Have you heard of peptides? They're the newest buzzword in health and beauty, promising to fix everything from wrinkles to torn ligaments. But does the science back them up?
Most of the compounds are sold in vials labeled "for research only" — meaning they're not approved for use in people yet. Now the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is moving to make them easier to obtain, despite warnings from former agency officials that the move could undermine the drug approval process.
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Scripps News Medical Contributor Dr. Omar Awan explained that these peptides aren't just magical fountain-of-youth drugs, but actually play a major part in your biology.
"Peptides are just short-chain amino acids, which are the building block for proteins," Awan said. "Think of them as messengers that tell your cells exactly what to do. They're very important for regulating things like metabolism, sleep, weight-loss, tissue regeneration, and our bodies naturally do make certain peptides. For example, insulin — which is the hormone that's secreted by the pancreas and decreases blood-sugar levels — is a peptide. There are certain drugs that we know of very commonly that are peptides. For example, the GLP-1 very famous drugs like Tirzepatide and Semaglutide, that result in profound weight-loss are peptides."
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Awan said not all peptides carry the same level of scientific backing.
"Peptides that are FDA approved and have been studied rigorously through clinical trials are a lot different than peptides that are being sold on social media, for example, where there are no studies to back their claims, or perhaps there's only some studies — animal studies or laboratory studies or small human studies — that are backing their claims," Awan said.
Watch our full interview with Dr. Omar Awan in the video player above.
