I Investigated Peptides & Tried for 60 days

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:00]There's a new wellness hack taking over the internet. People are injecting themselves with something called peptides. Jennifer Aniston for glossy skin, Joe Rogan for injuries. Then you also hear things like Hailey Bieber's lip peptide, promising things like getting more tan.

[00:00:14]>> There's something different.

[00:00:16]Losing weight, building muscle. This trend has exploded so much people are Googling it more than pickleball. And if that doesn't symbolize the popularity, I don't know what does. And the wildest thing about this is the influencers promoting this are the same influencers scared of tap water. But sure, inject yourself with a mysterious substance from the internet.

[00:00:35]Logic. So today I'm diving into the science, the hype, and the actual risks.

[00:00:39][music] And because this is YouTube, I will also test some for 30 days.

[00:00:47]So first, we got to start out. What the heck is a peptide? According to Stuart Phillips, Canada Research Chair in skeletal muscle health, at the molecular level, naturally occurring peptides are amino acids. These are the building blocks which, when about 50 combined, create a protein. Inside your body, peptides help regulate hormones, digestion, and appetite. They also support your immune system, muscle growth, and repair amongst other things.

[00:01:10]How do you get them in you? Well, they're already in you. You have peptides in you. Now, synthetic peptides are the ones [music] created outside your body that you find a means to end to get inside you, which you can do topically, orally, or inject. Okay, but [music] I have them in me, why would I want more? What are the benefits in taking them? Now, there is peptides that are the real deal, have saved lives, and are amazing. Number one, insulin. I want to brag, but invented by Canadian.

[00:01:37]Anyways, the one, the new hot one on the street, GLP-1s, aka it's brand name Ozempic. But there's more emerging on what we call the gray market. Later in the video, we're going to talk about those specific ones [music] and what the gray market is. But the most popular benefits you'll see online of these peptides that people are just generically saying. Include faster recovery, fat loss, anti-aging, glowing skin, muscle growth. And I think they're rising so steadily online with just so much popularity of like biohacking. And influencers specifically getting into that, and people wanting faster results.

[00:02:12]Combine this with this like hyper-optimized longevity thing that's all over the internet, and the emerging thing that I'm fully on board with, medicine 3.0. Of instead of finding a cure, preventing aging and disease before it happens. So, first peptide I will try is the easiest way you can get it into orally. And the peptide you might see the most online actually talked about is collagen. Collagen peptides are made by breaking down whole collagen protein into smaller pieces. I purchased the most popular one on Amazon, took it for 30 days. You can watch the whole video here, but I'm going to summarize it real fast for you.

[00:02:47]As a chronically dried skin girly training for a marathon, I was hoping it would make my skin more glowing and hydrated, and to help promote recovery as I'm doing extreme runs. Now, taking a collagen peptide orally is safe. It's a non-invasive way to improve skin, joint, and bone health over time. While injecting peptides offer rapid, targeted, and highly potent and results for specific issues like injury repair.

[00:03:09][music] Just to compare the two. And what was my results? You're probably like, "Oh, it increased the collagen in your skin." Uh, no. That's not what happens. I noticed no real change in recovery or my skin. Not that I anything against it, but I naturally do have a diet high in collagen. Specifically, I do eat animal [clears throat] meats, [music] which is one of the easiest sources of collagen in your diet. So, for first collagen tested orally, my recommendation, if you already have a diet high in collagen, you don't need it. It is a great supplement if you're someone who doesn't consistently have high-quality animal protein sources, cuz that's what a supplement is. It supplements supplements your diet where there's gaps. Now, we talked the benefits, what they are. Now, let's dive more into the science of these specific things cuz you're probably overwhelmed.

[00:03:53]I was overwhelmed before researching this video. Like random G Ls and Ps and Qs and Bs and 5s and methanol blue and you're like, "What is this What are they all talking about?" Here's a quick summary. Note, as in this whole video, I'm not a medical professional. I am a YouTuber. This is not medical advice.

[00:04:10]I'm not saying I know these. This is just from all the research I could have professionals talking about it. This is what I could summarize as the most popular ones and what they're supposed to do. Except for like the popular ones like insulin and GLP-1s. A lot of science behind those. But here's the gray zone ones that are trending online.

[00:04:27]BBC 157. They promote angiogenesis, new blood vessel growth. So this one repairs your muscles, tendons, and ligaments.

[00:04:35]Pentakida arginate, PDA. A newer peptide which is a substitution for the BPC 157.

[00:04:42]Also, I'm going to say I'm going to pronounce so many of these wrong. I took organic chemistry in university. Like I've done this. I paid a lot of money for second and and I still can't pronounce it. Could I talk about the three bond rate? I can't remember any of it. See, no, that was a summary of I took organic chem and I still can't pronounce these [laughter] things.

[00:04:58]Anyways, thymosin beta. A peptide naturally secreted by the thymus in children. It promotes wound healing and stem cell proliferation.

[00:05:09]The conspiracy people can have fun with that one.

[00:05:13]>> [clears throat] >> That one spooked me.

[00:05:16]>> [laughter] >> Relatide, a triple agonist high efficiency in weight loss and potential muscle sparing effects. Sermorelin, a synthetic version of growth hormone releasing hormone. Used for a wide variety of off-label vitality and muscle growth. Thymosin alpha 1 reduces visceral fat. This is particularly in HIV patients. Now I've seen online more broadly used for body composition. [music] Epitalon, a peptide claimed to increase telomere length and suppress tumor growth. Pinalon, a small peptide that's supposed to increase REM sleep. Thymosin alpha 1, to either tone down an overactive immune system or bolster weak one. Melanotan, how is this one back? This is another one like the vibration plate. This is back. Uh yeah, it makes you tanned. I had friends who used this like 15 years ago.

[00:06:04]I feel old. PT-141, used to treat hypoactive sexual desire in women.

[00:06:09]Kisspeptin, stimulates LH and FSH.

[00:06:12]Semax, a statin, a peptide that acts as a break to inhibit growth hormone release. Now, the thing with these peptides, most are still in their early stages of research. Two, tested only on cells or animals. And three, have little to no human [music] data. And there is hundreds still in preclinical stages, which means, oh, nice, they're in clinical trial. Exactly, they're just being tested. That doesn't mean there's results. The results could be awful. And a lot of the results tend to be [music] largely unproven and overhyped.

[00:06:42]According to Stuart Phillips, there's no evidence to support using unregulated injectable peptides. The evidence for these things versus the claims that people make is essentially empty. There are no large-scale human trials, there are no efficacy trials, there are no safety [music] trials. And that's the thing, you just don't know. There's many things out there in the future will promote a lot of benefits, but until they are, we don't know. I'm like saying like, we'll use for example creatine, which is second most studied supplement of all time, only next to caffeine. And the benefits we can all agree on. It's been seen [music] in studies, in great human population, supplement brand after supplement brand.

[00:07:19]And as long as you're getting a good quality creatine, the benefits [music] are there. And because of that, over time, brands have had time to get certifications like NSF certification, which just knows there's no cross-contamination, professional athletes who have to get drug tested can [music] use it. Now, the one problem with creatine is it's a boring white powder. Make a joke of that as you will.

[00:07:38]But, I've always liked the idea of gummy supplements and gummy creatine, but there's also been so many studies that like usually creatine gummies don't have the amount [music] of creatine in the gummy. So, you're just paying for a gummy. So, just go buy yourself a gummy bear. And like a lot of times it's just like the powder on the outside is the creatine, so it falls off the gummy. And so, I like the idea in theory, but it doesn't actually work. Until this, the brand Kreate. And they have Darren Candow as their advisor. You're like, "Okay, what does that mean?" He is the creatine guy. Look at these research studies. Also Canadian.

[00:08:11]Biased. He is a renowned expert in creatine research and exercise physiology with prolific body of work exploring how creatine monohydrate impacts muscle, bone, and brain health.

[00:08:21]That's his whole thing is creatine, and he [music] was the one advising these creatine gummies. I'm like, finally. Oh, and what else? NSF certification. So, you know what's on the label is what's in the gummy. And they taste delicious.

[00:08:32]And also, if you didn't know, what are the benefits of taking creatine? As creatine builds up in the body, muscle, and other energy-demanding tissues have more readily available fuel. Over time, this can show up as steadier energy, improved recovery between efforts, and better tolerance for both physical and mental demands. Creatine just in essence helps regenerate ATP, which is your body's primary energy [music] source.

[00:08:52]So, that's going to result to support strength, power, and overall performance. And also, the cognitive [music] benefits are the most exciting things. There's plenty of research coming out now just like the potential reduction of cognitive decline if you supplement with [music] proper amounts of creatine. And also, you really want to take creatine consistently over time to see the benefits. But the one short-term benefit is actually sleep deprivation and cognitive ability. So, if you, for whatever reason, don't get enough [music] sleep and you have a test the next day, there can be some benefits of taking creatine. So, whenever I travel, like I'm traveling to the London Marathon, the thing I [music] always make sure to have with me is a bag of creatine if I'm traveling, cuz who knows with my sleep and it's just going to help me mentally [music] just function. We love a healthy habit on this channel, and there's nothing easier than just having a healthy habit that's enjoyable. And there's nothing more enjoyable than having a gummy and it's got creatine in it and it actually has the creatine that's on the label.

[00:09:44]But I'm not going to talk about it, of course, and not going to give you guys a code. If you go to trycreatine.co/keltie or click the link down in my description, you'll get 20% off your first purchase including subscriptions.

[00:09:55]Thank you, creatine, for just literally creating yourself. I wanted this product and now it exists. Okay, we tried it orally, second let's try it topically because you probably have seen, at least I am, peptide is the new label on all the skin care products. Rhode has it in their lip product, medical grade skin care companies are now doing it. So, here are my results. One, Rhode lip peptide, which contains a peptide palmitoyl tripeptide one, a short chain of amino acids that hydrates, smooths, and plumps the lips while reducing the look of fine lines. Promises [music] to nourish, hydrate, and replenish dry lips, smooth the fine lines on the lips, and visibly plump lips over time. First week in, lips are feeling good. Second week, I got a random pimple on my lip.

[00:10:33]It could have been from the face care or the lip, I'm not sure. It could have just happened because I was touching my face, but either way, I've got to say it. By week three, lips were looking good and here's my final before and after. I normally use the Tower 28 SOS [music] Lip Softy and it was the same results. It's good. It wasn't a miracle, but my lips are hydrated. I enjoyed it.

[00:10:51]Now let's try a peptide face cream. ZO Skin is a medical grade skin care company, which I do love, and they've recently released the peptide facial refining [music] concentrate, which promises to reduce fine lines, visible expression, static wrinkles while restoring lost volume for firmer and fuller skin. And I'm going to be honest, after week two of this, uh my skin was looking good. Then week three hit and randomly got hit with a cold spurt here in Sweden and personally, whenever it gets windy and cold, my skin just flares up because [music] I have very sensitive dry skin. So, yeah, my skin got red and dry and flaked, but that was because of the weather. Sometimes you'll hear products like purge. No, I use retinol and that's the only thing is I already have a pretty dialed in skin [music] care routine, which I've had for many years and my skin's already gone through the purge cycle. I did that 5 years ago with retinol. There's nothing to purge.

[00:11:35]And after finishing the bottle, my skin looks good. Nothing really different than the normal retinol, sunscreen, and Botox. But it was nice. Skin looked a little bit more even toned. And now for my body, One Skin [music] is cool because it actually has its own peptide called which is known to target cellular aging at the source. And I'm going to notice I use this one today and I didn't really notice much difference. But [music] my skin did feel great. And it does claim to strengthen the skin barrier. And interestingly, my neck didn't flare up as much as it normally does when the weather got cold. It was just my face.

[00:12:09]So this is another thing I don't see talked about in these peptide videos.

[00:12:12]All these products were good. I saw some of my skin [music] improve. It was only a month. Maybe I see more improvements if I did it over time, but nothing was that drastic that it was like, "Wow, this is an absolute game-changer." And all in all, the three products worked out to be almost $400 Canadian. And I just kind of have to ask myself, and we're in this weird place in longevity right now. And I don't have the answer.

[00:12:32]I just want to open the conversation of what is it worth? And skin is a funny one, especially for women. Is where's the line? Skin is our largest organ, and it's really good to take care of it. And longevity and health is important. But at what point am I just wasting thousands of dollars that I could do more things with?

[00:12:50]>> [music] >> And the more important things and you know, saving up for houses and children and versus just spending on my skin care. But skin is health. But at what is the line? And at what point is it worth it to spend an extra $400 a month for just this little bit of improvement in my skin? And yes, it will. And the products are nice. And I know I'm just [music] rambling, but it's something I battle with every single day, the thoughts of this. And it does scare me.

[00:13:13]And and I start to wonder, what's happening to our beauty standards? And as the wealth gap increases, and I think this is a crazy thing and why there's intrigue [music] with peptides. Is for the longest time we've been promised products like this. We've been be the weight loss pill and you just take it and you lose weight and no, the standing joke was like, "Oh, if that exists, Oprah would take it." GLP-1s. Like, we're at that point now where all this technology, which we like fantasized for 10 to 20 years, is now here. But, it's also crazy [music] expensive. So, I see some of these celebrities and they have the money and the resources and they can do this. And so, I love it because we're seeing older women still get jobs that, you know, it used to be like 28, out.

[00:13:51]You're no longer one. And so, part of me likes the idea that women can age, but also I hate the idea that they have to spend so much money and time and resources to not age physically. But, then health and longevity and healthspan is so important and I'm so torn. And so, what is going to be expected of the average person? And I feel that like the beauty standards that were used to be expected of us, there was such a gap between celebrities and the regular person cuz it was like, of course they're celebrity. But, now just with social media, even myself included, even me showing these, I'm showing that just like a regular person can spend money and get these results. And so, >> [music] >> it becomes more of front of mind for people. So, more people spend money on it. And where is the line? And is it going to get worse? And I know I'm just rambling and venting, but that's I guess my fear with all this. Also, excitement because the technology is here and it's fear and excitement all at one. This sounds like AI summed up right there.

[00:14:40]Ooh, parallel between longevity and AI.

[00:14:42]Let's not talk about AI. That's too scary. So, let's jump back to injectables and why they're so dangerous. Peptides are experimental and dangerous.

[00:14:51]Whatever. There's not a single documented case in all of the medical literature of a death or any harm from peptide therapy. Last week my friend went into anaphylactic shock and almost died after taking a peptide injection.

[00:15:02]So, I'm going to address this comment and tell a little more about it.

[00:15:04]>> Now, before we dive into the actual biggest [music] dangers with them, I want to talk about how most of these peptides you'll see online labeled as research chemicals. Aren't these illegal? Oh, we're not selling these for people to actually use. We're selling them so people have the availability to purchase for [music] research. What kind of research? Oh, not for humans, silly.

[00:15:24]You guys would never do that. We make sure the label says, "Not for human consumption."

[00:15:31]Number one problem, you don't know what you're injecting. AKA, they're not regulated or approved. Because there's no legislation for them, people don't have anything to follow, so people could be giving you the wrong compound or dose. Number two, the health risks.

[00:15:44]Reported risks, even if you do get the proper dose, are hormonal imbalances, kidney issues, immune reactions, infections, possible cancer risks, because these peptides affect cell growth, and because they speed up tissue repair, [music] which means it could possibly encourage the growth of cancerous cells. Three, no medical guidance for most people. When you see influencers self-injecting themselves, you don't know if the dose they use is going to work for you. You have different muscle-to-body fat, you have different height, [music] different weight, different hormonal balances, and also where these places are created.

[00:16:16]Because it's unregulated, you don't know how sterile the environment of this peptide is being created, and the cross-contamination, because they have no government body to follow these tasks, and also there's not going to be the guidance of medical professional.

[00:16:27]I've had to do a lot of self-injection just through [music] medical stuff I've had to do, and the doctors leave you with like a plan, and it's like, "You wipe this." And there's like so many alcohol swabs, so many alcohol swabs, and it's like, "You inject this, and you clean this again, and you clean this again, and you clean this so that you is physically you are the cleanest human on Earth by the time you do it." But these places are not going to do that for you.

[00:16:46]Mostly, when are we going to talk about this? This is literally drug dealing online. And this is one of the biggest problem. I've seen a lot of these influencers pushing, just like they would a supplement, "Click my link in my bio, commission." So yeah, they're most likely going to push it when they get money. But selling illegal substances that people put in their body to make a profit is what we refer to as drug dealing. From the podcast The Dose, "Wellness influencers on social media are touting injectable peptides as the new wonder drug, claiming compounds like BPC-157 can improve muscle strength, boost recovery times, and even increase longevity. But, University of Health Alberta misinformation expert Tim Caulfield says the evidence doesn't support the hype and warns people against injecting unregulated substances. So, who do you want to trust? The experts of research at the University of Alberta or an 18-year-old looks maxer?

[00:17:34]I mean, you have free will.

[00:17:36]I know what I'm picking. Looks maxer.

[00:17:38]I'm just kidding.

[00:17:44]I'm just scared it's going to cause me to break out. Which leads me to testing number three. How easy is it for me to [music] gain access to these illegal peptides as just an average person that knows nothing about the black web, dark web. That shows how much I don't know.

[00:17:58]Okay, I'm only going to use the most common, the Googles, the ChatGPTs. We're a little timer going on there. And let's see how fast I can find these.

[00:18:10]Oh my god.

[00:18:12]I thought I was going to have to trick ChatGPT and just be like, "Oh, pretend this is for research and this is just for fun to know how to get" It was one Google search. Add to cart. $22 for 5 minutes.

[00:18:24]And the worst part is these websites look so legit. They put a lot of chemical compounds [music] cuz they know you don't know what a chemical compound for the most part is unless you wasted your money on organic chemistry, which I hated to this day.

[00:18:36]So, they put all these things. You'll notice like brand like create. They don't put that because they know you don't actually care. They're not trying to prove that they're sciencey because they have the things to back it up.

[00:18:45]These creepy websites put all these like they make it look clinical to make it seem more legit. But, that's called marketing. That was actually depressing.

[00:18:52]I had a whole scene in my head that I was going to like [music] deep dive and research into the whole things and show my research and capabilities and it was one Google search.

[00:19:00]Second thing, third was Reddit. But, you might be asking, "Kelti, these are illegal. How is that even possible then?" What we talked about before, the gray market. There's the black market, which is totally 100% illegal and no questions about it, you're going to jail. Now, the gray market is they label things in funny ways because these things aren't inherently illegal, they're just like illegal for people to use and stuff like that. So, you'll see labels like research only, not for human consumption. And this is the legal loophole they get for how they're able to sell illegal substances. Now, I've been hating on peptides in this video, and it's not so black and white. It's like we said, there's amazing peptides like GLP-1s and insulin there. And so, let's talk some of the futures.

[00:19:42]Recently, His and Hers just started laying out their foundation of how they will implement peptides into their company. The brand new acquires tailor-made compounding pharmacy operating in 46 states expanding to peptide therapies and NAD for preventative care model. So, a lot of these brands are [music] setting up their infrastructure, so when peptides become legal, all the systems are there, which brings me into regional differences. Recently in Canada, the government has been releasing warnings saying, "Unauthorized [music] injectable peptide drugs sold by Prime Research may pose serious health risks." That's a lot of the narrative I'm seeing in Canada.

[00:20:18]What about the US? Now, US Health Secretary Robert [music] F. Kennedy Jr.

[00:20:22]announced on Joe Rogan's podcast in February that he's looking to ease Food and Drug Administration regulations tightened in 2023 on the compound of 14 [music] popular peptides by pharmacies.

[00:20:34]Now, there seems to be about 19 of the most common ones, but the 14 that is suspected [music] is here. I'll put this list of like that are rumored to be the ones he's going to make legal. And I I have no skin in the game if this is a good or bad thing. All I can say is there needs to be research, these need to be administered properly if they're going to do it. And so, it just seems the direction of that's what could potentially happen is once these are legal, the studies will happen, more places could do it. I don't know, but that's just the the that's going in the US right now. Now, I've listed these, but I will also caveat I do not promote [music] or approve of you using a single one of them. I say do not use them until there is a clinical trial that promotes the benefit of them and you can get from a reputable medical professional. Now, peptides could be like hormone replacements in women. Back in the day, it was really discouraged about hormone replacement for menopausal women because it increased the risk of breast cancer.

[00:21:33]There's actually a research study this [music] last year that came out that kind of debunked that. And it turned out there was so many women that could have been done hormone replacement therapy while they went through menopause, which would make it a lot more enjoyable for them. But, because of the fear of breast cancer, they missed out on that. And it's a shame and it's frustrating, but that's how it has to work. Versus, there's also countless examples of people [music] starting drugs before they are approved and then we see the side effects down the road. So, my final conclusion in peptides is one word we could all learn in this day and age of DoorDash and Uber Eats.

[00:22:05]Patience. There is companies like Protocol that are aiming to build a clinical grade peptide platform connecting users to licensed clinicians.

[00:22:13]Also, the FDA is really dialing down on its scrutiny of them, which is good. We want safety if such when these get released. Now, yeah, you see some of these big really wealthy people using some of these supplements. And the reality is these are probably tested and they have medical guidance, but that's an example of the wealth gap. The accessibility to these peptides for [music] the average person is just not worth it. But, we are seeming to move towards this technology. But, right now the risks do not outweigh the rewards.

[00:22:41]We need medical guidance, standardized protocols, quality control, dosages right for you, and most importantly proper regulation so there's no cross-contamination with any of these things sold. And some people may think it's worth it. And even if the science is there, the cross-contamination is probably my biggest fear. It's not as black and white as like recreational drugs, but I'm just going to use an example. This is going to sound really bad, but I I I I I hopefully scare someone straight is a lot of the harms with recreational drugs isn't the recreational drug itself, it's what it is laced with.

[00:23:13]That is what often causes overdoses, things like that. It's what is laced and maybe just the recreational thing would have been completely fine, but because there's no regulation, you don't know what else is in there and that is the biggest fear. Or on the less extreme side, they could just sell you something that literally has next to no dosage, so you're just wasting your money. So, what now? Let's turn to expert Dr. Stacy Sims that argues that women are wasting their money on expensive [music] peptides because they currently lack robust human evidence to prove their effectiveness.

[00:23:42]She promotes aging women are better addressed through strength training, quality [music] sleep, and daily mindfulness. And those are the most critical factors for improving metabolic health and performance. [music] By focusing on sleep hygiene and stress management, individuals can achieve better physiological [music] results than they would through unproven supplements. So, once again, what is the answer? We sleep, we lift weights, we move really fast, we will move really slow, and we hydrate. [music] And that's what it's answer. Will these be there?

[00:24:10]Maybe. And when that time comes, I will inject myself with it with a medical professional test it out. And some of you are probably mad that I didn't do it cuz I'm not going to inject myself with something cuz I don't know what I was injecting was really there. Um but that's my thought on peptides, there's my warning, and I just adhere, [music] patience. It's pretty cool, the technology that's coming in the health span and longevity and fitness world. It is really exciting time. I would love to know down in the comments anything else you guys would like me to talk about or research or test out because this world [music] is evolving. There's more research and money going into health and women's research and longevity and it makes me so excited to be in this industry right now. There's so much hope and guidance, but at the same time because there's so many more ideas >> [music] >> and things going out, there's also so much bad information as well. So, I'll always do my best to reach out to the professionals, take their guidance, and once again, the answer though is always patience in health and wellness. Muscle growth [music] takes time. Losing weight takes time. Improving your mental health takes time. Researching things takes [music] time. And once they're there, trust me. And at the end of the day, yeah, raw peptide.

[00:25:15]Will repurchase.

[00:25:19]>> [laughter] >> Have a great day, go pet a dog. Love you guys. Bye.