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In August 2024 I was at the worst point of eighteen months of back pain. My wife was putting my socks on for me. I was half-listening to a podcast when I heard a Stanford neuroscientist mention a compound called BPC-157.
That afternoon I was on a vendor's website with a bank transfer form open.
I never bought it, and the reason is embarrassing rather than admirable. This episode is about what happened next, and about why nobody can answer the question I now get asked every week: are peptides safe?
In this edition:
Why "peptide" is a measurement rather than a category of medicine, and how a line drawn at 40 amino acids decides paperwork instead of safety. Insulin is a peptide. So is Ozempic. So is the compound in that vial.
What the FDA advisory panel actually did on July 23, and why the answer is closer to nothing than the headlines suggested.
What the human evidence for BPC-157 really consists of, and why almost all of it comes from one laboratory in Zagreb whose founder has never published a key part of his own work.
The trials registry problem, where searching for evidence today returns Phase 2 studies marked "recruiting" that state inside their own records that they are fictional.
The stacks, the marketing, and what a physician sees when a bundle of untested compounds gets named after a comic book character.
And a section I did not plan to write, about the prescriptions I refuse to sign, and what years of operating on cancers of the mouth taught me about the phrase "at your own risk."
If you are already taking something, there is one part I would want you to hear before the rest. It is about blood vessels.
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Read the written edition, with all 25 references:
https://www.andreheeg.com
Under Load is the Sunday edition of The Upward ARC, written by Andre Heeg, MD, DDS. Evidence-led writing on executive health, longevity and performance under load, for people carrying real responsibility.
Subscribe: https://www.andreheeg.com
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Studies and sources discussed in this episode are listed in full in the written edition. Key ones:
Vasireddi et al. (2025), HSS Journal — systematic review of BPC-157 in orthopaedic sports medicine
Józwiak et al. (2025), Pharmaceuticals — literature and patent review, and the published exchange with Sikirić
Talpos, S. (2026), Undark Magazine — reporting on the unpublished parent sequence
Ashraf et al. (2024), Journal of Medical Internet Research — quality analysis of semaglutide bought from online sellers
Huberman Lab (June 2026) — Peptides: The Science, Uses & Safety, with Dr. Abud Bakri
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This episode is me reading the written newsletter, adjusted for the spoken word. Figures are rounded and citations are left out; everything is fully referenced in the written edition.
I use AI to research and pressure-test the science. The thinking, the conclusions, and the writing are always mine.
Nothing here is medical advice, and it is not a substitute for a conversation with your own doctor.
