Anna Howe 0:04

Welcome to Vitality by Design, the podcast where we explore what it really means to live longer and better.

Carey Howe 0:13

We're your hosts, Anna and Carey, coming to you from Costa Rica, home to one of the world's blue zones, where longevity isn't a trend, it's a way of life.

Anna Howe 0:24

Each week we dive into the science, strategies, and mindset behind optimal health and intentional living. Blending modern longevity research with the rhythms, values, and wisdom of life well lived. Because longevity isn't just about adding years to your life, it's about adding life to your years. Let's dive in.

Carey Howe 0:50

Okay, we're started. Episode 4, Peptides Part 1.

Anna Howe 0:54

Today we're stepping into one of the most talked-about and misunderstood topics in modern longevity. Peptides. If you've been hearing about peptides but still don't fully understand what they are or why everyone's talking about them, this episode is for you.

Carey Howe 1:12

This has been a long time coming. This is probably one of the most requested topics we've gotten so far.

Anna Howe 1:19

Peptides. Everyone's talking about them, but at the same time, I feel like no one is really explaining them clearly.

Carey Howe 1:27

Yeah, it's either very clinical or it's people just throwing out names without context.

Anna Howe 1:34

And I'll be honest, I was one of those people at first. I remember hearing all of these names and thinking, what is this? And why is everyone suddenly injecting themselves?

Carey Howe 1:44

And that's a very normal first reaction.

Anna Howe 1:47

So today we're breaking it all down from the beginning. What peptides are, how they work, why they've become so popular, and also the reality behind the legal side of things.

Carey Howe 1:59

And we'll also go through the most talked-about peptides, what people are using them for, and what is the driving, uh, what is driving the interest.

Anna Howe 2:10

Okay, so let's start simple. What is a peptide?

Carey Howe 2:15

At the most basic level, peptides are short chains of amino acids. And amino acids are the building blocks of proteins.

Anna Howe 2:25

So they're not like traditional medications?

Carey Howe 2:27

Not in the typical sense. Think of them more as messengers for your body. They signal your body to carry out processes it already knows how to do.

Anna Howe 2:39

That was a big mindset shift for me. When I first started learning about peptides, I thought it was I thought that I was adding something foreign into my body.

Carey Howe 2:49

Right.

Anna Howe 2:50

But really, it's more like you're reminding your body to do something that it may not be doing efficiently anymore.

Carey Howe 2:58

That's a great way to frame it. I mean, your body already uses peptides naturally. Insulin is a peptide, for example. You're just sort of waking up the signals. Imagine a traffic cop sitting at a stop sign and he's fallen asleep and all the cars are backed up. Well, you you're clubbing him over the head and waking him up, and now the car's going past, you know? So it's kind of like you're just waking up things that already happened in your body.

Anna Howe 3:28

Yeah. So which I didn't even know at the time, and that made it feel a lot less intimidating. It feels like peptides just came out of nowhere, but that's not actually the case. So how long have they been around?

Carey Howe 3:46

So peptides have been around for quite some time. Um the the Russians have been studying them for almost 50, 60 years now. Wow. And most of the studies that are out there have been in Russian, and you won't find them here in in English. Uh you won't find them in Spanish either for that matter. But they've been around for a very long time. They're just now becoming popular. Um, you know, due to internet and people using them more frequently. And uh there are some that are fairly new that work very well.

Anna Howe 4:22

Well, yeah, that and that was my next question is so why now? Why are they so popular? Why are why now is everyone suddenly talking about them?

Carey Howe 4:30

Well, a few things are converging. You obviously we have much more access to information, um, social media influencers and a shift towards optimizing health, um, not just treating illness.

Anna Howe 4:47

I think that last one is huge. People don't want to just hear you're fine anymore.

Carey Howe 4:53

Right. They want to feel good, perform better, recover faster. And I think for the most part, people are sort of understanding that um, you know, the way medicine has been pitched to them in the past is not necessarily always the the right way. Uh there's a lot of things we could talk about, you know, just on that topic alone, right? But yes. Um I think that most mostly people hear all this information and they want to feel good, perform better, and recover faster and they hear about these things and they they you know they want to take them.

Anna Howe 5:28

And then I'll say from ex like personal experience, I was going to doctors and getting labs and and technically everything looked normal. And that's what they would tell me, but I didn't feel optimal. And that's it's always been my experience with, you know, they just take the labs and then everything looks great, you're healthy, and goodbye.

Carey Howe 5:51

Well, that's a pretty common story, right? And you know, something you said in there is normal. You know, what you know, what we understand as normal, um, you know, can be quite different, right? So our our perceptions have changed a little bit. And you know, I think a lot of this came through the COVID era, actually. You know, people were told one thing and then they find out another from you know the biggest names in medicine and the people you're supposed to trust. Turns out that they're not that trustworthy. It's all about money. And most things are about money, you know. Right. And so that's a very common story, right?

Anna Howe 6:23

Yes. Okay, um, let's talk about the part that makes people a little bit uncomfortable, the legality.

Carey Howe 6:31

So, yeah, this is where things can get confusing. Um because peptides, some are now FDA approved and others are not. Uh some are approved for specific medical conditions, but many of the ones being discussed in the wellness and longevity space are classified as research compounds.

Anna Howe 6:56

Which explains why people online speak and code half the time. I didn't get that for the longest time, and then I figured out why they were doing this. And I've noticed that some, you know, influencers, I guess, yeah, that's what they are, influencers. Um, they will they'll they're selling these peptides online and they'll spell some out, but leave a letter out or just make up funny names for them. And I just never really understood why when there's others who talk freely about them.

Carey Howe 7:24

So yeah, exactly. Understandably, you know, they're being very cautious. Um, this is a landscape where um when things aren't approved by the governing bodies, you have to tread cautiously. And how you word things, you know, could end up being exhibit A in a courtroom, you know. So you gotta be careful.

Anna Howe 7:43

Okay. And then so what does that actually mean for someone listening?

Carey Howe 7:48

Uh means that we're talking about research-only compounds and not for human consumption.

Anna Howe 7:54

Mm-hmm. Exactly.

Carey Howe 7:57

If you can read between the lines, right? So what it means is that the research is still evolving and that the regulation is limited, and sourcing and education matter a lot.

Anna Howe 8:10

And also it means that you're stepping outside of traditional medicine.

Carey Howe 8:14

I I think this is the key, right?

Anna Howe 8:16

Yes.

Carey Howe 8:16

And um let's stay here for a second because this part feels really important. Uh yes.

Anna Howe 8:25

Well, yeah, because a lot of people are just frustrated. So they're tired of being told everything is fine when they don't feel fine.

Carey Howe 8:32

Yeah, that word you mentioned before, you know, the gap between normal labs and how you feel is real. Right. So what is normal? You know, we'd we'd have to determine what that is and who says who says that, right?

Anna Howe 8:45

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And I think that where peptides start to feel that's that's where peptides start to feel appealing, basically. It's like, okay, maybe there's another way to support my body.

Carey Howe 8:57

And, you know, these peptides are typically very targeted in how they work.

Anna Howe 9:03

There's also a level of personal responsibility here. People are taking their health into their own hands.

Carey Howe 9:10

Yeah, this is a tough one, right? Because this can be empowering, but it also requires, you know, being informed and then where that information is coming from as well. So this is this whole um sort of gray area, gray market, um, and difference in opinion and you know, and all of these things.

Anna Howe 9:30

Yeah. How do you know how much to take, which one to take, you know, all of these things. It's you know, it's a lot of information and and in a sense, you are putting your health into your own hands, which is empowering and all of those things, but it's also very important to to uh, you know, I don't know, redo your own research and and figure out. Um, so let's um talk about what people are actually noticing as far as benefits.

Carey Howe 9:58

So yeah, these this is kind of where the rubber meets the road, right? So the most people report or people that are using these peptides are reporting that they're getting uh from different ones, right? They're getting better recovery, they're improved sleep, um, better support with fat loss um and not muscle loss, um, improved skin quality. There's a new you know, uh better cognitive thought. There's a world of sort of reports out there on how things have improved, right?

Anna Howe 10:36

Yes. For me personally, one of the first things that I noticed was my sleep. And it it improved so much, and I didn't expect that at all. And also my skin. I I noticed my skin quite a bit that it's it just it's it's improved the elasticity, everything.

Carey Howe 10:54

Well, let's talk about the first one. You know, that's a big one. Sleep, you know, as you if you've listened to any of our podcasts prior, you know how much value we put on sleep and good sleep, and how that import is important to recovery and metabolism and and actually aging and uh longevity. So that's a big one. Um, your skin getting better from yeah, most likely GHK dash cu or the copper peptide, you know, the modern bow tie.

Anna Howe 11:20

Wait, are you allowed to say that? Or scared.

Carey Howe 11:24

No, kidding. It's for topical use, right?

Anna Howe 11:26

Yes, exactly. Well, and also recovery. I work out a lot, and I remember thinking, why am I not so sore the way I usually am? You know, when I cover certain, you know, certain workouts or work certain body parts. Uh, there's typically a day where I do feel sore, and I have not felt that in a very long time.

Carey Howe 11:45

So the good thing about peptides is you really you notice the peptide almost instantaneously. It's literally within seconds, right? So most, right? I'd say that. And this particular area that you're talking about, that's one of the areas people tend to notice very quickly. You go to the gym and you, you know, used to be able to work out your top, you know, at your your back, and then maybe your forearms, and then you're sore for a day, and then you can come back two days later and do it. Now, this this eliminates that whole process. Your recovery, you can literally work the whole body every day if you wanted to. Now we know that that's not good. You should have recovery days and whatnot, but but you can, and your recovery is um very quick. And that is definitely something that people notice very quickly.

Anna Howe 12:30

Yeah, that's huge. Um, I do want to say, and this is very important. I have this is not magic. I'm still doing all the basics. I'm eating well, I'm moving my body, I prioritize sleep, I don't drink alcohol. I is my body is uh like very healthy and it's a clean foundation, it's a strong foundation to be able to take these peptides. It's you know, you can't treat your body like trash and then inject yourself and think that you know it's gonna work. It it just doesn't work that way.

Carey Howe 13:04

So I mean that thought process is is is corrupt uh already, right? You you can't uh you can't put superfuel into a moped and think it's gonna act like a Ferrari, right? That's just Oh, that's a good analogy. I like that a lot. And anytime someone's mentioning something is magic or um guaranteed or all these things, you know, stay far away. That's probably a better time to start asking some better questions and educate yourself a little more before uh moving forward with any peptide for that matter.

Anna Howe 13:39

Yes.

Carey Howe 13:39

Um, but the foundation still matters.

Anna Howe 13:42

100%. Um, let's talk about some of the most popular peptides. Um, it was kind of hard to actually get this list together because there are so many that even are coming out every day that are more and more popular. But let's just start with um what I feel is the most common entry point, which is CJC uh 1295 and epamorlin.

Carey Howe 14:05

So um Ipamorlin, sorry. I'd have to disagree that that's the most common entry point. I think that the most common entry point is BPC and TB500. Yes, because you have to um there's stages to this, right? Like you might my terminology is you can't put you know rocket fuel into a moped and expect it to to drive like a Ferrari. Well, you know, that's that's a good analogy because you have to get, we talked about this before mitochondria, you have to get the repair done to your mitochondria and your inner workings. Like it's much like uh making sure that if you're delivering energy throughout the body, that the roads that the trucks you know go out to fix the energy lines are are the trucks are new and gassed up and that the roads that they get to the places are all nicely paved, right? Right. So that's why I would argue that um CJC 1295 and hypermorlin obviously is a very, very good one for sleep, and we really put a high value on sleep, but I would argue that BPC and TB500 are the number ones. But let's move along. Yeah, this is well let's talk about talk about hypermorlin, right? Okay, yeah.

Anna Howe 15:14

I was just gonna say since we're on there, let's just talk about the CJC and hypomorlin. So um, yeah, it's it's it's basically a growth hormone releasing peptide. And so what that means is it stimulates your body to produce more of its own growth hormone, right?

Carey Howe 15:32

Which is really an important distinction, right? This is it's about signaling, not replacing, remember? Yes. Uh CJC helps extend the half-life of growth hormone release. And ipermoralin triggers pulses in a more selective way. So this is typically going to be taken at night, and because that's when these things, uh, the signaling to these parts of your of your um biology are are needed.

Anna Howe 15:58

Yes. And so what are people noticing? And I take this, and I just started this a month ago, and I I feel that I agree with this um list of people that what people are noticing is deeper sleep, improved recovery, better body composition, and sometimes improved skin quality. And um, the sleep for me was the biggest shift. And I I felt noticeably uh like I was getting deeper sleep in my deep sleep and my REM sleep.

Carey Howe 16:25

Yeah. And you know, this is just scratching the surface of what you mentioned there. That sure right away you'll notice the deeper sleep, improved recovery, uh, body composition, and sometimes improved skin quality. But there's more things to it. You know, this peptide is particularly helpful for women in um perimenopause or premenopause, and there's definitely some studies that show that there's improvement for that. There's just a a lot of good things that that um ipermoralin, CJC help with.

Anna Howe 16:56

Yes. Um okay, so let's go back to the BPC 157. Um this one has a reputation, right?

Carey Howe 17:07

Yeah, it does. BPC is known for supporting healing, especially tendons, ligaments, muscles, and even the gut. Now, this what what it is is that it's derived from a compound you already have, like all of them are. Um think of the, you know, when you get a cut in your mouth, the the wound heals 10 times faster than if you have a cut on your knee. Yeah, let's just say, right? And this is what what you're doing, but you're producing that throughout your body. So if your mitochondria that are a little bit frayed or aged or some the membrane is not completely optimum, BPC is gonna help with it. Uh people people report feeling uh vivid dreams and and and waking up with you know all these crazy dreams. But what it is, it's actually repairing the membrane in in your um hippocampus, which is gonna allow you to have better thought processes. So it's literally helping every membrane in your whole body, right?

Anna Howe 18:09

That's amazing.

Carey Howe 18:10

So um this and then something you already have in your gut and in your mouth.

Anna Howe 18:15

Yeah, and it helps also with inflammation reduction.

Carey Howe 18:18

Correct. Um and people report faster recovery. This is the faster recovery time. We talked about working out recovery times. Um so the the the nicer the the membranes are that that surround every cell in your body and and everything within your body, um, this is gonna help faster recovery from injuries. Um, and that's a big reason for its popularity, especially amongst athletes. And you it's in and out of your system very, very fast. So you literally can take this morning and night, and that's okay.

Anna Howe 18:54

Yeah. Yeah, that's true. And then um TB500, that's often paired with BPC.

Carey Howe 19:00

Yeah, this is um a little more systemic, but you know, it's they go together like peanut butter and jelly. You know, it's like one goes with the other. I mentioned the terminology that, you know, one's making the roads nice and paved, and the other one's making sure that it's in a nice brand new truck riding down those roads, right? Yeah. And so that's a good way to describe it. Yeah, it supports healing throughout the body, um, TB500, cell migration, blood flow, and inflammation reduction. This is um very helpful for um heart problems patients, you know, and I don't know if we can really say that, you know, but um people have reported that. Um it's a full body support peptide and it works hand in hand with BPC. So it goes around clearing the path for BPC to heal all the membranes in your body.

Anna Howe 19:56

Okay, so it's more of a full body support.

Carey Howe 19:59

Correct.

Anna Howe 20:00

Great. Okay, this is a good one. I really like this one. G H K C U uh copper. It's a copper peptide.

Carey Howe 20:08

Yeah, so this peptide is um is a little different. You know, not only is it a different color when you see it.

Anna Howe 20:15

Um, it's where wellness meets aesthetics, my favorite.

Carey Howe 20:19

It's sort of uh referred to as, you know, as the new Botox, right? But for no better term. But it does take some time, this one, to take effect. You know, it's not like you put it in and you feel it in 15 seconds, your skin's better. That's not how it works. Well, it's not magic, right? Right, but it supports collagen production, skin regeneration, and hair growth. And they're actually finding out a lot more. Uh, I mean, that's the outward signs, but there's a lot more inward health that's happening as well with this peptide. That's that's fantastic.

Anna Howe 20:47

So interesting. I just always thought it was, you know, just like an outward sign. So so basically it helps with um skin elasticity and fewer fine lines and overall skin quality. And then you're talking about now other benefits.

Carey Howe 21:02

Yeah, it definitely gives you a little bit more of. I mean, when you take GHKHCU for a month or so, you're definitely going to notice an improvement in your skin. Um, your hair. People notice their um eyelashes are a lot longer and fuller. Um this is even sprayed topically. This is a great topical. You spray this topically. I spray this topically on my face. After I clean my face at night, I spray this on. Um, it tightens up your skin. You can feel it, right? And this is used uh in in aesthetics clinics for microneedling and whatnot. After the treatment, they spray it on and it and it helps whatever you're putting on it. Let's say salmon DNA or whatever, it helps penetrate uh into the signaling pathways a little deeper. So whatever you're using on there, whatever serum, whether it be plasma, blood plasma, whatever, it helps it sort of penetrate a little bit nicer. Yeah. Beautiful big time, yeah.

Anna Howe 22:01

Yeah, it is. I've definitely noticed uh huge changes in um my I mean, my hair always has grown fast and all those things, but I I notice it even more now. And my skin feels tighter and it's wonderful. I'm gonna be 52 years old this year, you know, so that's important to me. Yeah, so I'm trying to prolong my facelift. So so far, I'm and again, I don't want to, it's not magic, but yes, I have definitely noticed uh an improvement and definitely elasticity on all those things. So great. Um, okay, let's uh talk about MOT C. This one's fascinating. I take this one.

Carey Howe 22:34

So this here again, it's tied to mitochondrial function. So how your cells produce energy and use fuel. So these are ones that if you're going to start out in peptides, you want to um you you want to get your cells in a good shape so that anything else you take is gonna work better with less correct, with with less amount, right? With less dosage. So think of it that you're just preparing the cellular, your body in at the cellular level to be able to do whether, for instance, these are used in uh pre and post-surgery. Like if we're um, if you do surgery, uh let's just say even the dentist's going to get an implant. You do BPC, uh TB500, and this is gonna help your recovery rate much faster. I didn't know that part of that. Add mod seed to the mix, and you and you really got it. This is also something being used now when people go get stem cells. Stem cells have had sort of you know good results and bad results, but people haven't prepared themselves on a cellular level to be ready to take the cells and for those stem cells to then propagate and and multiply instead of dying.

Speaker 1 23:48

Right.

Carey Howe 23:48

So if you're not preparing your body to accept them, you probably have a high chance of failure, right? Which is why we get such mixed results. So these are now being used as pre and post uh stem cell treatments, pre and post surgery. Um, but like I say, there's um, you know, doctors are afraid to, they know they want to use them, they're afraid to use them because they're not approved.

Anna Howe 24:11

Right, right. So it's it's a lot deeper than just more energy because when I think of MOTC and how I feel from it is for me, I just have always thought of it as oh, I have tons of energy.

Carey Howe 24:23

I mean, simply saying it is tied to mitochondrial function and it helps your cells produce energy and use the fuel, the ATP. We talked about ATP.

Anna Howe 24:34

Yeah.

Carey Howe 24:34

Um, so yeah.

Anna Howe 24:36

But it's more about metabolic efficiency, is what you're saying.

Carey Howe 24:39

So correct.

Anna Howe 24:40

Okay, um, NAD plus. This one is wonderful. This is everywhere. This technically is not a peptide. I have taken this from the beginning. I started in December around Christmas time, and I take this. Well, it stings a little bit for me with the amount of water I was putting in. So now I I put more water, so I basically inject every single day because it's less, you know, it's less potent, I guess. But this has absolutely changed my life. I feel so energetic. I feel so good. Like I please let's talk about this one. It's it's just everywhere, this NAD.

Carey Howe 25:14

This one is approved, by the way. And so it plays a key role in cellular energy and DNA repair. Um helps repair things that decline with age, right? And so people report better focus, more energy, more clarity. Um, here again, it's another one of those ones you can take as much as you can handle, right? And so when I say as much as you can handle, it does sting a little bit. So um everybody can use NAD if you're over 30 years old, right? You start declining.

Anna Howe 25:49

But um And they do it like um they have the in then I UV, you can do it, or they have like supplements, which I believe that doesn't quite work as well, the supplements. But the peptide NAD, I mean again, sorry, it's not actually a peptide, but injecting NAD, I believe, is the best way and for the best results.

Carey Howe 26:09

And yeah, you want to touch on the the um ingesting peptides part, or are we gonna leave that out for something? Because it's important to know that um ingesting peptides, it's it's gotta go through your stomach barrier in order to get through to your bloodstream, which is gonna lose efficiency, you know, 80-90% of its efficiency. These are subcutaneous injections, or just don't do them.

Anna Howe 26:38

Yeah, you're just wasting your time, wasting your money. I mean, for what?

Carey Howe 26:41

So it's just well, that's because they're approved to take uh you know, to ingest them, but do they work? Uh is a different question.

Anna Howe 26:50

Yeah. So, but yeah, it's a wonderful, wonderful thing. I it it's for better focus, energy, and clarity, and it's just great all around. So um glutathione. This is the master antioxidant.

Carey Howe 27:04

So this supports detoxification and protects against oxidative stress. It's also very controversial though, too, because um definitely as a cancer patient, you do not want to be taking glutathione. It's very, I mean, even to the taste, it's sweet, it's sugary, right? So um this this one, uh, you definitely don't just go willy-nilly taking it before you've done some labs and make sure that you're super cancer free and you don't have tumors or anything like that going.

Anna Howe 27:37

Okay. Okay. I didn't know that about glutathione. Okay, so this next one, it deserves a moment. Retatrutide.

Carey Howe 27:49

Retatrutide.

Anna Howe 27:51

Everyone loves this. Everybody loves this.

Carey Howe 27:53

Yeah, this, you know, the the 600-pound gorilla in the room, right? So this is heavily studied. Eli Lilly has done a huge uh study on this, um, giving five times more than the normal dosage to people and still no problems. Um this is a triple agonist. It works on GLP1, GIP, and glucagon receptors. Um that's what makes it very different.

Anna Howe 28:23

Yes, because it's not just an appetite suppression, right? It also increases energy expenditure, expenditure, sorry. So your body's eating less but uh burning more.

Carey Howe 28:33

Exactly. It um just to mention a few things, because like the studies are in on this, but just uh to mention a few things, um, your metabolic rate, your insulin sensitivity, your blood sugar rec regulation, your fat oxidation. People report coming off statins on um on this, their blood pressure gets reduced. Uh it's really got a lot of good upside to it. They're even saying it's one of the most anti-cancer drugs. I've heard that.

Anna Howe 29:05

I've read that and heard that, and you know, different different doctors, different studies. So this is more of a full metabolic shift. It's not just weight loss.

Carey Howe 29:14

A complete reset of your metabolic system. It's absolutely fantastic. Um, this is one that I recommend for everybody. Now, here again, remember, we don't put rocket fuel in the moped. We we need we we we gotta you know do this in stages. Let you gotta get your mitochondria and your your cells healthy on a cellular level and then move into reditru type.

Anna Howe 29:41

Okay, that's good. Um kiss peptin. It's more like a niche like type peptide, right? Like what role does it play?

Carey Howe 29:52

Um so this is a very important one because it plays a role in hormone signaling and reproductive health. Right. So this is one that can increase uh libido.

Anna Howe 30:06

Um, that's always good, right?

Carey Howe 30:09

Yeah, for certain people. But um, yeah, this is definitely one that's good for reproductive health too. Um a lot of uh a lot of fertility clinics and and whatnot are starting to get wind of some of these things. And you know, they won't you go to a fertility doctor and talk about it, they're not gonna prescribe you this, but they're very well aware of what the benefits are, but but they're not gonna put their license on the line and tell you to do something that's not approved, right? Right, right. But there's certainly very positive reports back from from those kind of instances.

Anna Howe 30:48

Okay. Now this one is I don't know why I find this so funny or weird or something, but it's melan melanotan too. It's a tanning peptide. What is it?

Carey Howe 31:01

Yeah, you know, to be quite honest, this is probably one of the ones that I tried maybe 15 years ago.

Anna Howe 31:08

Did you?

Carey Howe 31:09

Yeah. Um so yeah, it does. It gives you a nice golden tan. But what um what it does also is that if you have any like dark spots or moles or anything like that, it makes them darker. Dark, like black. So you have you know these black spots. So if you have spots, do not, you know, do this. But yes, there is a tanning peptide. I, for one, don't take it anymore, that's for sure. Um but yeah, it stimulates melanin production, which affects your skin pigmentation.

Anna Howe 31:41

Interesting. Okay. Um, epitalon. This is a good one. This is a longevity focused.

Carey Howe 31:48

Yeah, so this is a great one, right? And and the beauty about this one is that um it's studied for its role in cellular aging and telomere support. I don't know if you're familiar with telomeres and what they are, but um telomeres are like think of them like uh the the plastic piece at the end of your shoelace, right? Is that um your telomeres are what tells us from your cells in your body what age you are. So if your telomeres are long, you're typically younger, biologically younger, right? Okay, not necessarily chronologically. So epitalon is something that elongates your telomeres, and as your cells replicate, the telomeres are replic are are regenerating cells with long telomeres. So you're literally um re literally reversing aging. Okay, I need to take this like ASAP. Okay, so here again, you know, we don't put rocket fuel in the moped. So that you gotta get your yourself in shape, cellular level, you know, BPC, T V 500, Matsy, those things.

Anna Howe 33:00

Do you take this?

Carey Howe 33:02

I do, but here's the here's the kicker with this one. This is taken for one cycle, um, once or twice a year.

Anna Howe 33:11

Okay. And the reason being is, I mean, that's when it does its job, it sent it signaling. It does its job.

Carey Howe 33:18

Your cells now have longer telomeres, and it and they're replicating cells with longer telomeres. So you let your cells replicate. Your body replicates every single cell in it every seven years, right? Okay, so basically what you're doing is if you're doing this twice a year in uh seven years, every cell in your body will have longer telomeres.

Anna Howe 33:38

Okay, I'm starting this like tomorrow.

Carey Howe 33:41

Yeah, it's it's definitely the longevity focused um peptide for sure.

Anna Howe 33:47

Okay, great. Oh, I know you really like these two. Celank and CMAX. This is brain focused.

Carey Howe 33:55

Right. So um here again, you got to have your cells in the right uh, you know, state. This is not something you start day one of doing peptides after you you've been doing a few and and things are going well. Um you can use this peptide for um mood focus cognitive function. Um your your mood, and CMAX is sort of more stimulating. Uh for me, I noticed my Spanish is better when I take CMAX. Look at it.

Anna Howe 34:29

It has gotten better, I noticed.

Carey Howe 34:31

Yeah, and so I feel I can speak better Spanish when I'm taking CMAX. And here again, this is kind of um you can do this on Monday and not on Tuesday, and on Friday, when you have a big meeting day, you want to do again, you can do it, right? Just do it in the morning and and your thought process is good. It's not something you have to continually do, but you can continually do it and it's fine.

Anna Howe 34:53

Okay. Well, those are just the the ones that I had on my list. I mean, as being the most popular, that's just my list. If you are you want to talk about any others that you think are the most popular? I mean, there's so many peptides.

Carey Howe 35:06

There's so many, and and even the ones that we've just mentioned, I feel like we just tapped the surface on them. Yeah, I literally have 30-page booklets on each and every one of them that I've put together after doing years of research on them, right? And so um, yeah, we definitely can go deeper into this and and and whatnot. But for for for just this right now, the surface portion of it, I think you've mentioned a good start for anybody. Like so anybody just getting into peptides, definitely BPC157, TB500, MOTC, and I would say at that point then Redatrutide. You know, but that's a good start.

Anna Howe 35:53

Oh, and GHK, don't forget about the beauty, the beauty peptide. Yeah, the uh the the important one.

Carey Howe 35:58

The important one. Women always want this one, right? So that the GHK is is very, very good. And by the way, uh GHK has shown results not only in topical, but but in subcutaneous injection for balding.

Anna Howe 36:14

Oh, yes, I have heard that.

Carey Howe 36:15

Yeah, yes. Uh people are now even microneedling it um with the microneedling machine into the balding spots.

Anna Howe 36:22

Yes, I have heard that. Definitely. Wow, that's amazing.

Carey Howe 36:25

Whether they admit to it or not is another thing, and whether they can advertise it is another thing too. So this is all very gray area. Yeah, and you know, hopefully years from now, that um it won't be gray area and it'll just be common knowledge.

Anna Howe 36:39

And plugs are gonna be a uh thing of the past for some.

Carey Howe 36:43

Correct, right?

Anna Howe 36:45

Um, all right. Well, uh, let's talk about some risks. We have to ground this.

Carey Howe 36:52

Yes, this uh just like anything you're putting into your body, it isn't risk-free, right? I will say that what I've heard the majority of all the problems are kind of at the site of injection problems. Cleanliness is number one.

Anna Howe 37:06

Like you have to disinfect the disinfect your needles.

Carey Howe 37:09

Don't use blunt needles, use new needles. Needles are super cheap. Um buy a lot of them, use them um, use them generously, you know, use them one for one, one for each shot. Um, there are some ways to to sort of curb having to take four shots. People backfill needles where you just put all four of the peptides into one needle.

Anna Howe 37:33

As long as they work well together, you know, the pH balances of them and everything.

Carey Howe 37:37

pH balance, yeah. And we there's that's another discussion for itself, right?

Anna Howe 37:41

Yes. But yeah, disinfecting the vial, the actual vial on top where you're gonna do it, and then your your injection site, you have to disinfect that too, with just an alcohol swab. Correct.

Carey Howe 37:50

And there's other issues too.

Anna Howe 37:51

Oh, okay, yeah. So um there, yeah, the other issues are sourcing issues and then dosing confusion. Um, and then there there is limited long-term data, of course, but I think the dosing confusion, which it depends which peptide you, you're not gonna overdose, you know, on something like NAD, right?

Carey Howe 38:08

No, but you might get a little dizzy from too much, right? So there's all these things. This is why education is everything. You know, start with education before you put anything in your body. Um, sourcing issues, yes, this is um definitely an issue, but um, it's also used in the wrong way. People fear monger with this now. And I've seen um, oh, you could be injecting metals and stuff. And here's the deal most peptides are made in China. And that's the truth, yes. And um, these are run by American companies in China and India, very clean labs and everything else, right? And the 503B pharmacy sort of like approval now is literally those same peptides coming to America and then being tested in a 503B pharmacy, and now they're considered safe. The same peptide, it just got tested by somebody you trust. Exactly. So that's not a bad thing, but um, that is uh it's not like everything from China is bad and everything from that's tested in the United States is good. It's literally the same, right? So uh and the dosing confusion is one of the big things, right? Um, there's a lot of confusion about that. Um, here again, education is everything, and the limited long-term data. Um this is also questionable, right? So the Russians have been using these for a long, long time. Um, just the studies in English are not you know, are not done. And so you won't find it like that. And then, you know, it's it's no secret that these peptides are definitely interfering with the wallets of big pharma. And so however things can be suppressed, they're gonna be suppressed. So, you know, without sort of uh inserting our foot and mouth and saying bad things about the American Medical Association and Big Pharma and whatnot, we just leave it at that.

Anna Howe 40:03

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, for me, this has just been about learning and curiosity.

Carey Howe 40:08

Yeah, and and using tools thoughtfully, right?

Anna Howe 40:12

Yeah, it's not a shortcut, but a way to support your body.

Carey Howe 40:16

Exactly. It's like you said before, there's nothing that's ma anybody telling you that something's magical or that is gonna cure this, that, or the other, you know, I would start asking better questions and and and learn about it before and understanding the space which is still evolving.

Anna Howe 40:34

Yes. So, all right, that was our deep dive into peptides starting from the ground up.

Carey Howe 40:40

And this is just the beginning.

Anna Howe 40:42

In our next episode, we're gonna go much deeper talking about how people are actually using peptides.

Carey Howe 40:48

Yeah, some protocols, some how you stack peptides, uh, common mistakes, uh, this kind of thing.

Anna Howe 40:56

And what you really need to know before considering any of this.

Carey Howe 41:00

So if this sparked your interest, you'll want to tune into part two.

Anna Howe 41:06

Thanks for being with us here.

Carey Howe 41:08

And we'll see you next time.

Anna Howe 41:13

Thanks for spending time with us today. If this episode sparked something for you, be sure to subscribe so you don't miss what's next. Share the show with someone who cares about living well and building a longer, more vibrant life.

Carey Howe 41:27

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Anna Howe 41:35

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