Younger Skin with Peptides? | Lifespan with Dr. David Sinclair - S2, Ep. 11

Matthew LaPlante (0:00)

About two hours ago, you walked through that door, and you said something, it blew my mind.

David Sinclair (0:04)

A lot of these little peptides, thousands of them that we found, turn out to have been missed for the last 20 years or more. This peptide can increase telomeres, maybe longevity. We're going to have, going forward, a bunch of different peptides that hopefully will help us with our longevity. There are some known side effects that have actually been documented in these clinical trials.

Matthew LaPlante (0:25)

So right now I'm thinking, okay, this is good for macro autophagy, it's good for stem cell exhaustion, it's good for altered intercellular communication. Why don't I just start shoving a needle into myself right now with, with apple and peptide based drugs have been a part of our life for a very long time.

David Sinclair (0:45)

Welcome to Lifespan, a show where we discuss the cutting edge science of aging and how to live healthier at any stage of life.

I'm David Sinclair, a scientist and professor, working on understanding why we age and discovering new ways to slow and even reverse the aging process.

On this show, I share an insider's look at the latest from my lab, the field, and what's just around the corner.

Which wellness peptides have real signs behind them? Which ones are mostly hype? And could any actually affect how we age? Today, I'm back with Matt. Last time we did a whole show on GLP-1s, one of the biggest stories in medicine. If you missed it, check that out. Now we're moving into the world of wellness peptides. In this first part, we look at what peptides are, why they're suddenly becoming so popular, why they're difficult to study, and the regulatory gray zone. Then we talk about the science through the lens of longevity, which peptides have interesting biology behind them, and where the evidence is getting ahead of the hype. Neither Matt nor I are physicians, of course, so nothing we tell you today should be taken as medical advice. This is information to discuss with your doctor and to use to make informed decisions about your own health. I'm so excited to share that Lifespan magazine is now available, along with everything we're building around it to help you live a longer healthier life. You'll get the gorgeous 100-page magazine, early access to Lifespan episodes, my longevity newsletter, clinical trial updates, AMAs, exclusive interviews, and a lot more to come. Go to lifespan.com to read the magazine, see what we're building and support medical research too. There's a free version, an $8 a month membership, and a founder membership with lifetime access to the magazine, bonus material, and some personal gifts from me. Life's too short. Let's change that together. Okay, let's go. Welcome to the Lifespan podcast. I'm here again with my co-author and friend, Dr. Matthew LaPlante.

Matthew LaPlante (3:01)

Hey, Matt. Hey, David. Great to be back.

David Sinclair (3:03)

Yeah, it's exciting. We're just talking about how we're excited about this episode. Today we're talking about peptides. I don't seem to be able to go anywhere in the world right now without somebody stopping me to ask me about these things, peptides. So today we've decided to do a deep dive, not just into what is a peptide and what are people taking, but the history, the side effects, what the FDA thinks, what's legal, what's in the gray zone, what's illegal, what does the future hold?

Matthew LaPlante (3:31)

And importantly, the aging implications of peptides.

David Sinclair (3:35)

Exactly, which hasn't really been covered.

Matthew LaPlante (3:38)

That's what we're here for. That's what you're here for. I'm just here to ask questions, but that's what we're here for.

David Sinclair (3:43)

And we've got some new ideas that we think will be novel about what these peptides might actually be doing to the body of people who take them.

Matthew LaPlante (3:51)

Yeah. I'll give a little sneak peek to the end of this conversation about two hours ago, you walked through that door and you're like this, and you said something. I'm not going to reveal it now. We'll talk about it toward the end of the episode, but it blew my mind, but I'm a dork.

David Sinclair (4:07)

We'll get to that, but there's a lot to talk about and there's a lot of people need to know about peptides. A lot of people considering taking them or are taking multiple ones already. Yeah.

Matthew LaPlante (4:15)

Yeah. The last time we met, we were chatting about GLP-1s, and we were sort of marveling together at how fast those drugs went from being a fringe research interest to being used by tens of millions of people, changing global economies, as you said.