That's when I know the peptides are working, right? I love it. I think it's the best compliment in the world. And it's like, well, nope, uh, I'm on peptides. I I don't hide it. I don't, because in my opinion, using the science and using what your body naturally produces, but yet helping it guide is like using the premium gas to drive the Ferrari. You're not gonna put ethanol 85 in there, you're gonna put the premium stuff in, right? And that's what peptides are to me. And so that's the first ones that I ever tried BPC 157. And I went from hurting to like, oh my gosh, my body is healed. Like I felt like a soccer player when they heard the whistle in in the World Cup, all of a sudden they just hear the whistle and they're miraculously just healed, right? And that's exactly what I felt like. I felt like I'm like, oh my gosh. So then I started to feel comfortable not only just doing the kettlebells, but I'm like, I can go back to the gym. And that's when I went back to the gym and was like, okay, and I've been back to the gym for three years now, and have just been in heaven with the peptides and understanding that, you know, feeding your body the right fuel, you know, whether it comes to food, you know, hydration, and now peptides, it's it's just it's been life-changing for me.

SPEAKER_01

They're a favorite. BPC is is on my favorites list for sure. Um, and you're losing you're you're healing your gut, which is so important for autoimmune in general. Um, so if the gut junctures are tightened up and you don't have that ability for things to be permeating through what it's not supposed to, and then it doesn't have it doesn't want to go, it doesn't have things it's chasing after to attack um anymore. So that BPC for leaky gut is massive for autoimmune. Um, so have you added other things then onto your stack then since? And by the way, you are the perfect example of why peptides are so popular. So, yes, there's

Safe Sourcing And Early Costs

SPEAKER_01

a lot of us that are talking about it in the last couple of years, they've become very popular. However, where it really started getting loud and proud is the broscience, I for lack of a better term. That's who was the ones that pushed this forward into the space that it's in for the most part, because you guys were out there doing the research. How can I do better in the gym, get better results, feel better? And that's who was pushing that forward. Not all of it is necessarily done uh safely. Um, and thankfully we have better means to go after that now. But it is you and your community that have put us in a position where we're able to understand this is the future of wellness.

SPEAKER_00

And and I couldn't have said it any better. Though I'll take a step back and take a look at what when you're talking about the bro science, this is the conversations that happened back when Arnold was lifting and turning around and saying, Hey, Jay Cutler, you want to get bigger? Eat 76 eggs a day. Right? That's the science back then where it was like, oh, let's do raw eggs, and Cutler starts eating his eggs and there's protein like that's that science. Now we can fast forward where if you can't get eggs like I can naturally, right? Like I'll go out and I've got for the record, just so if the government's listening, I have seven chickens. That is it. Um but I get fresh eggs every single day, right? So that's the science because I don't think there's anything better, in my opinion, than fresh eggs, right? It's it's just everything that you need to to be able to support life. But that's that bro science that you're talking about. That's the science where back in the day it was like, hey, eat 75, you know, pounds of hamburger. And it's like, okay, all right. So all these things. Now it's more intelligent, right? You talk about BPC 157. First of all, nobody has time to eat 76 eggs a day. Nobody has time to be able, unless you're getting sponsored or doing any of those things. But if you want your gut health, you want to feel better about yourself, inject the BPC 157 from a trusted source. Make sure you're getting it from, in my opinion, the right places. There's all sorts of different places to get it out there. I want to make sure that I'm getting it from a place that I trust and know. And I know what I'm getting. I'm getting the right dosage, I'm getting the right dilution, I'm getting the right information, and that's where I know I'm protected. Um, I don't want to just inject baking soda because I got it for cheaper. It's $27 for a vial and I'm getting baking soda. I don't know what I'm getting, right? And so that's where the trusted source comes into me. And I love that I love that idea of making sure that you share. And I have been an advocate for four years, right? Um, uh, Kylie, I one of the conversations that we had when you helped me a long time ago, right? Was I was like one of the first things that I'm like, hey, have you heard about these peptides? And it was so new that it was kind of like I was I genuinely felt like I was one of the first people talking about it because I think I needed it the most. And so that's where I dove into it. And every single person since then, I'm like, hey, have you heard about this? Have you heard about this? Have you heard about this?

SPEAKER_03

And it's it's literally life-changing. Pinpoint how much money you were spending on them back then.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, you know, I I I uh due to the government regulations and restrictions, I I uh will not uh admit how much I was spending on them, but it was it was astronomical. It was I could have bought a very, very, very nice car um in the two years uh that I've spent on um peptides. And and I think the thing that I'll say about this I don't know if I'd be here today um in my life without the peptides. And so the money to me was worth it. I'm gracious, I'm I've been blessed enough to be able to financially figure out a way to be able to have that. Um, but it it was a challenge, it was a risk, it was a sacrifice, right? My family didn't go on trips, we didn't do any of these things because I needed to get healthier for it. And I'm grateful that there's sources now out there that make it more affordable. But I mean, we're talking five, six, seven thousand dollars at a at a run when it came to some of these peptides, and it was unbelievable the cost, but I couldn't put a cost on my health back then. Priceless. Yeah, and so it's worth every penny. But if I looked back and saw how much, um I would probably be sick to my stomach, but then I would take an injection of BPC 157, and that would probably go away very quickly.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So what other peptides do you do now?

Steve’s Non Negotiable Peptide Stack

SPEAKER_00

Oh, so I'm very cautious about the peptides that I use on a regular basis. So I'll kind of run through the ones that I've used and ones that I have non-negotiables towards. The BPC 157 is a non-negotiable for me. Yeah, right. I'm on a maintenance, um, I'm on a maintenance uh cycle of that now. So I probably take the BPC 157 probably every 72 hours um on that. So that's a pretty good uh regimen for me. Uh TP500. If I have an injury, um last year I like to play softball, competitive softball, and in the championship game, I pulled my hamstring. Um, and so that kind of wrecked uh my softball. But thank goodness it was the last game of of the of the season. But I ordered a TP500 and I took it for two weeks and I turned the hamstring uh injury into I was running uh at two and a half weeks. And those two combinations, I love those two combinations because I look at BPC 157 as like the construction workers, and I look at TP500 as like the supervisors.

SPEAKER_01

So it the it's the director, like it's telling it where to go. So you put that on board and it's gonna take that BPC right to where it needs to go, exactly.

SPEAKER_00

And so that's where it's like BPC 157 injected in the body's kind of like, yay, go heal everything, and then the TP500's like, yay, go heal everything, but let's focus here and get this injury done, recovered, and then you can go do the other things on that piece of it. And like I said, I ran a cycle of TP500 and I was back to running on the treadmill at two and a half weeks.

SPEAKER_01

Um, the copper peptide example of Wolverine and why that combination was nicknamed that because it is fast and it is powerful and it's incredible.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, uh, I've done the copper peptide. The copper peptide is awesome, it's phenomenal.

SPEAKER_01

And if those of you that can't see, is it a non-negotiable?

SPEAKER_00

The copper peptide is not for me. So that one's kind of that's one of those ones which Kylie, we'll talk more about the copper peptide as far as like now that I can get it for a more reasonable cost, I probably will introduce that into my non-negotiable. But where I was getting it before, it was like one of those things that it's like, uh, do I really looks good? Do I need this to survive? No. Do I want it to thrive and look younger and healthier and have all the wonderful blessings of it? Then yeah, it's sure. But it's like, does that help the beard grow?

SPEAKER_01

I was just gonna say, those of you that can't see Steve, he is sitting here in front of us with the most gorgeous long silver flecked beard. And it is, I don't even know, what is it, 12 inches long, 15 inches? It's long, it's about as long as let me measure up against the biceps and see how I wish everybody could see this because it's tremendously long. So that'll help, but beyond that, that's gonna help down help lay down layers of collagen, which helps with recover and all of the things that you have going on. So for you, that's really nice.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, now that I have a a source that I can get it at a reasonable price, absolutely. I will mix that in, I will throw that in there, and I will absolutely run that into my non-negotiable stack to be able to help, right? Because collagen is so helpful. It's so it there's so many benefits to it, but it's like one of those things where it's like the cost to me, I was worth the sacrifice. Now that I can get it, yeah, let's rock and roll and let's add that to the non-negotiable list. Uh, ones that I've done as well too is testerelin, semerelin, right? For the muscle growth, um, those pieces of it. The one thing that I've actually uh want to try and I've been researching heavily is Mats C.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. I just I I think I just put that into my belly about what time did we start this?

MOTS C And Steve’s Sleep Reality

SPEAKER_01

Uh yeah, 40 minutes ago. I just got a little shot of Matsy in myself.

SPEAKER_00

I want MOTC to help me get to the next level because I'm very unique when it comes to my health. The only thing that I don't do correctly is sleep. I hate sleeping. I think it's the biggest waste of time. And if I didn't have to if I didn't have to sleep, I would never sleep again because I feel like it takes away from all of the things that I want to learn and study and grow. And so from 4 12 in the morning, I wake up. I don't even need my alarm. I go till about 11:30 at night. And the only reason why I go down at 11:30 at night is because I still need about three hours of REM sleep. And I'm I am blessed to be able to hit those three hours, even though I'm only asleep for about four and a half, five hours. It's the most incredible phenomenon. I'm gifted, I should be tested. There's there's no amount of of REM sleep that I should get. There's no way I should even hit that much REM sleep, but I do and I recover and I get up at four o'clock every single morning without an alarm. It's the most incredible thing, and I'm blessed for that piece of it. But I want bot C to be able to help me understand like the mitochondrial signaling, right? The the metabolic adaptation that I need to just help me get that premium fuel source while I'm working out. Because that's what you get when you're sleeping, right? Your body's rebuilding, you're doing everything, all of those things. So it's a way for me to be able to get the MOT C and not affect my sleep. And don't listen to me for the sleep patterns.

SPEAKER_01

But like I was just gonna say, this is Steve Smith's advice of Steve Smith, and not something we would recommend.

SPEAKER_00

100%. I promise you, as rare as my disease is. And I'm telling you, and I'm telling you, as rare as my disease is, uh, being able to function on four and a half hours of sleep is probably even rarer on that piece. I that's the worst thing that I possibly do. But that's Mott C is my next one that I want to be able to get. Um, that's the one that I I feel that it will benefit me uh exponentially because of what I need to to be able to make up for my shortcomings because I refuse to sleep, right?

SPEAKER_03

Um so funny how you're like so driven, so motivated. You're like, that is a waste of time. Oh, I don't think I've ever heard anybody describe it that way.

SPEAKER_00

And and and I like I said, I I I I would be 100% healthy as can be if I got eight hours of sleep. Like I know it. Like I just I just can't do it out of all of the things in my life. You don't need to, and I don't because I get enough rim sleep. It's the craziest thing. I should have a sleep study done on me because I get enough rim sleep that you got your eight hours of sleep, nine hours of sleep, Jessica. Like, you probably get less rim sleep than I do. It's the craziest thing.

SPEAKER_01

You're probably right, and my husband would absolutely love hearing this because he's always like it's a flex for him to say, I do just fine with like five or six hours of sleep, and the princess over here needs like nine hours of sleep.

unknown

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

He's like he's kind of like you, Steve. He's like NYPD officer security guard now.

SPEAKER_00

He's yeah, like I said, highly recommend getting eight hours of sleep. Do not listen to me on that. Everything else, listen to me on. I will absolutely speak to it. But sleep, I'm horrible. In fact, when I coach people or help people or talk to people, I'm like, make sure you're getting your sleep because I know how uh I'm just rare when it comes to that. It's it's the craziest thing ever. So uh the Mot C is the one that I that I want to run next. Um of the things that are out there, which is interesting.

GLP Peptides And Why Retatrutide Varies

SPEAKER_00

I I've heard a lot of people being very successful on like Reditrue Tide. Right.

SPEAKER_01

Not me though, you won't hear that from me.

SPEAKER_00

And so, and I had a friend that tried Reditru Tide and it was horrible for them. It was like it was absolutely horrible. And so I started reaching like researching and talking to them about their diet, their diets aligned, their diets, like I think Reditru Tide helps certain people that aren't as disciplined or aren't as dialed in, and that's probably beneficial. I don't think it would be beneficial to me because I don't get the cravings. And if I get cravings, right, like the things that I eat are like these things right here that are cashews that are just quick, those types of healthy treats to be able to make sure that like Brazil nuts, like I'm surrounded by quick, easy things for me to be able to just snack on and stay healthy with, whereas other people will eat donuts and and and pizza and all that. So I don't think it's beneficial for me, right?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, we're looking at the GLP category and we have just a straight um GLP one, and then we have the trusepatide, which is GLP GIP, and then we have the RETTA, which is the GLP GIP plus glucagon. Um, I would say that most people should fall into those last two categories, including the Retta. But when it comes to the Retta True Tide, I'm one of them. It tapped into the liver storage so much that I was actually revved up on it. It was too much of a pull. Um, my and and I I didn't sleep well, I I didn't feel well on it at all. On paper, it's a beautiful stack, uh it's a beautiful combination of things, but it isn't for everybody. Um, and so I hope that when people are out there and they're listening to this when it comes to GLPs, because I just did a reel on Instagram. Who do I think that GLPs are for? Pretty much everybody, depending on the dose. I really don't think there's almost any American that wouldn't do well. We're not in a healthy way, but Retta is not for everybody, so don't fall into the what everybody this the social pressure of Retta True Tide. Yes, it has a really lot of great benefits, but not for everyone.

SPEAKER_00

Well, and and and the thing, Jessica, I love that,

Peptides Are Tools Not Magic

SPEAKER_00

right? Peptides are not they're they're peptides are instructions, they're not magic, right? They're not it's not gonna replace grit. There's not a peptide for determination, there's not a peptide for you know uh discipline, discipline, right? There's not those things. Your your body speaks the peptide language because it already has the stuff as you get older. You once you hit my age, right? That stuff starts to slowly dwindle, right? And so that's what the peptides are doing is it giving me the functionality that I missed out on when I was when I was sick, you know, as as younger, right? And so like the longevity, right, it just gives me that capability to be able to put fuel into my body that my body already speaks. It doesn't have to, it doesn't have to decipher what to do with it, it just goes where it needs to go, it helps where it needs to help, and it helps me understand what my body needs. And so if something works for some people, it may or may not work for you, it may or may not work for everyone. Everyone, right? But what it does is your body will take that and it'll help you. And if you feel better with it, then you know it's for you. If you don't, then that's okay because there's other options that you can use. Like MOTC to me will probably give me the same exact benefit that you got from Redatru Tide or something along those lines. That's where it's so amazing to have the assortment of peptides to help you dial it in to be able to give your body the optimal success that's needed to be healthy, to be fit, and to be happy. Love that. And that's that's what peptides do for me. Like it is the most amazing thing, and people think, oh, you're on steroids, or you're cheating, or you're doing this. Cool. Do you feel that way when you take magnesium to sleep? Do you feel that way when you take zinc to overcome your cold a little bit quicker? Do you feel that way when you take vitamin D? And when you put it that way, people are like, no, that that's no, I feel fine taking vitamin D. Oh, cool. This really gives me the same capabilities, right? Ranch chain of amino acids, amino acids to be able to help be able to do those things. Your body needs amino acids. And unfortunately, the food that we live or eat nowadays, like you can't even like you could probably inject the amino acids into the food, and for some reason the the food

The Ricky Bell Story And Proof

SPEAKER_00

would probably spit it out and say, no, it's not not letting in there, right? And so that's what I love about it is is there's research available for every single peptide, right? I think one of the things that really intrigued me, I think it was uh tessamerelin, right? Tessamerelin was developed back in, I want to say it was in the 80s or 90s for AIDS patients, right? Where that's where that first study came out to be able to help and say, okay, this is something that can help and be able to influence and help these individuals that are struggling with this horrific disease, right? And so they've been around, the research has been around. There's all sorts of research out there. Make educated decisions for yourself. There's plenty of people, experts like your guys itself, that you can reach out, listen to these podcasts, understand the science behind it. But if you want living proof of what peptides do for you, go watch the movie The Ricky Bell Story. It's on Netflix. Uh, that movie saved my life. Ricky Bell uh played back uh for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He went to uh Auburn with uh Marcus Allen back in the day. That was a Sunday documentary. That Sunday documentary, we were watching that as a family. We're gonna get teary-eyed for this. I've seen my dad cry four times in his life. Four times. One of those times was in that documentary because he knew who this person was. And he knew that at the end of this documentary, he passed away. They kicked me out of the room, and I heard my dad say to my mom, this is what Steve has. That's when we knew that we had to get into a doctor immediately to be able to get and find out what it was, because the result was the same thing of him. Now it was made in 1989. Um, so it came out uh uh after, or sorry, it came out two years before I was diagnosed. But because that documentary, so it's a corny, it's a really bad show on Netflix. Uh, but it but if you want to see what what I'm talking about, what my disease is like and what I've been able to overcome by being able to dial in, make healthy decisions and choices, and now with peptides introduced to my lifestyle, changed my life. That gives you enough proof, that gives you enough research and understanding to be able to see how far I've swung on the pendulum, watching that show, seeing that show, and then being able to bench my max at 460 pounds. That tells you how amazing it can be when your body gets the right fuel to take care of itself.

SPEAKER_03

We should just drop the mic and call it good. That's not that's a wrap right there. That's a wrap.

SPEAKER_01

That's a wrap.

SPEAKER_03

All right, Steve. Just recap here with your peptides BPC157 TB500 for us. That comes in the combination. It's a stack together.

Copper Peptide Notes And Melanotan Talk

SPEAKER_03

Ghk C U. Quick question. Do you remember taking that and having it burn?

SPEAKER_00

Uh, I was lucky enough with it. So it is it is a little spicy, but you can do a little bit, uh, let it sit out to room temperature a little bit. Is I felt like that was the benefit. I hold so one of the things with my disease, last thing I'll I have a very, very high pain tolerance. And so, and so it's like I can't tell you how many times that I probably should have gone to a doctor or something along those lines where there's injuries, and I'm like, eh, I'll feel better in the morning. Uh, so I'm lucky enough that I don't really want to.

SPEAKER_03

I'll I'll walk away in two months. Exactly. Yeah, two weeks, uh but I have two days.

SPEAKER_00

But I have but I have heard the copper one burns a little bit, and I've done some research on like how to help people with that. And and so there's are some tricks, go a little bit slower, but yeah, that one tickles a little bit. It kind of just helps you understand uh that it is a science and it helps you appreciate uh what you're injecting into your body is how I look at it.

SPEAKER_03

I love it, and then tesamorin, semerolin for GH production.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Oh, one of the things, sorry, uh, I think this one's kind of my favorite one, but I get I have really good skin. So the copper peptide, once again, like I've got I'm I've been very blessed. I tan very easily. Oh and I mean what we're gonna talk about. I'm gonna mess up. I'm gonna mess up this, yeah. Melana 10. Thank you for saying it for me. Um so I cheat a little bit on that one. If I'm gonna be out working in the sun all day long, like I'll like inject a little bit of that into me as well, and I'll like turn it's unbelievable how dark I get. It's almost like it's if that one does feel like cheating because I feel like I've just been uh put into an air fryer and I come out as a toasty brown when it comes to tanning. Um, that one I have used. Uh I love that one. And if anybody wants to be able to understand uh or avoid the tanning beds or any of those horrific things, those uh what you can put like self-tanner on now. Like I can only imagine the chemicals that go into to that stuff. Like uh that one's a very fun one for me, and it's got really cool side effects as well, too, um, which no one uh should uh I better.

SPEAKER_01

We just did it, we just recorded an episode, and we I just let led our team through the training because we just released that one. So I will say it for you if if you don't want to, I will say so. Those that are listening that haven't listened to our Milanatan episode where we talk about that, it was developed to help people with pigmentation in their skin and UV protection. It is activated. You have to be in the sun to really get it to activate. But the side effects of it are not only the skin protection, the pigment increase that helps you protect yourself against the sun, it also will help you with low libido, increase your desire and arousal. And so men that may be suffering with erectile dysfunction in any way, they will have a little benefit there. And there is the side effect for this one. There are some, listen to the episode because we have some other side effects, but the side effect can be a spontaneous erection that happens with this one. So they can be kind of a fun thing to talk about, but it is a pretty amazing peptide. Um, not as many human studies on that one, so I want people to be really informed. But you're right, that one might feel a little bit like I'm golden, but it isn't from the sun.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, it's from the sun, it's just it is, but it is the sun was toasted.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it's like an air, it's like using an air fryer. That's how I look at it.

SPEAKER_03

It's like it's instead of domestical for the week, only it takes two hours in his front yard.

SPEAKER_00

Instead of sitting in the oven, I just put it in the air fryer and they just come in, it's it's fantastic and great.

SPEAKER_03

So yeah, and last but not least, we got MOT C, which Jess and I are big fans of, especially for the mitochondrial. You could throw in some NAD plus with that one. Yeah, we need to talk.

SPEAKER_00

I I I need to talk with you on that one because if you've got the MOT C, I need to try and I need to yeah, I need to add a lot of things.

SPEAKER_03

We have a nasal spray of the NAD plus. So if you get tired of injections, there are other options.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I mean, I could go on for hours, and I know that we're limited on time and whatnot. Uh, and the last thing that I'll say when it comes to peptides is is I think there's a reason why they're coming out

Big Picture Takeaways And Where To Follow

SPEAKER_00

now. And I think there's a reason why um certain industries or big big industries are very nervous for them. Because they want people to be, in my opinion, Steve's opinion, they want people to be sick, they want people to be like I could have been at 11 years old and been on lifetime medications. There was a medication that I was diagnosed with that it was a hundred dollars a pill. And my mom broke down a pill, a hundred dollars a pill. And I refused to take it because I was not gonna bankrupt my parents. And they want you to be reliant on those things because you look at the food, you look at those things, you look at everything that's out there, the water, all of the things that set us up for failure. And in my opinion, I believe that there's um opposition in all things. And the opposition for all of those horrific things, in my opinion, are peptides to be able to help balance and swing the pendulum to be able to help others, help people become healthy, strong, and fit, and not be lifelong uh piggy banks for certain individuals throughout the world. And I think that you can't put a dollar amount on your health. And I absolutely love that we live work in a world and we have availability, you guys have the availability to provide it at an affordable rate compared to what it used to be four years ago, compared to what it is three years ago, and to be able to have this where you can provide for your family without taking it away and still getting the health benefits you need, every single person should be able to try it, and it'll be life-changing for anybody that gives it a chance. And I think the one of the things that we understand, and if we take away anything from the conversation with me, right? Peptides are tools. They're they're it's it's fundamental to help, but it doesn't replace, and I know this is gonna be funny for me saying this, it doesn't replace sleep, it doesn't replace training, it doesn't replace nutrition, it doesn't replace stress management, and it doesn't re replace recovery. Or sorry, it does replace recovery. What peptides will do is it helps you dial all of those in so you can handle your day-to-day life, you can be able to sleep, you can be able to train, and you can get the nutrition that you need to that helps you with the stress management. That's the best thing about what peptides can do is there's a peptide for I almost say there's a peptide for everything, right? But there's a peptide for everybody. And that's what I love is no matter what you're dealing with, no matter what you're up against, I can promise you there's a peptide that's gonna help you, and it's gonna help you get through the next day and the next day and the next day. And then you string 21 days in a row. Now you've got a habit. And now you've got a habit built on success, you've got a habit that changes your life, and now we're no longer products for those big businesses, we're products for our family, for our loved ones, and for our communities.

SPEAKER_03

We like to say peptides help us live better longer.

SPEAKER_00

And couldn't have said it any better.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. So okay, Steve, we are so very appreciative that you took an hour of your time and you got, let's see, it's five o'clock now, so you got six more hours till bedtime. Six and a half more hours till bedtime.

SPEAKER_01

Jeff's where can they find you? Oh goodness. Well, if you are looking for more education around wellness and peptides, and sometimes you just want to come for a laugh, come find me on Instagram. I am JessB.talkshealth. And if you want, don't want you're not on your socials, you're not on Instagram, you can catch me on my website. That is b2bwithjess.com.

SPEAKER_03

And Steve, I know before we hit record, you said you were mentioning like maybe I should start on Instagram and talk about my beards and my peptides. So if you end up pulling the trigger, let me know and I'll put it in the show notes. And people can go join you and maximize their beards and their peptides.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it was an absolute pleasure. And I hope uh I'm able to impact one person out there, right? Because then I'll know that I'm doing what I need to. And I'm hoping that that one person is you. I'm hoping that one person listens to my story. And thank you for giving me this opportunity to be able to share. Because, like I said, I truly believe in health and wellness, and I want everybody to be able to live their best life. And the only way that we can do that is share through our tests and our trials that we've gone through and help others. And so I'm hoping that people hear my voice, hear my story, and can understand that it's like if it's this works for this guy that's got all of these health issues, then it can work for me. And so I appreciate this opportunity. Thank you so much. Sorry, uh, it took forever to be able to get me on here, but uh, I appreciate the time.

SPEAKER_03

It was worth the wait. I knew it would be. All right, you can find me at my website where you can get started at drkylieburton.com. This is Pep Talk, Peptides Impact. See you next time.