The promise of weight loss can make starting a GLP-1 sound straightforward. Michael Blyumin wants patients to understand what they’re taking, what they can realistically expect, and what happens when they stop.

A clinical pharmacist at Stanford Health Care, Michael works with patients managing diabetes and other long-term conditions. He has also co-authored research on medication costs and access.

He joins Richard Skaife to discuss the business behind compounded GLP-1s, his concerns about untested formulations, and why successful treatment involves more than the number on the scales.

He explains:

■ Compounded GLP-1s versus FDA-approved medicines
■ The costs and incentives behind the market
■ Muscle loss, protein and resistance training
■ Weight regain after stopping treatment
■ What newer dual and triple agonists could offer

Chapters

• (00:00) - Intro
• (01:42) - Compounded vs. approved GLP-1s
• (03:35) - Cost, access and profit
• (07:08) - Marketing and untested formulations
• (09:18) - What the media gets wrong
• (13:16) - What happens when you stop?
• (14:09) - Protecting muscle on GLP-1s
• (16:41) - Dual and triple agonists
• (20:42) - The future of GLP-1s
• (22:46) - Changing lives with diabetes

Watch the full episode on YouTube

Further reading

FDA: Information on compounded GLP-1 products, dosing errors and unapproved formulations: FDA’s Concerns with Unapproved GLP-1 Drugs Used for Weight Loss

PubMed Central: Conference abstract examining changes in fat and lean mass in a 140-person STEP 1 substudy. Lean mass includes more than skeletal muscle: Impact of Semaglutide on Body Composition in Adults With Overweight or Obesity: Exploratory Analysis of the STEP 1 Study

PubMed: The STEP 1 extension, following participants for a year after semaglutide and the trial’s lifestyle intervention ended: Weight regain and cardiometabolic effects after withdrawal of semaglutide: The STEP 1 trial extension

PubMed: Research co-authored by Michael Blyumin examining changes to Medicare prescription coverage and the cost of GLP-1 medicines: Assessing the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act on Medicare prescription drug coverage

Read the full transcript

Follow Michael Blyumin

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mgblyumin/

Follow Richard Skaife

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/richardskaife/

Peptide Show

Website: Peptide.Show
Instagram: @Peptide.Show
TikTok: @peptide.show
Facebook: Peptide Show
X: @peptideshow
YouTube: @PeptideShow

Peptide Show explores the science, medicine, business, and people shaping the rapidly evolving world of peptides.

Presented by Longr: longr.io

Follow Peptide Show for new episodes every Tuesday.

This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Some compounds discussed in this episode are investigational, unapproved for the uses discussed, or subject to changing regulatory requirements.

Soviet researchers were studying peptide bioregulators decades before today’s longevity boom. Their work helped reshape Phil Micans’ thinking about food, gene activity and aging. 

A co-founder of International Antiaging Systems and editor of Aging Matters magazine, Phil was drawn into bioregulators by a 2010 lecture in Istanbul. The speaker was Professor Vladimir Khavinson, with whom he would later coauthor a book. 

He joins Richard Skaife to discuss what he observed in Russian clinics, the research involving gas workers in Siberia, and Khavinson’s hypothesis that these compounds could activate a “biological reserve.” 

He explains: 

■ How bioregulators differ from other peptides
■ Natural versus synthetic forms
■ The three bioregulators he prioritizes
■ The Gazprom studies and “biological reserve”
■ Conquering aging versus conquering death

Chapters 

• (00:00) - Intro
• (02:17) - What are bioregulators?
• (04:37) - Food, genes and Soviet science
• (11:47) - Natural vs. synthetic
• (13:35) - Sourcing and quality
• (16:14) - What does Putin know?
• (18:55) - Can peptides extend lifespan?
• (23:31) - Conquering aging

Watch the full episode on YouTube

Further reading

PubMed: Review co-authored by Professor Vladimir Khavinson examining short peptides and gene regulation: Peptide Regulation of Gene Expression: A Systematic Review

PubMed: A 2003 study of thymus and pineal peptide preparations in 266 older adults followed for six to eight years, separate from the Gazprom research: Peptides of pineal gland and thymus prolong human life

Vrach: Related 2016 research on personalized prevention and peptide bioregulation among Gazprom workers. English abstract; full article in Russian: Personified Prevention of Diseases Under the Conditions of the Far North

PubMed: Phil Micans’ paper on aging populations, healthcare costs and preventive medicine: The Need for Anti-aging Medicine

Read the full transcript

Follow Phil Micans

Website: International Antiaging Systems
Publication: Aging Matters magazine
Book: Peptides in the Epigenetic Control of Ageing

Follow Richard Skaife

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/richardskaife/

Peptide Show

Website: Peptide.Show
Instagram: @Peptide.Show
TikTok: @peptide.show
Facebook: Peptide Show
X: @peptideshow
YouTube: @PeptideShow

Peptide Show explores the science, medicine, business, and people shaping the rapidly evolving world of peptides.

Presented by Longr: longr.io

Follow Peptide Show for new episodes every Tuesday.

This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Some compounds discussed in this episode are investigational, unapproved for the uses discussed, or subject to changing regulatory requirements.

Dean Henry has spent more than a decade working with peptides. He has also had enough of everyone calling themselves a biohacker. 
 

As founder of UAE Peptides and Dn Research, and co-founder of Bioniq Lab, he works with individuals and practitioners navigating peptide protocols across Europe and the Middle East. 

His interest in health began long before peptides. A knee injury ended his football ambitions before his 16th birthday. Around the same time, he developed difficulty swallowing, with no clear explanation. Years later, he came to understand it as a stress response. 

That experience still shapes his approach: understand the person before choosing the protocol. 

Today, he sees people comparing stacks before understanding their own health, and questions how much experience some practitioners have with the compounds they recommend. 

Dean believes peptides could change medicine. But he wants people to get the basics right first, and a field full of personal success stories to invest in the human trials that can put those stories to the test. 

He explains:

■ The three mistakes he sees most often when people start using peptides
■ Why he puts gut health and bloodwork before copying someone else’s stack
■ How he distinguishes peptide bioregulators from other peptides
■ Why a medical qualification does not automatically mean peptide expertise
■ Why he believes the gray market will survive, even as regulated access expands

Chapters

• (00:00) - Intro
• (01:35) - Dean’s story
• (04:18) - Stress and the body
• (06:10) - Peptides vs. bioregulators
• (07:37) - The $100 million question
• (09:34) - Three peptide mistakes
• (11:14) - Gut health and peptides
• (13:56) - Are you actually healthy?
• (15:07) - Peptide access and regulation
• (18:51) - Can doctors keep up?
• (23:05) - The future of peptides

Watch the full episode on YouTube

Further reading

FDA: Safety concerns and gaps in human data for compounds discussed in the episode, including BPC-157, KPV, injectable GHK-Cu, and TB-500: FDA: Compounding substances with potential safety risks

PubMed: 2026 review of the animal and human evidence for peptides promoted for recovery and performance, including BPC-157, TB-500, and GHK-Cu: Peptide Supplements and Their Therapeutic Applications in Sports Medicine

PubMed: Review co-authored by Professor Vladimir Khavinson examining short peptides and gene regulation, providing mechanistic background to the bioregulator discussion: Peptide Regulation of Gene Expression: A Systematic Review

NHS: Practical guidance on bowel health, including the Bristol Stool Chart mentioned in the episode: Maintaining a Healthy Bowel

Read the full transcript

Follow Dean Henry

Instagram: @dean.e.henry
Website: Bioniq Lab
Website: Dn Research
Website: UAE Peptides
Education and coaching: The Peptides Academy

Follow Richard Skaife

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/richardskaife/

Peptide Show

Website: Peptide.Show
Instagram: @Peptide.Show
TikTok: @peptide.show
Facebook: Peptide Show
X: @peptideshow
YouTube: @PeptideShow

Peptide Show explores the science, medicine, business, and people shaping the rapidly evolving world of peptides.

Presented by Longr: longr.io

Follow Peptide Show for new episodes every Tuesday.

This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Some compounds discussed in this episode are investigational, unapproved for the uses discussed, or subject to changing regulatory requirements.

Dr. Felice Gersh is an award-winning gynecologist, integrative medicine physician and bestselling author of PCOS SOS and Menopause: 50 Things You Need to Know. 

Estrogen is central to her thinking. It influences appetite, metabolism and many of the peptides your body makes. 

She explains why a GLP-1 injection differs from the hormone made in your gut, and why a peptide’s effects can reach beyond the problem you’re trying to solve. 

She also describes reports of peptide drugs being sold from coolers at gyms. Powerful medicines, treated like supplements. Her concern is what people are injecting, and what repeated use might mean. 

Her hopes for the future are clear: preserving muscle, supporting metabolism and controlling inflammation. She sees properly researched peptides working alongside hormone therapy to help women stay stronger as they age.

She explains:

■ Menopause, metabolism and a changing waistline
■ How estrogen influences your body’s own peptides
■ Why GLP-1 drugs differ from natural GLP-1
■ The unknowns of self-prescribed peptides
■ Where peptides could work alongside hormone therapy

Chapters

• (00:00) - Intro
• (02:25) - Why Dr. Gersh is cautious about peptides
• (04:14) - Peptides, supplements and GLP-1 drugs
• (07:26) - How peptides work in the body
• (09:25) - The risks of self-prescribing peptides
• (12:19) - The FDA and compounding pharmacies
• (15:45) - Supporting natural peptide production
• (17:19) - How estrogen regulates peptides
• (19:59) - Preserving muscle as we age
• (21:28) - Metabolism, inflammation and hormone therapy

Watch the full episode on YouTube

Further reading

Research: A longitudinal study tracking fat mass, lean mass and weight through menopause: Changes in body composition and weight during the menopause transition.

Research: A study in mice and human cells and tissues examining estrogen’s influence on GLP-1 secretion: 17-β Estradiol regulates proglucagon-derived peptide secretion in mouse and human α- and L cells.

The Menopause Society: Hormone therapy, its benefits and risks, and why treatment should be individualized: Hormone Therapy.

NIH: Why muscle loss matters for strength, mobility and independence as we age: Slowing Sarcopenia.

FDA: The role and risks of compounded drugs, and how they differ from FDA-approved medicines: Understanding the Risks of Compounded Drugs.

Read the full transcript

Books by Dr. Felice Gersh

Menopause: 50 Things You Need to Know
PCOS SOS
PCOS SOS Fertility Fast Track

Follow Dr. Felice Gersh

YouTube: @FeliceGershMD
Instagram: @dr.felicegersh
Facebook: @felicegershmd
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/felicegershmd/

Follow Richard Skaife

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/richardskaife/

Follow Peptide Show

Website: Peptide.Show
Instagram: @Peptide.Show
TikTok: @peptide.show
Facebook: Peptide Show
X: @peptideshow
YouTube: @PeptideShow

Peptide Show explores the science, medicine, business, and people shaping the rapidly evolving world of peptides.

Presented by Longr: longr.io

Follow Peptide Show for new episodes every Tuesday.

This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Some compounds discussed in this episode are investigational, unapproved for the uses discussed, or subject to changing regulatory requirements.

Conrad Campbell is a Scotsman building a peptide factory in China. 

After ten years in the military, he built businesses selling furniture, opening gyms, and trading online. Then he entered the peptide business, sourcing products from Chinese manufacturers for clients in the West.

Understanding the supply chain gave him an idea: build a factory of his own. A fairly committed approach to checking your supplier.

Along the way, he learned how the gray market operates. He describes products leaving factories through the back door, passing through warehouses and middlemen, and being sold over WhatsApp. Plenty of people taking a cut. Rather less clarity about who takes responsibility.

Conrad says he wants to make that trade safer and more transparent. His ambitions sit within a much bigger story: empty biotech parks built for future demand, manufacturers planning decades ahead, and a Chinese industry he believes the US will struggle to catch.

He explains:

■ Building a peptide factory in China
■ The gray market’s back doors and middlemen
■ What purity tests don’t tell you
■ Inside China’s empty biotech parks
■ Why America could spend billions and still trail China

Chapters

• (00:00) - Intro
• (03:19) - Building a peptide factory in China
• (04:47) - Why Conrad chose China
• (07:39) - Can America catch up with China?
• (09:57) - From e-commerce to peptides
• (13:42) - Conrad’s business model
• (14:58) - The risks of buying gray-market peptides
• (17:20) - The money behind the peptide trade
• (19:03) - The next 10 years of peptides
• (20:49) - The Limitless pill and better sleep

Watch the full episode on YouTube

Further reading

Research: A study of Chinese suppliers advertising GLP-1 medicines online, including their marketing, shipping, and quality claims: Made in China: The international supply of illicit semaglutide and weight-loss medicines online.

JAMA Network Open: A 2024 study testing semaglutide purchased online without a prescription for drug content, purity, and contamination: Safety and Risk Assessment of No-Prescription Online Semaglutide Purchases.

FDA: Manufacturing standards, quality controls, and why testing a finished product is only part of the process: Facts About Current Good Manufacturing Practice.

FDA: Current concerns around unapproved GLP-1 drugs, including products sold directly to consumers under research-use labels: FDA: Concerns with unapproved GLP-1 drugs.

Read the full transcript

Follow Conrad Campbell

Instagram: @conrad

Follow Richard Skaife

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/richardskaife/

Follow Peptide Show

Website: Peptide.Show
Instagram: @Peptide.Show
TikTok: @peptide.show
Facebook: Peptide Show
X: @peptideshow
YouTube: @PeptideShow

Peptide Show explores the science, medicine, business, and people shaping the rapidly evolving world of peptides.

Presented by Longr: longr.io

Follow Peptide Show for new episodes every Tuesday.

This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Some compounds discussed in this episode are investigational, unapproved for the uses discussed, or subject to changing regulatory requirements.

Ksenia Petrushkina sees the impact of peptides up close.

As Director of Regenerative Medicine at Ideal Medical in Miami, she works with patients using peptides, longevity therapeutics, and regenerative medicine, including people who arrive after already starting protocols they found online.

Before clinical medicine, Ksenia worked in cancer research. It taught her a lesson that still shapes how she thinks about peptides today: what looks extraordinary in a laboratory can fall apart completely in the real world.

Now she sees the problem from the other direction. Patients arrive with gray-market vials, protocols copied from influencers, and stacks containing multiple experimental compounds. Some are teenagers.

Ksenia is not anti-peptide. But she believes enthusiasm is moving faster than the evidence, and that separating promising biology from what is actually proven in humans will determine the future of peptide medicine.

She explains:

■ Why teenagers are buying and injecting peptides they find online
■ Why she has serious reservations about MOTS-c and other heavily promoted compounds
■ Why promising results in petri dishes and mice can fall apart in humans
■ Why stacking multiple peptides makes benefits and side effects almost impossible to untangle
■ Why better safety data and real-world reporting could determine the future of peptide medicine

Chapters

• (00:00) - Intro
• (01:52) - How Ksenia decides which peptides to use
• (03:42) - Why Ksenia won’t recommend MOTS-c
• (06:22) - The problem with gray-market peptides
• (09:09) - What BPC-157 really tells us
• (11:04) - Why peptide stacking makes no sense
• (15:16) - Why doctors need better peptide data
• (21:05) - How influencers distort peptide science
• (23:20) - Why teenagers are injecting peptides
• (26:20) - The future of peptide medicine

Watch the full episode on YouTube

Further reading

FDA: July 2026 Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee review covering BPC-157, TB-500, MOTS-c, and other peptide-related bulk substances: FDA PCAC July 2026 meeting

FDA: Current concerns around unapproved GLP-1 drugs, including retatrutide: FDA: Concerns with unapproved GLP-1 drugs

PubMed: Review of the safety, evidence, and regulatory status of approved and unapproved peptide therapies: Safety and Efficacy of Approved and Unapproved Peptide Therapies

PubMed: 2025 pilot study of intravenous BPC-157 in two human participants, discussed in the episode: Safety of Intravenous Infusion of BPC157 in Humans

Read the full transcript

Follow Ksenia Petrushkina

Instagram: @dr.kseniamiami
Instagram: @kpmiami
X: @drkseniamiami
TikTok: @dr.ksenia.petrushkina305
Website: KseniaPetrushkina.com

Follow Richard Skaife

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/richardskaife/

Peptide Show

Website: Peptide.Show
Instagram: @Peptide.Show
TikTok: @peptide.show
Facebook: Peptide Show
X: @peptideshow
YouTube: @PeptideShow

Peptide Show explores the science, medicine, business, and people shaping the rapidly evolving world of peptides.

Presented by Longr: longr.io

Follow Peptide Show for new episodes every Tuesday.

This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Some compounds discussed in this episode are investigational, unapproved for the uses discussed, or subject to changing regulatory requirements.

For the past 15 years, the fitness and biohacking educator and host of The Dylan Gemelli Podcast has watched peptides move from bodybuilding forums and research chemical sites into the mainstream.

Then the market changed around him.

GLP-1s propelled peptides into public consciousness. BPC-157 became one of the compounds most closely associated with the category. And an underground market expanded alongside them, where suppliers, testing and certificates of analysis can create an appearance of certainty that may not always be justified.

Gemelli believes peptides have far more potential than the handful of compounds dominating the conversation. But he is equally concerned by what happens when consumers buy from unregulated suppliers, assume a COA proves quality, or trust that what is on the label is what is actually in the vial.

He explains:

■ How peptides went from obscure research chemicals to the mainstream
■ Why GLP-1s and BPC-157 have narrowed the public understanding of peptides
■ Why a certificate of analysis does not necessarily prove what is actually in the vial
■ What consumers should understand about underground suppliers, raw materials and peptide testing
■ Why he believes peptides will become more widely accepted, and why he worries about who ultimately controls them

Chapters

• (00:00) - Intro
• (02:09) - Fifteen years in peptides
• (09:17) - How peptides went mainstream
• (13:35) - The GLP-1 and BPC-157 problem
• (16:47) - Peptides beyond GLP-1s
• (19:18) - Protecting muscle on GLP-1s
• (22:11) - Are GLP-1s overprescribed?
• (23:12) - Inside the underground peptide market
• (23:56) - Where peptide raw materials come from
• (25:07) - Why COAs can mislead you
• (26:04) - Suppliers, Reddit and white-labelling
• (29:24) - Who controls the future of peptides?

Watch the full episode on YouTube

Further reading

FDA: Concerns around unapproved GLP-1 drugs, foreign APIs, illegal online sales and products marketed as being for research purposes: FDA: Concerns with unapproved GLP-1 drugs 

FDA: July 2026 Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee meeting covering BPC-157, KPV, TB-500, MOTS-c and other peptide-related bulk substances: FDA PCAC July 2026 meeting 

Read the full transcript

Follow Dylan Gemelli

Instagram: Instagram.com/dylangemelli
X: x.com/DylanGemelli
YouTube: YouTube.com/@DylanGemelliBiohacking
Website: DylanGemelli.com

Follow Richard Skaife

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardskaife/

Peptide Show

Website: Peptide.Show

The Peptide Show explores the science, medicine, business and people shaping the rapidly evolving world of peptides.

Presented by Longr: longr.io

Follow The Peptide Show for new episodes every Tuesday.

This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Some compounds discussed in this episode are investigational, unapproved for the uses discussed, or subject to changing regulatory requirements.

Very few doctors become household names. Dr Terry Dubrow is one of them. 

For more than two decades, the board-certified plastic surgeon and star of Botched has sat at the intersection of medicine and popular culture, becoming one of the most recognizable doctors in America. 

Then peptides changed the direction of his career. 

Decades into an already established surgical career, Dr Dubrow went back to study, became board-certified in obesity medicine, and developed what he describes as an obsession with peptides, longevity and what could become the next frontier of medicine. 

He believes peptides could transform healthcare. But as unapproved compounds move online, patients bypass doctors and regulation struggles to keep pace, he is warning that the same revolution could also produce a serious medical backlash. 

He explains: 

■ Why GLP-1s changed the direction of his career and pulled him into peptide medicine 
■ Why he believes peptides could eventually change how we age
■ Why retatrutide is already being accessed before FDA approval 
■ Why pushing peptides outside the medical system could make them more dangerous, not less
■ The peptide safety event he fears could trigger a major backlash 

Chapters

• (00:00) - Intro
• (02:07) - From GLP-1s to peptides
• (05:07) - Can peptides reverse aging?
• (07:54) - Peptides and the regulatory Wild West
• (09:59) - Retatrutide and the next GLP-1s
• (14:00) - Microdosing GLP-1s for longevity
• (16:14) - The biggest myths about peptides
• (18:12) - Why doctors need better peptide data
• (19:57) - The danger of unregulated peptides
• (21:52) - The future of peptides and longevity

Watch the full episode on YouTube
 

Further reading

FDA: July 2026 Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee meeting covering BPC-157, TB-500, MOTS-c and other peptide-related bulk substances: FDA PCAC July 2026 meeting 

ClinicalTrials.gov: Phase 3 TRIUMPH-1 study of retatrutide in obesity and overweight: Retatrutide TRIUMPH-1 trial 

Read the full transcript
 

Follow Dr Terry Dubrow 

Instagram: Instagram.com/drdubrow
X: x.com/DrDubrow
Website: DrDubrow.com 

Follow Richard Skaife

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardskaife/

The Peptide Show

Website: Peptide.Show

The Peptide Show explores the science, medicine, business and people shaping the rapidly evolving world of peptides.

Presented by Longr: longr.io

Follow The Peptide Show for new episodes every Tuesday.

This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Some compounds discussed in this episode are investigational, unapproved for the uses discussed, or subject to changing regulatory requirements.

Hosted by Richard Skaife, new episodes arrive every Tuesday.

Episode 1 features Dr Terry Dubrow on peptides, GLP-1s, longevity, regulation and why he believes this field could change medicine.

Presented by Longr.

Follow The Peptide Show so you don't miss the first episode.