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Today we're talking about peptides.

They're all the rage among fitness influencers and people seeking new options for other

conditions like chronic pain.

But lots of scientists have big concerns about their safety. So we're getting

into it with health reporter Sarah Bowden, who's covered this topic for NPR. Hey, Sarah. Hey, thanks for

having me. Yeah. I'm excited that you're here because I keep hearing about peptides. What is the deal?

So a peptide is a string of amino acids that's smaller than a protein, and your body probably

has millions of different peptides.

And these peptides do different things like regulate immune function or grow certain cells,

control hormones.

For example, most people have heard of insulin.

That's a peptide. The hormone oxytocin is also a peptide.

And some of these peptides are getting even more time in the limelight this week because seven commonly used

peptides are up for consideration by the FDA's compounding pharmacy board. They're holding a two-day meeting later this week.

Okay, so peptides, they're definitely not a new thing. No, no, definitely not. But what is new is that a lot of

fitness influencers and tech bros and celebrities are really excited about synthetic peptides,

...