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Are you getting the GLP-1 you were expecting? The promise of weight loss can make starting a GLP-1 sound straightforward. Michael Blyumin wants patients to understand what they’re taking, what they can realistically expect, and what happens when they stop. A clinical pharmacist at Stanford Health Care, Michael works with patients managing diabetes and other long-term conditions. He has also co-authored research on medication costs and access. He joins Richard Skaife to discuss the business behind compounded GLP-1s, his concerns about untested formulations, and why successful treatment involves more than the number on the scales. He explains: ■ Compounded GLP-1s versus FDA-approved medicines■ The costs and incentives behind the market■ Muscle loss, protein and resistance training■ Weight regain after stopping treatment■ What newer dual and triple agonists could offer Chapters (00:00) - Intro (01:42) - Compounded vs. approved GLP-1s (03:35) - Cost, access and profit (07:08) - Marketing and untested formulations (09:18) - What the media gets wrong (13:16) - What happens when you stop? (14:09) - Protecting muscle on GLP-1s (16:41) - Dual and triple agonists (20:42) - The future of GLP-1s (22:46) - Changing lives with diabetes Watch the full episode on YouTube Further reading FDA: Information on compounded GLP-1 products, dosing errors and unapproved formulations: FDA’s Concerns with Unapproved GLP-1 Drugs Used for Weight Loss PubMed Central: Conference abstract examining changes in fat and lean mass in a 140-person STEP 1 substudy. Lean mass includes more than skeletal muscle: Impact of Semaglutide on Body Composition in Adults With Overweight or Obesity: Exploratory Analysis of the STEP 1 Study PubMed: The STEP 1 extension, following participants for a year after semaglutide and the trial’s lifestyle intervention ended: Weight regain and cardiometabolic effects after withdrawal of semaglutide: The STEP 1 trial extension PubMed: Research co-authored by Michael Blyumin examining changes to Medicare prescription coverage and the cost of GLP-1 medicines: Assessing the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act on Medicare prescription drug coverage Read the full transcript Follow Michael Blyumin LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mgblyumin/ Follow Richard Skaife LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/richardskaife/ Peptide Show Website: Peptide.ShowInstagram: @Peptide.ShowTikTok: @peptide.showFacebook: Peptide ShowX: @peptideshowYouTube: @PeptideShow Peptide Show explores the science, medicine, business, and people shaping the rapidly evolving world of peptides. Presented by Longr: longr.io Follow Peptide Show for new episodes every Tuesday. This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Some compounds discussed in this episode are investigational, unapproved for the uses discussed, or subject to changing regulatory requirements.

What did the Soviets discover about peptides?  Soviet researchers were studying peptide bioregulators decades before today’s longevity boom. Their work helped reshape Phil Micans’ thinking about food, gene activity and aging.  A co-founder of International Antiaging Systems and editor of Aging Matters magazine, Phil was drawn into bioregulators by a 2010 lecture in Istanbul. The speaker was Professor Vladimir Khavinson, with whom he would later coauthor a book.  He joins Richard Skaife to discuss what he observed in Russian clinics, the research involving gas workers in Siberia, and Khavinson’s hypothesis that these compounds could activate a “biological reserve.”  He explains:  ■ How bioregulators differ from other peptides■ Natural versus synthetic forms■ The three bioregulators he prioritizes■ The Gazprom studies and “biological reserve”■ Conquering aging versus conquering death Chapters  (00:00) - Intro (02:17) - What are bioregulators? (04:37) - Food, genes and Soviet science (11:47) - Natural vs. synthetic (13:35) - Sourcing and quality (16:14) - What does Putin know? (18:55) - Can peptides extend lifespan? (23:31) - Conquering aging Watch the full episode on YouTube Further reading PubMed: Review co-authored by Professor Vladimir Khavinson examining short peptides and gene regulation: Peptide Regulation of Gene Expression: A Systematic Review PubMed: A 2003 study of thymus and pineal peptide preparations in 266 older adults followed for six to eight years, separate from the Gazprom research: Peptides of pineal gland and thymus prolong human life Vrach: Related 2016 research on personalized prevention and peptide bioregulation among Gazprom workers. English abstract; full article in Russian: Personified Prevention of Diseases Under the Conditions of the Far North PubMed: Phil Micans’ paper on aging populations, healthcare costs and preventive medicine: The Need for Anti-aging Medicine Read the full transcript Follow Phil Micans Website: International Antiaging SystemsPublication: Aging Matters magazineBook: Peptides in the Epigenetic Control of Ageing Follow Richard Skaife LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/richardskaife/ Peptide Show Website: Peptide.ShowInstagram: @Peptide.ShowTikTok: @peptide.showFacebook: Peptide ShowX: @peptideshowYouTube: @PeptideShow Peptide Show explores the science, medicine, business, and people shaping the rapidly evolving world of peptides. Presented by Longr: longr.io Follow Peptide Show for new episodes every Tuesday. This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Some compounds discussed in this episode are investigational, unapproved for the uses discussed, or subject to changing regulatory requirements.

Before you optimize your health, are you actually healthy?  Dean Henry has spent more than a decade working with peptides. He has also had enough of everyone calling themselves a biohacker.   As founder of UAE Peptides and Dn Research, and co-founder of Bioniq Lab, he works with individuals and practitioners navigating peptide protocols across Europe and the Middle East.  His interest in health began long before peptides. A knee injury ended his football ambitions before his 16th birthday. Around the same time, he developed difficulty swallowing, with no clear explanation. Years later, he came to understand it as a stress response.  That experience still shapes his approach: understand the person before choosing the protocol.  Today, he sees people comparing stacks before understanding their own health, and questions how much experience some practitioners have with the compounds they recommend.  Dean believes peptides could change medicine. But he wants people to get the basics right first, and a field full of personal success stories to invest in the human trials that can put those stories to the test.  He explains: ■ The three mistakes he sees most often when people start using peptides■ Why he puts gut health and bloodwork before copying someone else’s stack■ How he distinguishes peptide bioregulators from other peptides■ Why a medical qualification does not automatically mean peptide expertise■ Why he believes the gray market will survive, even as regulated access expands Chapters (00:00) - Intro (01:35) - Dean’s story (04:18) - Stress and the body (06:10) - Peptides vs. bioregulators (07:37) - The $100 million question (09:34) - Three peptide mistakes (11:14) - Gut health and peptides (13:56) - Are you actually healthy? (15:07) - Peptide access and regulation (18:51) - Can doctors keep up? (23:05) - The future of peptides Watch the full episode on YouTube Further reading FDA: Safety concerns and gaps in human data for compounds discussed in the episode, including BPC-157, KPV, injectable GHK-Cu, and TB-500: FDA: Compounding substances with potential safety risks PubMed: 2026 review of the animal and human evidence for peptides promoted for recovery and performance, including BPC-157, TB-500, and GHK-Cu: Peptide Supplements and Their Therapeutic Applications in Sports Medicine PubMed: Review co-authored by Professor Vladimir Khavinson examining short peptides and gene regulation, providing mechanistic background to the bioregulator discussion: Peptide Regulation of Gene Expression: A Systematic Review NHS: Practical guidance on bowel health, including the Bristol Stool Chart mentioned in the episode: Maintaining a Healthy Bowel Read the full transcript Follow Dean Henry Instagram: @dean.e.henryWebsite: Bioniq LabWebsite: Dn ResearchWebsite: UAE PeptidesEducation and coaching: The Peptides Academy Follow Richard Skaife LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/richardskaife/ Peptide Show Website: Peptide.ShowInstagram: @Peptide.ShowTikTok: @peptide.showFacebook: Peptide ShowX: @peptideshowYouTube: @PeptideShow Peptide Show explores the science, medicine, business, and people shaping the rapidly evolving world of peptides. Presented by Longr: longr.io Follow Peptide Show for new episodes every Tuesday. This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Some compounds discussed in this episode are investigational, unapproved for the uses discussed, or subject to changing regulatory requirements.

Could peptides work alongside hormone therapy to help women through menopause?  Dr. Felice Gersh is an award-winning gynecologist, integrative medicine physician and bestselling author of PCOS SOS and Menopause: 50 Things You Need to Know.  Estrogen is central to her thinking. It influences appetite, metabolism and many of the peptides your body makes.  She explains why a GLP-1 injection differs from the hormone made in your gut, and why a peptide’s effects can reach beyond the problem you’re trying to solve.  She also describes reports of peptide drugs being sold from coolers at gyms. Powerful medicines, treated like supplements. Her concern is what people are injecting, and what repeated use might mean.  Her hopes for the future are clear: preserving muscle, supporting metabolism and controlling inflammation. She sees properly researched peptides working alongside hormone therapy to help women stay stronger as they age. She explains: ■ Menopause, metabolism and a changing waistline■ How estrogen influences your body’s own peptides■ Why GLP-1 drugs differ from natural GLP-1■ The unknowns of self-prescribed peptides■ Where peptides could work alongside hormone therapy Chapters (00:00) - Intro (02:25) - Why Dr. Gersh is cautious about peptides (04:14) - Peptides, supplements and GLP-1 drugs (07:26) - How peptides work in the body (09:25) - The risks of self-prescribing peptides (12:19) - The FDA and compounding pharmacies (15:45) - Supporting natural peptide production (17:19) - How estrogen regulates peptides (19:59) - Preserving muscle as we age (21:28) - Metabolism, inflammation and hormone therapy Watch the full episode on YouTube Further reading Research: A longitudinal study tracking fat mass, lean mass and weight through menopause: Changes in body composition and weight during the menopause transition. Research: A study in mice and human cells and tissues examining estrogen’s influence on GLP-1 secretion: 17-β Estradiol regulates proglucagon-derived peptide secretion in mouse and human α- and L cells. The Menopause Society: Hormone therapy, its benefits and risks, and why treatment should be individualized: Hormone Therapy. NIH: Why muscle loss matters for strength, mobility and independence as we age: Slowing Sarcopenia. FDA: The role and risks of compounded drugs, and how they differ from FDA-approved medicines: Understanding the Risks of Compounded Drugs. Read the full transcript Books by Dr. Felice Gersh Menopause: 50 Things You Need to KnowPCOS SOSPCOS SOS Fertility Fast Track Follow Dr. Felice Gersh YouTube: @FeliceGershMDInstagram: @dr.felicegershFacebook: @felicegershmdLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/felicegershmd/ Follow Richard Skaife LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/richardskaife/ Follow Peptide Show Website: Peptide.ShowInstagram: @Peptide.ShowTikTok: @peptide.showFacebook: Peptide ShowX: @peptideshowYouTube: @PeptideShow Peptide Show explores the science, medicine, business, and people shaping the rapidly evolving world of peptides. Presented by Longr: longr.io Follow Peptide Show for new episodes every Tuesday. This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Some compounds discussed in this episode are investigational, unapproved for the uses discussed, or subject to changing regulatory requirements.

How do peptides get from a factory in China to a price list in your DMs?  Conrad Campbell is a Scotsman building a peptide factory in China.  After ten years in the military, he built businesses selling furniture, opening gyms, and trading online. Then he entered the peptide business, sourcing products from Chinese manufacturers for clients in the West. Understanding the supply chain gave him an idea: build a factory of his own. A fairly committed approach to checking your supplier. Along the way, he learned how the gray market operates. He describes products leaving factories through the back door, passing through warehouses and middlemen, and being sold over WhatsApp. Plenty of people taking a cut. Rather less clarity about who takes responsibility. Conrad says he wants to make that trade safer and more transparent. His ambitions sit within a much bigger story: empty biotech parks built for future demand, manufacturers planning decades ahead, and a Chinese industry he believes the US will struggle to catch. He explains: ■ Building a peptide factory in China■ The gray market’s back doors and middlemen■ What purity tests don’t tell you■ Inside China’s empty biotech parks■ Why America could spend billions and still trail China Chapters (00:00) - Intro (03:19) - Building a peptide factory in China (04:47) - Why Conrad chose China (07:39) - Can America catch up with China? (09:57) - From e-commerce to peptides (13:42) - Conrad’s business model (14:58) - The risks of buying gray-market peptides (17:20) - The money behind the peptide trade (19:03) - The next 10 years of peptides (20:49) - The Limitless pill and better sleep Watch the full episode on YouTube Further reading Research: A study of Chinese suppliers advertising GLP-1 medicines online, including their marketing, shipping, and quality claims: Made in China: The international supply of illicit semaglutide and weight-loss medicines online. JAMA Network Open: A 2024 study testing semaglutide purchased online without a prescription for drug content, purity, and contamination: Safety and Risk Assessment of No-Prescription Online Semaglutide Purchases. FDA: Manufacturing standards, quality controls, and why testing a finished product is only part of the process: Facts About Current Good Manufacturing Practice. FDA: Current concerns around unapproved GLP-1 drugs, including products sold directly to consumers under research-use labels: FDA: Concerns with unapproved GLP-1 drugs. Read the full transcript Follow Conrad Campbell Instagram: @conrad Follow Richard Skaife LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/richardskaife/ Follow Peptide Show Website: Peptide.ShowInstagram: @Peptide.ShowTikTok: @peptide.showFacebook: Peptide ShowX: @peptideshowYouTube: @PeptideShow Peptide Show explores the science, medicine, business, and people shaping the rapidly evolving world of peptides. Presented by Longr: longr.io Follow Peptide Show for new episodes every Tuesday. This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Some compounds discussed in this episode are investigational, unapproved for the uses discussed, or subject to changing regulatory requirements.

What happens when people start experimenting with peptides before seeing a clinician?  Ksenia Petrushkina sees the impact of peptides up close. As Director of Regenerative Medicine at Ideal Medical in Miami, she works with patients using peptides, longevity therapeutics, and regenerative medicine, including people who arrive after already starting protocols they found online. Before clinical medicine, Ksenia worked in cancer research. It taught her a lesson that still shapes how she thinks about peptides today: what looks extraordinary in a laboratory can fall apart completely in the real world. Now she sees the problem from the other direction. Patients arrive with gray-market vials, protocols copied from influencers, and stacks containing multiple experimental compounds. Some are teenagers. Ksenia is not anti-peptide. But she believes enthusiasm is moving faster than the evidence, and that separating promising biology from what is actually proven in humans will determine the future of peptide medicine. She explains: ■ Why teenagers are buying and injecting peptides they find online■ Why she has serious reservations about MOTS-c and other heavily promoted compounds■ Why promising results in petri dishes and mice can fall apart in humans■ Why stacking multiple peptides makes benefits and side effects almost impossible to untangle■ Why better safety data and real-world reporting could determine the future of peptide medicine Chapters (00:00) - Intro (01:52) - How Ksenia decides which peptides to use (03:42) - Why Ksenia won’t recommend MOTS-c (06:22) - The problem with gray-market peptides (09:09) - What BPC-157 really tells us (11:04) - Why peptide stacking makes no sense (15:16) - Why doctors need better peptide data (21:05) - How influencers distort peptide science (23:20) - Why teenagers are injecting peptides (26:20) - The future of peptide medicine Watch the full episode on YouTube Further reading FDA: July 2026 Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee review covering BPC-157, TB-500, MOTS-c, and other peptide-related bulk substances: FDA PCAC July 2026 meeting FDA: Current concerns around unapproved GLP-1 drugs, including retatrutide: FDA: Concerns with unapproved GLP-1 drugs PubMed: Review of the safety, evidence, and regulatory status of approved and unapproved peptide therapies: Safety and Efficacy of Approved and Unapproved Peptide Therapies PubMed: 2025 pilot study of intravenous BPC-157 in two human participants, discussed in the episode: Safety of Intravenous Infusion of BPC157 in Humans Read the full transcript Follow Ksenia Petrushkina Instagram: @dr.kseniamiami Instagram: @kpmiami X: @drkseniamiami TikTok: @dr.ksenia.petrushkina305 Website: KseniaPetrushkina.com Follow Richard Skaife LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/richardskaife/ Peptide Show Website: Peptide.Show Instagram: @Peptide.Show TikTok: @peptide.show Facebook: Peptide Show X: @peptideshow YouTube: @PeptideShow Peptide Show explores the science, medicine, business, and people shaping the rapidly evolving world of peptides. Presented by Longr: longr.io Follow Peptide Show for new episodes every Tuesday. This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Some compounds discussed in this episode are investigational, unapproved for the uses discussed, or subject to changing regulatory requirements.

What happens when the people profiting from peptides have different motives from the people relying on them?   For the past 15 years, the fitness and biohacking educator and host of The Dylan Gemelli Podcast has watched peptides move from bodybuilding forums and research chemical sites into the mainstream. Then the market changed around him. GLP-1s propelled peptides into public consciousness. BPC-157 became one of the compounds most closely associated with the category. And an underground market expanded alongside them, where suppliers, testing and certificates of analysis can create an appearance of certainty that may not always be justified. Gemelli believes peptides have far more potential than the handful of compounds dominating the conversation. But he is equally concerned by what happens when consumers buy from unregulated suppliers, assume a COA proves quality, or trust that what is on the label is what is actually in the vial. He explains: ■ How peptides went from obscure research chemicals to the mainstream■ Why GLP-1s and BPC-157 have narrowed the public understanding of peptides■ Why a certificate of analysis does not necessarily prove what is actually in the vial■ What consumers should understand about underground suppliers, raw materials and peptide testing■ Why he believes peptides will become more widely accepted, and why he worries about who ultimately controls them Chapters (00:00) - Intro (02:09) - Fifteen years in peptides (09:17) - How peptides went mainstream (13:35) - The GLP-1 and BPC-157 problem (16:47) - Peptides beyond GLP-1s (19:18) - Protecting muscle on GLP-1s (22:11) - Are GLP-1s overprescribed? (23:12) - Inside the underground peptide market (23:56) - Where peptide raw materials come from (25:07) - Why COAs can mislead you (26:04) - Suppliers, Reddit and white-labelling (29:24) - Who controls the future of peptides? Watch the full episode on YouTube Further reading FDA: Concerns around unapproved GLP-1 drugs, foreign APIs, illegal online sales and products marketed as being for research purposes: FDA: Concerns with unapproved GLP-1 drugs  FDA: July 2026 Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee meeting covering BPC-157, KPV, TB-500, MOTS-c and other peptide-related bulk substances: FDA PCAC July 2026 meeting  Read the full transcript Follow Dylan Gemelli Instagram: Instagram.com/dylangemelli X: x.com/DylanGemelli YouTube: YouTube.com/@DylanGemelliBiohacking Website: DylanGemelli.com Follow Richard Skaife LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardskaife/ Peptide Show Website: Peptide.Show The Peptide Show explores the science, medicine, business and people shaping the rapidly evolving world of peptides. Presented by Longr: longr.io Follow The Peptide Show for new episodes every Tuesday. This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Some compounds discussed in this episode are investigational, unapproved for the uses discussed, or subject to changing regulatory requirements.

What happens when millions of people want drugs their doctors can’t prescribe? Very few doctors become household names. Dr Terry Dubrow is one of them.  For more than two decades, the board-certified plastic surgeon and star of Botched has sat at the intersection of medicine and popular culture, becoming one of the most recognizable doctors in America.  Then peptides changed the direction of his career.  Decades into an already established surgical career, Dr Dubrow went back to study, became board-certified in obesity medicine, and developed what he describes as an obsession with peptides, longevity and what could become the next frontier of medicine.  He believes peptides could transform healthcare. But as unapproved compounds move online, patients bypass doctors and regulation struggles to keep pace, he is warning that the same revolution could also produce a serious medical backlash.  He explains:  ■ Why GLP-1s changed the direction of his career and pulled him into peptide medicine ■ Why he believes peptides could eventually change how we age■ Why retatrutide is already being accessed before FDA approval ■ Why pushing peptides outside the medical system could make them more dangerous, not less■ The peptide safety event he fears could trigger a major backlash  Chapters (00:00) - Intro (02:07) - From GLP-1s to peptides (05:07) - Can peptides reverse aging? (07:54) - Peptides and the regulatory Wild West (09:59) - Retatrutide and the next GLP-1s (14:00) - Microdosing GLP-1s for longevity (16:14) - The biggest myths about peptides (18:12) - Why doctors need better peptide data (19:57) - The danger of unregulated peptides (21:52) - The future of peptides and longevity  Watch the full episode on YouTube   Further reading FDA: July 2026 Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee meeting covering BPC-157, TB-500, MOTS-c and other peptide-related bulk substances: FDA PCAC July 2026 meeting  ClinicalTrials.gov: Phase 3 TRIUMPH-1 study of retatrutide in obesity and overweight: Retatrutide TRIUMPH-1 trial  Read the full transcript   Follow Dr Terry Dubrow  Instagram: Instagram.com/drdubrow X: x.com/DrDubrow Website: DrDubrow.com  Follow Richard Skaife LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardskaife/ The Peptide Show Website: Peptide.Show The Peptide Show explores the science, medicine, business and people shaping the rapidly evolving world of peptides. Presented by Longr: longr.io Follow The Peptide Show for new episodes every Tuesday. This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Some compounds discussed in this episode are investigational, unapproved for the uses discussed, or subject to changing regulatory requirements.

The Peptide Show explores the science, medicine and business of peptides, with the people shaping what comes next. Hosted by Richard Skaife, new episodes arrive every Tuesday. Episode 1 features Dr Terry Dubrow on peptides, GLP-1s, longevity, regulation and why he believes this field could change medicine. Presented by Longr. Follow The Peptide Show so you don't miss the first episode.