Why Is Everyone Using Peptides?

Written By Zoë Rom
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BPC-157. TB-500. MOTS-c. If those sound like droids from a Star Wars spinoff, congratulations on your healthy relationship with the internet. For everyone else, peptides are the injectable wellness trend that went from bodybuilding forums to med spas to your feed, sold as a fix for tendons, muscle, body fat, and mortality.

Here is the part nobody selling them leads with: you are full of peptides right now, for free. A few of them became blockbuster drugs. Insulin is a peptide. So are the GLP-1s. But the peptides flooding your feed skipped the step where somebody tests them in humans. They went from rodent studies to websites labeled "for research purposes only" to longevity clinics charging four figures a month.

Then, the day after this episode dropped, an FDA advisory committee voted to loosen the rules on six of them. The agency's own scientists had reviewed the evidence and recommended against all seven.

In this episode

Zoë traces the route from insulin to Instagram: the bodybuilding underground, the anti-aging clinics, and the influencer economy that turned unproven injectables into a billion-dollar category. Kylee breaks down what the research shows for the big names, why "thousands of patients swear by it" is not evidence, and what she tells athletes who ask whether BPC-157 will fix a cranky tendon faster than rest will.

Also in here: why the scientist who discovered MOTS-c will not inject it, the single human BPC-157 study (twelve people, chronic knee pain, seven of them felt better), what WADA does to athletes who test positive, and how to read a vial that says "not for human consumption."

If you liked our metabolism episode, this is the same story wearing a lab coat.

Do peptides actually work?

Depends which peptide, and depends what you mean by work. Peptide biology in actual labs is one of the more interesting things happening in medicine. The stuff in the vial you can buy off the internet is a different product, and the distance between those two things is exactly where the money is.

  • [ -- ]What a peptide actually is, and why you already have thousands of them
  • [ -- ]Insulin to Instagram: how peptides became legitimate drugs, then a gray market
  • [ -- ]The bodybuilding forums, the anti-aging clinics, the influencer economy
  • [ -- ]The real science: mitochondrial-derived peptides and the "junk DNA" that wasn't
  • [ -- ]MOTS-c: incredible mice, one inconclusive human trial, a company that folded
  • [ -- ]BPC-157: the "Wolverine peptide," 35 rodent studies, and 12 human knees
  • [ -- ]TB-500 and the Wolverine Stack
  • [ -- ]Kylee on what she tells injured athletes who ask about peptides
  • [ -- ]WADA, testing, and what happens to athletes who get caught
  • [ -- ]"For research purposes only": what is actually in the vial
  • [ -- ]Why the FDA exists, and the part this movement forgets
  • [ -- ]Bottom line: breakthrough, scam, or both
  • What peptides are, and how they differ from proteins and amino acids
  • BPC-157 (Body Protection Compound 157): origin, claims, evidence base
  • TB-500 and the "Wolverine Stack" for soft-tissue recovery
  • MOTS-c, AMPK, and the "exercise mimetic" marketing pitch
  • Mitochondrial-derived peptides and Pinchas Cohen's research at USC
  • Peptides that became real medicine: insulin, GLP-1 agonists
  • The FDA's 2023 Category 2 designation and what it meant for compounding
  • The July 2026 Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee votes
  • WADA prohibited status and athlete sanctions
  • Gray-market sourcing, "research use only" labeling, and purity
  • Peptides for injury recovery in runners and endurance athletes
  • Why anecdote is not evidence, and what N-of-1 reasoning misses
  • The history of US drug regulation: elixir sulfanilamide, thalidomide, and the safe-versus-effective gap
  • Optimization culture, medical-freedom politics, and wellness gender coding
Every citation below was checked against the primary source. Where a claim came from reporting rather than a paper, the outlet is named.

Lee, C., Zeng, J., Drew, B. G., Sallam, T., Martin-Montalvo, A., Wan, J., Kim, S.-J., Mehta, H., Hevener, A. L., de Cabo, R., & Cohen, P. (2015). The mitochondrial-derived peptide MOTS-c promotes metabolic homeostasis and reduces obesity and insulin resistance. Cell Metabolism, 21(3), 443–454. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2015.02.009

Reynolds, J. C., Lai, R. W., Woodhead, J. S. T., Joly, J. H., Mitchell, C. J., Cameron-Smith, D., Lu, R., Cohen, P., Graham, N. A., Benayoun, B. A., Merry, T. L., & Lee, C. (2021). MOTS-c is an exercise-induced mitochondrial-encoded regulator of age-dependent physical decline and muscle homeostasis. Nature Communications, 12, 470. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20790-0

Vasireddi, N., Hahamyan, H., Salata, M. J., Karns, M., Calcei, J. G., Voos, J. E., & Apostolakos, J. M. (2025). Emerging use of BPC-157 in orthopaedic sports medicine: A systematic review. HSS Journal. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/15563316251355551

Miller, B., Kim, S.-J., Kumagai, H., Yen, K., & Cohen, P. (2022). Mitochondria-derived peptides in aging and healthspan. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 132(9), e158449. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI158449

CohBar, Inc. (2021, August 10). CohBar announces positive topline results from the Phase 1a/1b study of CB4211 under development for NASH and obesity [Press release]. Phase 1b: 4 weeks, 20 participants with elevated BMI and fatty liver disease. Met its safety endpoint; reductions in ALT, AST, and glucose; body weight showed a non-significant trend.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2026, July 23–24). Meeting of the Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee [Meeting materials and roster]. fda.gov

Committee outcome: On July 23, 2026, the committee recommended BPC-157, KPV, and TB-500 (8–6, one abstention) and MOTS-c for inclusion on the Section 503A Bulks List. On July 24 it recommended epitalon (7–4) and semax (8–5), and declined to recommend emideltide (6–7). FDA staff scientists had recommended against all seven. The votes are non-binding and require formal rulemaking before anything changes. Reported by STAT News, Reuters, NPR, NBC News, and TIME, July 23–24, 2026.

World Anti-Doping Agency. (2026). The Prohibited List. BPC-157 and TB-500 fall under prohibited categories and are banned at all times, in and out of competition. wada-ama.org

Sikiric, P., et al. (1993 onward). Foundational BPC-157 work from the University of Zagreb. BPC-157 is a synthetic 15-amino-acid sequence originally isolated from human gastric juice.

Transcript coming soon.

Lee, C., Zeng, J., Drew, B. G., Sallam, T., Martin-Montalvo, A., Wan, J., Kim, S.-J., Mehta, H., Hevener, A. L., de Cabo, R., & Cohen, P. (2015). The mitochondrial-derived peptide MOTS-c promotes metabolic homeostasis and reduces obesity and insulin resistance. Cell Metabolism, 21(3), 443–454. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2015.02.009

Miller, B., Kim, S.-J., Kumagai, H., Yen, K., & Cohen, P. (2022). Mitochondria-derived peptides in aging and healthspan. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 132(9), Article e158449. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI158449

Reynolds, J. C., Lai, R. W., Woodhead, J. S. T., Joly, J. H., Mitchell, C. J., Cameron-Smith, D., Lu, R., Cohen, P., Graham, N. A., Benayoun, B. A., Merry, T. L., & Lee, C. (2021). MOTS-c is an exercise-induced mitochondrial-encoded regulator of age-dependent physical decline and muscle homeostasis. Nature Communications, 12, Article 470. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20790-0

Sikiric, P., Petek, M., Rucman, R., Seiwerth, S., Grabarevic, Z., Rotkvic, I., Turkovic, B., Jagic, V., Mildner, B., Duvnjak, M., Lang, N., Danilovic, Z., Brkic, T., Banic, M., Buljat, G., Kolega, M., Marovic, A., Separovic, J., Bura, M., & Perovic, D. (1993). A new gastric juice peptide, BPC: An overview of the stomach-stress-organoprotection hypothesis and beneficial effects of BPC. Journal of Physiology (Paris), 87(5), 313–327. https://doi.org/10.1016/0928-4257(93)90038-U

Vasireddi, N., Hahamyan, H., Salata, M. J., Karns, M., Calcei, J. G., Voos, J. E., & Apostolakos, J. M. (2025). Emerging use of BPC-157 in orthopaedic sports medicine: A systematic review. HSS Journal. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/15563316251355551

Regulatory and governing-body sources

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2023, September 29). Bulk drug substances nominated for use in compounding under section 503A of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. https://www.fda.gov/media/94155/download

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2026). FDA briefing document: Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee meeting, July 23–24, 2026. https://www.fda.gov/media/193343/download

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2026). July 23–24, 2026: Meeting of the Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee [Meeting announcement and materials]. https://www.fda.gov/advisory-committees/advisory-committee-calendar/july-23-24-2026-meeting-pharmacy-compounding-advisory-committee-07232026

World Anti-Doping Agency. (2026). The 2026 prohibited list: International standard. https://www.wada-ama.org/en/prohibited-list

Reporting on the July 2026 votes

Feuerstein, A. (2026, July 24). FDA advisory panel narrowly rejects compounding of one peptide, backs two others. STAT News. https://www.statnews.com/2026/07/24/fda-peptide-compounding-panel-backs-epitalon-rejects-emideltide/

Feuerstein, A. (2026, July 23). In win for RFK Jr., FDA advisory panel narrowly votes to allow compounding of unapproved peptides. STAT News. https://www.statnews.com/2026/07/23/fda-panel-okays-peptides-compound-pharmacies-bpc-157-kpv/

An FDA committee just voted in favor of peptides. (2026, July 23). TIME. https://time.com/article/2026/07/23/fda-committee-peptides/

FDA advisory committee votes to add popular peptide BPC-157 to drug compounding list. (2026, July 23). ABC News. https://abcnews.com/Health/fda-advisory-committee-votes-add-popular-peptide-bpc/story?id=134913891

Zoë Rom

Zoë Rom is a science and environmental journalist with bylines in The New York Times, Outside, and High Country News. She co-hosts Your Diet Sucks, an evidence-based nutrition and wellness podcast, with registered dietitian Kylee Van Horn, RDN, where they investigate how wellness culture distorts science and how athletes can do better. A Colorado-based ultrarunner, she finished second at the Leadville Trail 100 and top five at Run Rabbit Run 100. Her reporting and commentary focus on the intersection of sport, science, and the wellness industry's long history of selling women their own anxieties.

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