636: The ultimate guide to peptides | Elizabeth Yurth, M.D.
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What are peptides and how do they differ from hormones?
Welcome to the My Buddy Green podcast. I'm Jason Wachub, founder and co-CEO of My Buddy Green and your host.
What are the benefits of endogenous vs. exogenous peptides?
Today's guest is Dr. Elizabeth Urth, a pioneer in regenerative and functional medicine who has been at the forefront of peptide therapy long before it became an Instagram sensation. Dr. Urth specializes in helping patients optimize their health through strategic peptide use, hormone replacement, and a deep understanding of the body's natural biochemical pathways. In today's show, we explore what peptides actually are.
How do growth hormone secretagogues work and who should consider them?
and how they're different from hormones and therapies, and why quality sourcing matters more than most people realize. We also discuss why peptides are not magic pills and should not be used in isolation, how to think about peptides for women in midlife alongside HRT, and the promising role of peptides in cognitive health and reducing neuroinflammation.
What safety concerns are associated with the use of peptides?
Let's get to it.
So how do you define peptides? So basically think about peptides as small protein chains.
How do peptides contribute to anti-aging and hormone replacement therapy?
So if you look at a protein, it's really greater than 50 amino acids. So proteins are just amino acid chains like glycine, arginine, lysine, right? They're just strings of amino acids linked together by bonds. Protein makes it greater than 50 amino acids. And then a peptide is anywhere from two to 48 amino acids, right? So it's very large peptides.
What role do peptides play in cognitive health and neuroinflammation?
And there's very small ones that are two or three amino acids. So GHK copper, things like that are just like three amino acids. They basically are, think of them as just signaling molecules in your body. So where proteins do one thing, hormones do one thing. Peptides have very specific signaling messages that they tell your body. That's why they're kind of unique is because they have very specific messages. So you can't really do as much harm with them as you might with other things.
And then how do you think of broad categories of the different types of peptides and use cases?
So when you think about the categories of peptides, the different types of peptides, people forget that we actually make peptides. So a lot of our peptides are what we call endogenous. They're made by our system, right? And in that way, they're a little bit natural, just like hormones. So people are doing hormone replacement. Should we be thinking about replacing the peptides we lose? So these endogenous peptides that our body makes all the time, and we haven't even identified all of them, and we can take those endogenous peptides and we can synthesize them. but they're basically the identical structure to what our body makes. So your body makes peptides that are working on recovery, and your body's making peptides that work on immune system, and your body's making peptides that increase joint muscle function, increase growth.
So there's all these different categories our body makes, and this is what we call exogenous peptides, which are ones that are synthesized that our body doesn't make, but people have recognized in laboratory settings, things like that, that they have significant benefits, right? So not all the peptides we use are going to be ones that our body naturally makes, but the ones that I like the best really are. They really are things that our body naturally is doing anyway. So just like you're replacing the hormones that drop as you age, should you also be replacing the peptides that drop as we age? In my mind, I think so. So which ones?
How can nutrition and lifestyle impact the effectiveness of peptides?
What are your favorites?
So you think about the peptides that are kind of high when we're young and growing and developing. And really, you know, through our 20s, we have very ample amounts of peptides.
What should you consider before starting peptide therapy?
And kind of the top of that list probably is the growth hormone peptides, right? So we call growth hormone secretagogues. And growth hormone secretagogues are not necessarily naturally made by our body, but they're trying to duplicate what our body does to release growth hormone. So as you age, your growth hormone levels drop. Naturally, all of us do. Some people are going to stay higher than others. If you exercise and eat well, you're going to have higher growth hormone levels.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What are peptides and how do they differ from hormones?
0:00–0:10
2
What are the benefits of endogenous vs. exogenous peptides?
0:10–0:34
3
How do growth hormone secretagogues work and who should consider them?
0:34–0:55
4
What safety concerns are associated with the use of peptides?
0:55–1:05
5
How do peptides contribute to anti-aging and hormone replacement therapy?
1:05–1:26
6
What role do peptides play in cognitive health and neuroinflammation?
1:26–3:08
7
How can nutrition and lifestyle impact the effectiveness of peptides?
3:08–3:23
8
What should you consider before starting peptide therapy?
3:23–42:37
Speakers
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662: The truth about peptides, NAD, & other longevity treatments | Rachele Pojednic, Ph.D.