RERUN - What's the deal with peptides?

**Dr. F. Perry Wilson** (0:00)
Hi, everyone, Perry and Emily here.

**Emily Oster** (0:02)
Hello.

**Dr. F. Perry Wilson** (0:02)
And if you're hearing this, I'm actually in Italy on vacation, probably eating gelato.

**Emily Oster** (0:07)
And I'm in my office in Providence. I'm probably drinking a creatine-infused protein shake.

**Dr. F. Perry Wilson** (0:12)
And we're running our first rerun and enjoying what's left of the summer.

**Emily Oster** (0:16)
This is our episode on peptides. It was one of our earliest, but also one of the most prescient ones.

**Dr. F. Perry Wilson** (0:22)
Yeah, it's amazing to me how often peptides have come up in so many other wellness discussions.

**Emily Oster** (0:28)
It is actually somewhat upsetting to me, to be honest.

**Dr. F. Perry Wilson** (0:30)
Anyway, enjoy the rest of the summer.

**Emily Oster** (0:33)
Be careful of ticks.

**Dr. F. Perry Wilson** (0:34)
And we'll see you for a brand new episode next week. In the meantime, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, and follow our Instagram at WellnessActuallyPod, and tell people about the show. It really helps us out.

**Emily Oster** (0:44)
Thank you for listening.

**Dr. F. Perry Wilson** (0:45)
Ciao. There's a new peptide that literally burns fat off of your body.

**Emily Oster** (0:51)
At the same time, it suppresses your hunger.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:53)
Peptides are one of the best ingredients you can use for anti-aging.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:56)
Do not sleep on peptides.

**Emily Oster** (0:58)
Peptides are the it girl of the year, and for good reason.

**SPEAKER_3** (1:01)
Well, that's the thing about peptides, too. The Wolverine stack. I don't know if you ever get injured. Get immediately on BP157 and TB500.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:07)
Peptide might help you improve your gut health, the tone, texture of your skin, reduce fine lines and wrinkles, possibly restore your hair, raise your natural growth hormone.

**SPEAKER_5** (1:14)
So there's truly a peptide for everything.

**Dr. F. Perry Wilson** (1:17)
Emily, are we in over our heads here?

**Emily Oster** (1:20)
Maybe a little bit. How many peptides did you have this morning? Are you ready?

**Dr. F. Perry Wilson** (1:23)
Well, I've had 30, but it's clearly not enough.

**Emily Oster** (1:27)
It's not enough. Did you have your CJC 1295?

**Dr. F. Perry Wilson** (1:31)
Oh, you know what? That's the problem, because...

**Emily Oster** (1:33)
That's the one.

**Dr. F. Perry Wilson** (1:34)
I still have my existential sense of dread, and I'm pretty sure that's the key to eliminate that.

**Emily Oster** (1:43)
I'm Emily Oster. I'm an economist and a data expert.

**Dr. F. Perry Wilson** (1:46)
And I'm Perry Wilson. I'm a medical doctor.

**Emily Oster** (1:49)
It's Thursday, August 27th, 2026 And this is Wellness, Actually.

**Dr. F. Perry Wilson** (1:54)
Because you're getting a staggering amount of health and wellness information nowadays from every source imaginable. And some of it is awesome.

**Emily Oster** (2:02)
And some of it is, well, actually bullsh**. Fortunately, we're both people who know how to read studies, how to parse the data, and can tell you what's worth thinking about, and what you can safely ignore.

**Dr. F. Perry Wilson** (2:15)
But before we dig in, a note that this podcast is for educational purposes and should not be construed as medical advice. We don't know your unique situation, so talk to your doctor for personal health decisions.

**Emily Oster** (2:26)
This week, we're asking, what's the deal with peptides after the break?

**Dr. F. Perry Wilson** (2:43)
Welcome back to Wellness, Actually. So what's the deal with peptides?
Emily, this is like a big topic. There's so much talk about this on social media. It's nearly overwhelming.

**Emily Oster** (2:58)
I was waiting for the airplane yesterday for a flight home, and I opened up my Instagram, and the first thing I saw was someone who had two side-by-side pictures of her face. And it was like, this is what happens after 12 weeks on peptides. And she looked better. I mean, I don't know that particular person. I don't have a lot of issues, but the point is that you cannot open social media without hearing about peptides.
I would like us to start this by just demystifying a little bit. You know, when I think about peptides, the thing, at least before I did some more research for this episode, the first thing that often comes into my head is Demi Moore and the substance, you know, where she takes some thing and then she like turns it to a different person and then slowly decays over time. I don't think that's what it is.
But my concern is that for many people, we're close to that in our understanding of peptides is just, this seems like a crazy thing with a lot of crazy names that people are yelling about on Reddit. So can you just like anchor us in the biology of what is this?