The Longevity Loop Podcast
Hey, I'm Brent Wallace, and it's exciting to share my podcast, The Longevity Loop, with folks who are interested in the topic of anti-aging and longevity science who, at the same time, are dedicated to growing their longevity-focused business, whether that be a brick and mortar clinic or an eCommerce endeavor. I'm 100% all in on helping people who run clinics and businesses that focus on helping folks live longer and healthier lives. It's my mission to help spread the word about living longer and helping others live healthier lives.
In each episode, I chat with bright people who know a ton about living longer and staying young while also knowing how to operate a profitable business.
We talk about health spans and the technologies behind them while also digging into how they get more customers for their businesses and what tricks have worked best for them.
I hope that you, the listener, love listening to all the valuable knowledge of what others are doing in today's longevity economy, hearing about what's working for these experts, and where they might need a little help. It's like getting the inside scoop on running a successful anti-aging business while learning some excellent tips for living a longer, healthier life.
If you're into staying young and healthy, or if you've got a business that helps people do that, you'll love this podcast. We keep things simple and fun, so you don't need to be a scientist to understand what we're talking about.
Join us and learn how to live longer and grow your business simultaneously!
The Longevity Loop Podcast
The Future of Anti-Aging: A Deep Dive into Peptide Therapy with Peter Riviera
Peter "The Peptide Guy" Riviera shares his emotional journey into the world of peptides, from losing both parents to AIDS to healing his own career-threatening Achilles injury with BPC-157. His personal transformation using peptides ignited a passion to help others discover these powerful health tools.
• Peptides are small amino acid chains (proteins) that our bodies naturally produce
• Many popular peptides like BPC-157 come from substances our bodies already make
• Even common medications like insulin are actually peptides
• Social media has helped bring peptides into mainstream awareness through medical influencers
• Growing interest in longevity has people seeking alternatives to traditional medications
• GLP-1 agonists lead the popularity charts for weight management
• Mitochondrial peptides like NAD+ and SS31 boost cellular energy production
• Cognitive enhancers such as Semax and Selank help with ADHD and focus
• CJC-1295 with DAC can maintain testosterone levels even without TRT
• GHK-Copper remains a skincare favorite for anti-aging benefits
• Practitioners should get proper certification through SSRP (Dr. Seeds)
• Source quality peptides with certificates of analysis (COAs)
• Less is more - proper dosing is crucial for safety and effectiveness
• Peptides work best as part of a comprehensive lifestyle approach
• Exciting delivery innovations include nasal sprays and bioavailable oral options
If you're interested in learning more about peptides for your practice or personal health journey, reach out to responsiblepeptides@outlook.com or visit somapeptides.com.
Ready to optimize your longevity clinic's marketing and reach more patients? Visit www.longevityclinicmarketing.com today to learn how our specialized strategies can boost your practice's growth and profitability. Don't let your expertise go unnoticed – partner with a marketing agency that understands the intricacies of our unique industry!
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Visit https://longevityclinicmarketing.com for a friendly, no-pressure talk about boosting your clinic's marketing and reputation.
We're here to help you shine from the moment patients reach out!
Do you want your longevity business to crush it this year? You are in the right place. Every week, we're diving deep into cutting-edge longevity science and profitable business strategies. You'll discover what's working right now for top clinics and get practical ideas to boost your own business. I'm your host, brent Wallace, and this is the Longevity Loop Podcast. All right, everyone, welcome to the Longevity Loop Podcast. All right, everyone, welcome to the Longevity Loop Podcast.
Speaker 1:Before we begin, I just want to read a quick disclaimer for legal purposes. Before we begin, I want to clarify that I am not a medical doctor or a healthcare provider. The information shared today by myself and my guest, peter, the peptide guy Riviera, is purely educational. Nothing discussed in this podcast should be considered medical advice. All content about peptides, longevity treatments and health protocols is for informational purposes only, so they shouldn't be intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Every person's health situation is unique. Any disease, every person's health situation is unique, and if you're interested in peptide therapy or any treatments mentioned today, please consult with a qualified healthcare professional before making any changes to your health regimen. And with that said, welcome to the show, peter. Good to see you.
Speaker 2:Thank you very much, Brent. Good to see you too.
Speaker 1:What I'd love to know is just your journey into peptides. Tell me and the audience a little bit about what brought you to peptides and you're clearly knowledgeable and pop to peptides because we've talked a lot in the past about it. Yeah, we have. What's your background and what brought you to peptides?
Speaker 2:couple of days I've been thinking a lot about my life and and and this in this realm and everything else you know, and kind of how it started and where did where did my passion come from? Right, what's my story? Cause I'm always asking other people, you know, tell your story. What's your story? And I think mine starts with and I apologize if I get a little emotional it's my, uh, both my parents passed of AIDS. My dad passed when I was 17 in high school and he died in three months. Nobody would help him in the hospital. They basically let him just evaporate and it was probably, it is the most horrible thing I've ever seen. And by accident, you know, he gave it to my mom and then, several years later, when I was 21, she passed away from it.
Speaker 2:You know, for years, for the last year of her life, the doctors were telling her you know, denise, you're not going to make it to 40. You know you should get your business in order and everything else. And she looked at the doctors and she said I'm going to live to 40. So that was in January. My mother's birthday is December 10th. My mother passed December 19th. So she lived to 40 and she was just super strong and just just not willing to give into what the doctors were telling her. You know she knew her diagnosis, she knew where she was going, but at the same time she also knew in her heart and her passion that she was going to make this journey to 40. Like that was her goal and she did it and I think that kind of started my whole wanting to help people. You know, especially people. You know initially that I loved my parents but I couldn't save them. But there's so many other people that I can help and improve their lives.
Speaker 2:So I got into fitness. So I did that for a while and I've been a personal trainer, strength coach, for over 30 years now. And then what brought me into the peptide world was I had a partial tear in my Achilles tendon and I was actually a park ranger at the zoo and I couldn't perform that job anymore. So I was seeing a doctor, another doctor for four months with a plastic boot and stretching and all this other stuff and he was pretty much guaranteeing me I'd never walk or run the same or anything like that. So I found BPC-157 and I was like, okay, this thing sounds amazing. So I did all my research on it. My degree happens to be in biology and I deep dove into it and I took it for two months and it literally healed my Achilles tendon and I was like, yes, I found it.
Speaker 2:So then, at that point, I was 235 pounds. This was, like you know, right after COVID. So everybody, nobody was moving right, nobody was going anywhere. So I was eating clean, still working out, but I just couldn't move my weight past a 10 pound loss and it was really, really frustrating, especially being a fitness professional. Right, I had every tool in the book, but it just didn't work. So I figured that it was my insulin resistance. So how do you get that under control? Well, this is when semaglutide came out and terzepatide had just launched on the market. So I was like, hey, you know what I want to do, the 2.0 version, because that's all I kept reading was how much better it was. So in four months, four and a half months, I lost 45.
Speaker 1:Dang.
Speaker 2:Yep, and that's when I knew peptides was the next level. You know, and I believe in doctors. I believe you need to go see a doctor, you need to get regular blood work done, you need to make sure you're you're hormonally balanced, you know. But there's a way that that medicine and let's say alternative medicine, if you want to call it peptides that can kind of meet, you know, and they can work. They can. There's a cohesiveness there, right, and the more that you know your wonderful show, you know, introduces people to peptides and longevity, the more that people can actually realize, hey, you know what we can coexist, you know it's not one is better than the other, but there are really good positive things about peptides that really can change somebody's life. That's kind of.
Speaker 2:You know, where my passion comes from is what has happened in the past in my life which I couldn't prevent and I didn't have the knowledge to even try to. But now I see, even see what some of the modalities that peptides are used in. They do have them for people that have cancer or that have AIDS or that are going through chemotherapy or, you know, or any of these things, alzheimer's. There's just a plethora of knowledge out there, you know. So it's exciting for me because I get to share it with other people and, like you said, it's the information, right? It's the education part that they're not trapped in a bottle underneath all these prescriptions, you know, and they don't have to be, and with the, with the right medical professional guiding them, peptide therapies can be magical.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know in my life through conversations with you quite in-depth conversations and other medical providers that I've worked with in the past peptides are so amazing, just double-clicking on what you said. They're absolutely a compliment to any existing things that you have and any existing goals or regimens, and obviously you know you want to check with your doctor or professional, you know, to make sure that they play well together. Peptides is such a complementary therapy to so many other modalities that, yeah, they play well, just fantastic. So if someone's new to peptides and this is the first time they're hearing about them, which I can't imagine I mean, like we're just saying, you know there's not a lot of people that know about them, but I think anyone probably listening to this podcast probably has heard about peptides.
Speaker 1:But what exactly is a peptide? And you alluded to it a little bit. Just, you know what you're just saying. But really, why are they getting so much attention now? They've been around for quite a long time. There's a history to them, certainly, but they're getting a lot more attention lately and we've been hearing a lot more about them. So what exactly is a peptide and why are they getting so much attention?
Speaker 2:So a peptide, in short, is just a small amino acid chain. It's a protein, that's all it is, and we naturally produce a lot of them actually. So BPC-157, perfect example, and we naturally produce a lot of them actually, you know. So BPC-157, perfect example is actually made out of our gastric juices. In our stomach, you know, the pancreas secretes insulin, which is a peptide, and most people don't know that. Even people that are taking insulin have no idea it's a peptide. So it's, you know. It's radical in that sense to what the second part of your question was.
Speaker 1:Well, just like, why is it getting so much attention now? I mean peptides, I mean certainly probably even before the 70s, but I feel like Russia or the USSR was the you know like had so many of their athletes on that and they've been around forever. The safety efficacy profile is extremely safe, but just why, all of a sudden, are they getting?
Speaker 2:I mean, this even predates GLP-1s. But as far as yeah, I agree, yeah, so I think they're getting so much more attention because you're starting to see mainstream doctors starting to that, have a social media platform, starting to talk about them more, and I think that also brings it out more. So guys like Dr Pita Atida have spoken about it. Dr Tina speaks about it. The godfather of peptides that's what I call him is Dr Seeds. He's like the main guy right. So they all have this now social media platform and they're able to present it to so many more people. Just by doing something like this right, we can reach millions of people. So I think that's what it really comes down to. I also believe that the longevity space is becoming part of people's lives.
Speaker 2:I think people want to live longer.
Speaker 2:I think people want to be healthier longer. You know it's painful to see somebody struggle for 20 years with a disease and then die, you know, and and I think people are looking for alternatives to that they're like I don't want to do that, you know, I don't want to be that. You know, recently I was discussing this with the owners and it's not just that the, the, the peptides help you, but if, if, if you're living longer and you're healthier, well, and you have a family around you and you have children there, well, you know, that kind of makes everything better, right, I mean? So you know, they're not constantly worried about you, they're not, you know, and again, it's it's, it's the effect of all, it's not the effect of one. So you know, but you can start by taking care of yourself first, and then, once you do that, everything else kind of falls into place, you know. So I just think that the broader reach with social media and who's doing the broader reach, is really making this longevity space and peptides really well known.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that totally makes sense. I feel like I've known about longevity for a really long time and I have a four-year-old boy and that's kind of doubled down on my interest in longevity and living really an increasing health span, you know, being stronger, and then also the advent of brian johnson, the last like year or two. You know you see that guy everywhere and you almost can't mention longevity to someone, especially if they're not in the industry, without them saying, oh, you mean the guy that, like you know, does the bladtrudge fusions, or the guy on netflix, or you know, like there's yeah, yeah, there's always somebody right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, it's like something about that yeah, it's really interesting to see the whole um. You know, you know post peter diamantis and like all these you know like really hardcore longevity guys. And then there's someone like brian johnson that you know, like you're talking about the, the leveraging of the social media platforms, along with Peter Tia, like you mentioned, dr Tina, et cetera, but really just getting that message out there and I've seen someone like Brian Johnson just make such waves with that. So, with the peptides, what are the most common peptides that you work with and what are some of the things that they help with or health challenges or other things? Because I know you work with soma peptides and they have quite a broad selection of peptides, really high quality peptides, as the peptides that I personally use, again thanks to your introduction to me to them. So what are some of the top ones that you use and some of the applications to people that might be having challenges?
Speaker 2:So one of the top ones, obviously the GLP ones. Right, because they're just so popular. I mean, you know, every time you turn on the TV you can't it's like you can't avoid a Wagovi commercial. I mean, you just can't, right, the power of we. What a great thing to say. Right, totally right. Now it's Zepbound, you know, and it's just like you know. So the marketing from Big Pharma has helped the peptide industry, you know, I mean, and that's not a bad thing, but it's you know, the GLP-1s are going to be at the top.
Speaker 2:What I'm seeing a lot more now is people start talking about mitochondria all of a sudden. And if? For people that don't know what mitochondria are, they're basically the powerhouses of our cells. Now, since we're literally made all of cells, every cell in our body has a mitochondria. So if mitochondrial function falls off at some point, then the human being doesn't operate optimally. So there are peptides for mitochondrial function, like NAD+, ss31 that I know you're familiar with.
Speaker 2:And if you fix things at the cellular level, that's when the body starts to respond better. So you can't fix the body without fixing the cells. So, because it just won't work, it's like it's like pumping, you know, blood into a frozen steak, you know you might get a little bit in, but after a while it just spills all over the place, you know. So you know you got to start small and then go big. So we got our weight loss ones and we have our energy ones. Cognition is a big thing. So people that are ADHD, we have you know they're coming out a lot. C-max and C-Lank are really great for people to try to gear them off their medication.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's what, like I mentioned, like briefly to you in our pre-show, is that that's what I use and I used that this morning and, yeah, what a great cognitive improvement that I feel you know, to extend the telomeres out on the cells.
Speaker 2:There's, you know, thymus and alpha-1, which helps with bacterial infections, viral infections. That's the one that they're actually treating people with long COVID with and AIDS as well, you know, and they're seeing really great success stories across the board, and you know. And then you have your other ones, like PT-141, which is a sexually heightened peptide. It was actually developed for women because it's a cognitive thing, you know, and sometimes it gets shut off. You know, through life, through stress, you know anything can just kind of, you know, diminish that urge. So you know that's one that people are looking to get back in their lives, especially as you get older. You know, yeah, so you know, I usually preface it as like hey, you know, it's great for date night, you know, you know, and I think you know those are probably some of the top ones you know right now that are buzzing around. You know, one of the other ones, actually that's getting a lot of play, is like tesamorlin.
Speaker 2:So the natural HGH enhan enhancers. And you know, infusing your pituitary gland with peptides that help invigorate it to do what it's supposed to do is a good thing, you know. So they are anti-aging. Everybody loves anti-aging. Anti-aging. People start going what anti-aging, you know, you know, improve collagen. I want that, you know right better skin.
Speaker 2:Absolutely yeah, copper is a mainstay, you know. It's amazing too, because so many people don't even realize that actually copper is blue, you know. So if they're getting a copper product off the shelf and it's a cream and it's white, yeah, you're probably not getting copper in that.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:You know. So you have to be really, really careful where you're sourcing your products from, and I think that's you know. That's really where you're looking at. The differentiator between you know, soma and a lot of these other places is our care to detail, precision and efficacy, and that's what separates us from pretty much everyone else. Awesome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, I've had nothing but great experiences with soma peptides. I've used quite a few over the years, namely through compounding pharmacies and through directly through the doctors. But what's great about soma is that, as you know, just someone like me that I can just order them. You know, and obviously again, this is just for educational purposes only, but you know you can. Really it's fun to educate yourself and experiment. You know N of one type things and really get some great results. So, but you know, talking about practitioners, if a practitioner did want to bring peptides into their practice, what should they know about regulatory guidelines, the landscape of that and compliance? Are there anything that they should be aware of?
Speaker 2:Or if the practitioner is looking to add, you know, say, certain peptides to their practice, yeah, I mean, you know legally you're, obviously you should protect yourself if you're a practitioner right, you know you have, you know your, your sign-offs and and everything else. Knowing where you're getting your peptides from is huge and this is where I see a lot of drop off. And especially the clients that I am working with is they were previously with another medical team and they were getting peptides but then something went south and it's either that the doctor switched up the pharmacy they were getting the old peptides from and either didn't work, or all of a sudden they were getting adverse effects they never had before. But that's because a practitioner didn't really look into where they were getting them from. They probably had their desk office manager do that. And that's where you can kind of get into that really weird funky place where you know some of the compounders aren't, let's say, being ethical, you know, you know.
Speaker 2:Perfect example is I know I know many people that were on terzapatide with B12 from a certain compound pharmacy and they like couldn't believe how hungry they were. Well, usually that's an indicator that the B12 was so high that the terzapatide that was in wasn't connecting, wasn't right. The proportions were out, wow. So so that it's that simple. So knowing where your stuff is sourced from, being able to actually speak to the people that actually are in the company, you know, I mean, I'm talking about the COO of the company. She's directly involved with all the accounts that we have and if I'm Pete the peptide guy, she and the owner, they're the goddesses of peptides because they know their knowledge base is just off the chain. You know, and I really think it's knowing where you're getting them from. Having COAs is super important.
Speaker 1:And a COA is. A certificate of analysis Okay.
Speaker 2:Certificate of analysis. You know we post that on our website so you know exactly when it was made, what lot it is. It has a number Reporting to the FDA agencies, which we do. You know you want to know these things. As a practitioner, are you doing all the appropriate things? Because then at the end of the day it makes that practitioner feel more comfortable going. You know what I going, you know what I'm good with you guys.
Speaker 1:You know you're you're, you're on ball and I want to be with them For sure. So as a practitioner. So they're hearing this, they're like peptides are awesome. So are there certifications or trainings that a professional could pursue before they choose to offer peptides to their client base?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and, and I would, I mean, you know everybody has their favorites right. So there's, you know, I've been a personal trainer, strength coach for over 30 years how many personal training certifications are there Right? But there's, there's, like you know, there there's a standard right. So you know, if you have your degree, a CSCS certification is the top right For a personal trainer, and then you go all the way down. So for me it would be SSRP Dr Seeds. Dr Seeds, that's going to be the most medically sound to me. In my opinion, and directly talking to practitioners, I've actually sent a lot of practitioners to take his certification and they came back mind-blown about how amazing it was. So that's going to be my go-to is definitely be Dr C's SSRP certification.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and they also have the SSRP convention. I think it's coming up or just past one of those things, but I've had the privilege to see yeah, it's in September in.
Speaker 2:Florida.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, yeah. So that's a great place to start, for sure. How do you recommend that practitioners educate their patients about peptide therapy, especially when they're distinguishing the difference between a peptide therapy and, say, some other therapy?
Speaker 2:I think what I mean aside from taking the certification, which I think will help a lot of doctors get educated as well I think that's really the important part is them deep diving into it, getting that knowledge base. Looking at white papers and what that means is the medical papers that were written up from New England Journal of Medicine. Jama is really great, Mayo Clinic has some really good write-ups on peptides, so there's the right information, and then there's your Reddit rabbit hole. So if I had the choice, I'm going to lean towards the other one and not the rabbit hole so much. But I think that's where medical professionals should go. To start educating themselves is definitely go to those resources in the medical field.
Speaker 1:For sure. So when practitioners do have peptides in their suite of tools, when they position themselves with peptides and the broader like everything they offer, say, you know if they're doing DEXA scans and you know I'm sure they're doing hormone replacement therapy, stuff like that, how would you recommend that they position peptides with that? You touched on it a little bit. But with a doctor, if someone comes in with weight loss goals or longevity goals and we'll talk about specifics of some more peptides in a second here but anti-aging is a huge thing, right?
Speaker 1:Ghk copper is a huge one in the skincare industry right now how do you recommend that a doctor would approach that? They've got all the knowledge from, say, ssrp Dr Seeds giving them here's the peptides, here's what they do, here's what they do for you. But how would a doctor or a clinician start talking about how to integrate these with other complementary? Say, if someone is in there on testosterone replacement therapy, say, or something like that, how would you position those complementing? Say, if I was a patient on TRT, what would you maybe recommend or how to approach adding a peptide?
Speaker 2:Right. First off, I think the way to go about it is scientifically. It's always going to be scientifically Okay. So let's say, for example, trt if you're on TRT, a great compliment to TRT is actually CJC 1295 with DAC. Now, dac stands for the drug affinity complex and what it basically does is it takes that CJC that may have a surge of 90 minutes, possibly two hours, to literally six to eight days. Okay, so you know, and that would be the CJC 1295 with ipamoral and that would give you that hour and a half to two hours, but the CJC 1295 with DAC by itself is six to eight days. Now, so how do I know this so scientifically proven? I can tell you personally, myself.
Speaker 2:I had an ALIF surgery seven months ago, so anterior lumbar interbody fusion, so that's why they call it ALIF, because that's really long to say. So I had three discs replaced on my back with titanium and I had a healing protocol. Well, during that time, I'm as well on TRT and I couldn't get to my appointment and I was without it for three months. So, that being said, when I went to get my blood redone the guys that do my blood, they looked at me and they said, yeah, you're 1050. What are you doing? And I was like you know what I said. The only thing I'm doing that would affect it is this CJC 1295 with DAC. That increases your pituitary gland function. It's anti-aging and everything else, so it increases my testosterone level as well. Wow, so yeah, so, so I can use myself as the example of of where trt and cjc 1295 works, without a doubt. Wait, the weight loss ones are easy you know.
Speaker 1:So what you're saying is like you weren't on trt for three months and but you continue to take the cjc 1295 with dac. And when you went in to get your blood test again, your levels were at 10 50. You said 10, yeah, which? Is anyone that knows the scale of testosterone, that's on the higher side of normal Right, I think within the normal range, but just you know, on the higher side of that.
Speaker 2:And it's how great. Normal is 300 to 1200.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Low scale. So I want to be optimal right. So you know, we want to be at the higher end of that right.
Speaker 1:For sure, yeah, I'd argue. 300 is extremely low. Yeah, sure, yeah, I'd argue 300 is extremely low.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I was three, 21 when I started, I know.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, you know the feeling so well. That's, that's incredible. I've never known that about CJC. I know CJC has so many great uh purposes and use cases, but that's one that I had no idea about that it can help maintain your testosterone levels.
Speaker 2:So that's really cool. And again, it was like it wasn't meant to be tested that way. I did it. It was just kind of like an accident almost, you know I just I knew what I was taking at that moment and then, deep diving more into it, I was like you know what. That makes perfect sense now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that's really really cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so, and I also think too so we'll. We have a lot of clinics we work with as well and doctors that are in the addiction world. So using a medication like a GLP-1, microdosing it has been shown that to reduce or eliminate addictions from gambling to smoking, to biting nails, to anything that was disruptive in your life, it seems to wipe that out. So when you're talking about those kinds of doctors in that realm as well, they can actually transition people from the horrible medications they might have been on, you know, opioid treatment and things like that and really move them into a safer place with peptides. So that is a huge world right now.
Speaker 2:Because we're all noticing, at some point in our lives and I can speak personally from my earlier story about my parents I had PTSD. I've had PTSD my whole life since then and I didn't realize that. But any loss of life, whether it's your parents, it's a child, it's a sibling, it's a pet Anytime you lose something it's traumatic and unless you know how to deal with it appropriately, it stays with you and you repeat the patterns of it, right. So it just starts to hurt you more and more over and over time. You know, and and I spoke to a professional and she was like, yeah, she goes, you've had PTSD for since you were 17 years old, and this was literally three years ago, and it was like an ep. She goes, you've had PTSD for since you were 17 years old, and this was literally three years ago, and it was like an epiphany. Like I turned 50 and I was like, oh my God, I get it now. You know, but you know I wasn't on any medications for it, but I would definitely rather be on a peptide for it, you know, than than getting hooked on an opioid or whatever you know, and we see what that does Right. 100 or whatever you know, and we see what that does right, 100%.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so the integrations are really vast with practitioners, you know, you just have to say, okay, what are my wants, and then what are my needs, and then where do we meet them? In the middle? You know, because the last thing you want to do, I would think, as a practitioner, or even in my sense, is, you know, I call it getting you hooked on their crack. You know what I call it. Getting you hooked on their crack, you know what I mean. Like that's the last want to do.
Speaker 2:That has an adverse effect on them, because you're compounding the original problem with another problem and then at the end of the day, you really didn't help that person the best way you actually possibly could, because, a either you didn't know about peptides or, b you just didn't see the relative existence and didn't educate yourself enough. And I think that's where we're at now is there's so much education out there now and it's positive that doctors are really starting to say hey, you know what, let's start you on this medication because we think you're here right, but once we get you down here, we can transition you to something easier that you can maintain yourself and that you can do the rest of your life if need be, and it has no adverse effects and actually it'll have positive effects on your entire life.
Speaker 1:So it's like well, it's just so funny oh sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off. It's just so funny that you just reminded me there, when you're talking about the GLP-1s with the addiction, is that I just read an article the other day that junk food companies are fighting back against GLP-1s because they're so effective that they're seeing a loss in profits, and so what they're doing now is putting some sort of additive in there that actually bypasses the GLP-1 receptors.
Speaker 1:Wow, gangster and so it makes junk food addictive again, and I'm like man, those jerks I cannot believe that like that is so gangster but it just speaks to how effective it is. You know, it's like if, if these companies, or you know whoever's selling this junk see their profits go down, and then, yeah, you know, then they're like.
Speaker 2:Well, how do we?
Speaker 1:fight this, like, how do we fight this? Like, oh, let's, let's bypass this whole like circuitry to make them addictive again.
Speaker 2:I'm just like oh man and most people don't get that just kind of go through their day-to-day and it's fine that they do is everything else is that. You know they're like how could they do that? You know, why would they do that? It's only one to two percent loss. Well, if it's a billion dollar company and you lost 2% of your business, you'd want it back.
Speaker 2:Okay, so you just and like you said, you have to really navigate and weave your way through this stuff. I mean the perfect I saw the other day in the news orange juice is getting is like Tropicana is going out of business because people are eating less sugar, which is great, because that was the whole premise was that sugar wasn't regulated. And if you have sugar and you're a kid and you keep getting sugar, sugar, sugar, and you do it as a teen and as an adult, well, guess what you wind up with? And then you get diabetes. And then there's medications for all that. Right, so you got to start when you're young for all that, right, so you got to start, you know, when you're young, you know there's two times in a child's life there's ages, and the most relevant one, I think, is age 13 to 14, if I can remember in my old brain here where you gain the most fat cells and those are the fat cells you're going to have the rest of your life but if you have going to be a heavier kid or not and a fat adult.
Speaker 2:So you know, when we watch these young people eating and we watch what's on TV and you see the ads and everything else, they're sucking them in, you know, and they're pulling them in with the food and, like you said, you know the GLP-1s. They might not make you want those french fries anymore and that's okay because there's better alternatives for sure. I mean, you could have, you could have, you could have high quality sweet potato fries, you know, if that's your thing, you know. So, again, it's navigating through this whole kind of quirky thing and figuring out where it works for you yeah, and I also feel it's about breaking the cycle right once you kind of get.
Speaker 1:I know I've transitioned away from drinking for the most part and when I first started doing it, I was just like you know, just always looking for something, you know, like a beer or you know, and it wasn't like I was drinking that much, it's just like, at the end of the day, like a cold beer and it's hot out here in Texas or in Arizona where you're at.
Speaker 1:No, absolutely, it's a thing I mean yeah and it's just like but breaking that cycle which for me it seems like is three, four weeks, and then all of a sudden it's like don't crave it at all. And now I think back. I'm like that's so weird, that like I was just always wanting a beer, even though you know it's like I'm not drinking now and I feel just totally fine with it. Now I'll just have a Topo Chico or a lime or whatever. It's amazing, but it's like that thing. And then also having something like a GLP-1 or some other thing, peptide or alternative whatever to break that cycle. And then you can get on with your normal life and just get there.
Speaker 1:So, transitioning back to longevity, what are some of the most promising peptides in the longevity space?
Speaker 2:right, now you can go with any of your growth hormones, ones that invigorate your natural growth hormone. So CJC-1295, with or without DAC, with ipomoralin. Esomoralin is a big one, ceramoralin is still hanging around, it's one of the older ones. But a lot of people they're creatures of habit, so if it works for them and they love it, they'll keep doing it. So you're seeing those. Copper is a mainstay for anti-aging. So there's products out there or there's a we'll be offering soon. It's called Glow, where you basically combine BPC. Will be offering soon. It's called Glow, where you basically combine BPC, thymus and beta-4, and then you combine copper and that kind of is your anti-aging skin beautification. A lot of med spas and practices are using that. Nice yeah.
Speaker 1:And is that going to be as a nasal spray or an injectable?
Speaker 2:I'm not sure on that yet I'm going to probably say it's going to be an injectable. I'm not sure on that, yet I'm going to probably say it's going to be an injectable, just because BPC does not do well, nasally. It's a gut one, so it doesn't work well. Going to the brain, you know we've done the testing and it just wasn't viable enough and we actually have just launched eight nasals, which is great and cutting edge, and we're the only company actually that is clinically dosed nasal sprays. That's cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I saw that on the SOMA website, the addition of some nasal sprays, which is really exciting.
Speaker 2:But what's important is the dosing right. So if you're an injectable, you know the, the dosing protocol, you know how many units you need to give up with a nose spray, nasal spray, it's very difficult to know that right. So even your over-the-counter ones, or even the ones you get a prescription from your doctor, it's two to three. Well, how many grams am I taking? How, what's like, how much strength in two to three? Know, but ours, literally, are clinically graded to pump a certain amount of milligrams per pump.
Speaker 1:Nice yeah.
Speaker 2:That accuracy is nice. We went that far. Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 1:So and this answer might absolutely be the same. So we just took talked about longevity, lifespan. So what about health span and the peptides that are circulated around that to help your healthspan? And I fully understand a lot of these are getting the most out of that, you know. So it's healthspan versus lifespan, you know, and it's just like kind of tuning that into. Like we're there, so there's obviously going to be different peptides that help with different um, you know areas of your life. So what about the healthspan part of the peptide world?
Speaker 2:I would say again so we have to go back to what your want and need is right and and then kind of find that out. So if I'm wanting more energy, then there's going to be NAD plus for mitochondrial function, there's going to be SS31 for mitochondrial function. If I want to improve my cell functionality or the telomeres of the cell, it's epitalin. So you're going to use those copper. Still again, anti-aging. It kind of reverses-.
Speaker 1:And when you say copper, you're talking about the GHK copper right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, ghkc no-transcript. You're anti-aging, slowing the aging process down, so you're living a healthier, longer life. So the health span and longevity, they do this, they're meeting in the middle and you're going to live healthier and you're going to live longer and that's not a bad thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, I mean, I can't imagine anyone really arguing with that, unless your life is just absolutely miserable. Living a longer, healthier life is really where it's at. So what's on the horizon with peptides? You say in the next? I don't know. I feel, with, like the advent of AI, everything is so sped up. My kind of original question was like next five or 10 years. It was probably more like the next year to five years. Yeah, so there, is there anything on the horizon with peptides or delivery systems or something that you're really excited about?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think I'm excited about the nasal sprays, cause I think we'll see more of them. Um, which cuts down on the injecting, because, at the end of the day, it's hard to be a pin cushion five days a week. Um, you know, I even get to that point where I'm like I need weekends off. I think I think pills are going to be more prevalent now. I think pills are going to be a better option. When you're making a pill, though, you need to make sure and ask the question of is this going to be bioavailable? And bioavailability means will it survive the stomach acid and get to the place in my intestines where it's going to be up, taken in the system, and most pills right now aren't. I know Soma's working on some right now and our scientists are pretty much off the chain. So they figured it out and you'll be seeing that, probably hopefully the next month or so. Pop up on our site.
Speaker 2:I see some topicals as well. We're coming out with a copper serum we're releasing soon as well. That is just amazing, and I've used it on my ALIF scar and has literally reduced the scar by 70%, wow, so, yeah, so I think that world is going to start evolving. You know more of the topical. You know a lotion shampoo to grow your hair. You know, you know a lotion shampoo to grow your hair. You know I shave mine, but you know. But you know, um, yeah, you know, if you were just going bald you could use a shampoo, and it's not rogaine. You know again a naturally occurring peptide to help invigorate that, that hair growth and most of those things where it comes to beauty and skin and anti-aging, all are going to have a copper base to them yeah, I see, I see quite a bit of that in the realm of skin care.
Speaker 1:You know that has the ghk copper in that, and then spermidine is another one that I don't think spermidine is a peptide though, but you know, it combines well with it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it combines well with the copper and stuff and and things like that. So yeah, it's the anti-aging, anti-wrinkle. You know, again, again, people want to, people want to. You know, they want to go get older, but they also don't want to look older.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, I mean that's, that's the. You know the conundrum that, like, as we age, we want to make sure to still look good, because it's like, if you're 120, you know you might feel great, but if you look like a prune, I mean I don't know. I mean I'd still be happy to be alive, obviously, exactly. But clearly your aesthetics is a big part of longevity because, you know, looking good as you get into those older years and still feeling great, your skin elasticity and your skin health, um, you know, I mean, that's the biggest organ on your body, so of course you want to take care of that just as much as you're taking care of most of your inner organs there.
Speaker 1:So with misconceptions there's so many misconceptions around peptides. What are some of the most biggest misconceptions that you hear the most often and how do you address those?
Speaker 2:You know, misconceptions usually happen if there's an adverse effect after somebody starts taking a peptide. You know, I've had some people have some adverse effects to swelling and you know their hair and things like this, and those are definitely in the realm of possibilities depending on what peptides you take. But some of the funny ones are, you know, after I get off these GLP-1s, you know what if I gain all that weight back? Well, if you go back to the old habits, yeah, like it's not, the 45 pounds I lost isn't under my bed, right, it's just not going to pop out. I'm going to be 45 pounds heavier tomorrow, right, I got to get there again, right. So, you know, I think that's the big misconception too. And and I and I definitely like to say this for most people out there, not everybody's social media story is real. Everybody likes to show the positive stuff.
Speaker 2:Peptides are not a cure-all, it's not a one-off. They're like the kick in the butt for what our body may need, depending upon what kind of peptide it is. But you have to put the work in. So the lifestyle change it has to be food, it has to be exercise, it has to be weight training. You know, as we get older, having more muscle is a very big deal and people are starting to notice that now, because the elderly that are fragile, you'll notice. One thing is when they fall which they will they usually injure themselves really bad and then from that fall they don't recover. So a lot of people that are falling and breaking hips are literally dying like three years later because they're not mobile anymore. Right, so there's a big issue there. You know misconception, you know PT 141, you know, am I going to have to go to a hospital if this erection doesn't go away? No, it will go away. Just don't overdose yourself with it, you'll be fine. It's not like, you know, a trumped up injection or anything like that.
Speaker 1:That reminds me when Viagra first came out. The one of the disclaimers was like your erection might last six hours. And you know it's like. You know it's like yeah, right, you know it's like.
Speaker 2:Everyone's like six hours, give it to like let's do it, yeah, but I'd say, I'd say across the board, if I can give one piece of advice is that less is more. The biggest misconception is oh my God, you know what. I'm doing great at 20 units. What if I doubled it to 40, but I'm still losing weight. Or I'm still feeling more cognitive, or I'm feeling better, but I want to feel better faster. And again, this is not a sprint, it's a marathon. Less is more and that's how to encourage anybody who's either looking into peptides or in.
Speaker 2:Peptides is less is more. And, to be honest with you, that's why all the negative press came out with those MPIC and GLP-1s is because the dosing was inappropriate for people. Either strength or dose was wrong and incorrect. And when it got to that point where the dose was so inappropriate for people, either strength or dose was wrong and incorrect. And when it got to that point where the dose was so high and people were on just such a high just milligram per milliliter dose it was causing all these problems when they were losing at a quarter of the dose they were taking, you know. So it made no sense to keep titrating them up. So you know, you have to act responsibly as a professional, as a medical professional, you know, to give that advice is to say you know, less is more. You know, and I give that to my, to my clients constantly. I'm like, hey, listen, if you're losing one and a half to two pounds a week, you're acing it Like you know. If you've got that weight to lose, you're doing that good for you, you don't. You know you're not going to lose all 45 pounds in a month. That's when it's dangerous. That's when your system starts getting all crazed. That's when you see the massive excess skin and all that kind of stuff hanging there. You don't want that. You want to do it the right way, and I really believe that.
Speaker 2:Getting that education like we talked about, and from the proper sources, the proper resources, and explaining that this is a marathon, this is not a sprint, these are not the cure-alls, you know. It's like when Fen-Phen came out right, and everyone was like, oh my God, I need Fen-Phen, you know. And it was debilitating for a lot of people, though right, because they were like, well, if one pill does it, maybe I should take four, that'll be better. And then you started seeing the cycle, and that's really what happened was people were overdosing on it and it ruined their bodies and their lives and some people lost their lives again. It became a really bad thing and and that's when the that's when medical weight loss really got a bad stigma to it.
Speaker 2:So you know, um, people raise an eyebrow, you know. Look, look where your stuff is coming from, make sure it's properly sourced, make sure you give proper direction and a use of that peptide for the need and don't over-prescribe a peptide when it's not needed. Yeah, and I think that's the most. When you stay in those lanes, I think you'll have great success.
Speaker 1:And be patient. Patience is a virtue here, so it's like not going overboard. Well, like you just said, it's like more of a good thing and it's like no, no, no, no, you just have to be patient. Yep, let it work. Change your habits and you will see results. Might not be as fast as you want, but they'll come.
Speaker 2:They'll come, for sure. It's a lifestyle change, because at some point your body will take over and you need it to and you want it to, you know, and that's really what it comes down to.
Speaker 1:So practitioners and clinicians that want to learn more about peptides and we're talking beyond, say, the certifications that they get at SSRP what should they do? What would you recommend beyond just the standard certification process about learning Like, how should they reach out to you or reach out to Soma, or what would be like the next step that they would want to take?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. They can definitely reach out to me at, you know, responsiblepeptidesatoutlookcom. You know, and you know, go to the SOMA website as well. You can learn from doing a peptide consultation. We do actually have medical professionals actually that work with us as well. I happen to be the peptide consultant. We can get you connected with their COO of our company who oversees all the accounts and, I told you, has more wealth of knowledge in this space and that's Whitney, right, that's Whitney, yeah, whitney, kendrick, yep, so she'd be the one that is going to be the brain of the operations on how to get you and your practice up and running and again doing it the right way and having the right business model and helping you along the way too, because medical professionals are medical professionals in what they learned at school. Some of them aren't as business savvy.
Speaker 2:So it's nice to have an organization or group like ours in Soma that can kind of walk you through and say, hey, listen, this is how we work it, this is how you could work it, this is how you utilize your peptides to actually help your business grow and help your patients.
Speaker 2:You know, because at the end of the day, we're in this space because we want to help people and that's really it, like we really do, we want to touch everyone. Now, you know, we're just not looking for a group of people, we want to touch everyone and I think that's the biggest thing. So, when you have a group of individuals that really are coming from the heart and that are just so emotionally connected to this for their story, because of their stories and we all have one, you know, you know, and our slogan is everybody has a story with body being circled, you know, and because we do, you know, and and that's how we connect as human beings, and I think that's what's the most important part is, when you work with myself or individuals at Soma, you get that feeling. It's like you know, you're not just a client, you're like family, you know, and that's how I like to treat everybody that I interact with.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. That's an awesome note to end on, Peter. So responsiblepeptidesatoutlookcom and then somapeptidescom is Soma, of course, and obviously Google search will get you there. Thanks, Peter, for your time. I've really enjoyed talking to you, as per usual.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:And thanks, and then hopefully, and then we'll be going live here with this episode here pretty soon, so look out for it.
Speaker 2:Excellent Will do. Thank you so much, brennan. I appreciate you. Thank you, thank you for supporting Soma.
Speaker 1:Oh man, my pleasure man. Soma has been great, awesome, thanks. This is the longevity loop podcast.
