The FDA Targets Alternative Medicine Once Again

I recently had a conversation with Dr Jeff Smith from Humanaut Health - an ambitious group of medical personnel and entrepreneurs looking to figure out how to hack longevity.

It’s so wonderful to know there are many people out there looking to help people improve their health without conventional pharmaceutical interventions.

We discussed many subjects. One that was very interesting was peptide therapy.

Peptides are short chains of between 3-100 amino acids. You’ve probably heard of some of the more popular ones:

• Insulin

• Glutathione

• Creatine

The pharmaceutical industry just came out with some very popular peptides including Semaglutide (Ozempic) and Tirzepatide (Maunjaro).

Sounds like pretty good stuff right?

Not in the eyes of the US Government’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Earlier this year the FDA decided to ban 17 peptides made by compounding pharmacies.

Not peptides made by large pharmaceutical companies that help fund the FDA. They banned the competition.

If you haven’t heard of compounding pharmacies, you might want to learn more about them. At least if you live in the United States.

Compounding pharmacies make custom medications. They are different than traditional pharmacies such as CVS or Walgreens that sell the medications as-is from the big pharmaceutical companies.

Some people may need to take a drug as a cream. Or may need a specific mixture of drugs with other products. A compounding pharmacy can provide that service.

We use a compounding pharmacy regularly to make bioidentical hormones for our residents.

The compounding pharmacies are still regulated. And a lot of traditional pharmacies do some compounding.

The 17 peptides made primarily at compounding pharmacies have been in use for many years by all sorts of people. You can find a list of the banned peptides here.

Those peptides have uses such as:

• Boosting Human Growth Hormone

• Improving brain function

• Strengthening gut lining and improve leaky gut

• Improving skin appearance

• Improving sleep

And other benefits.

The FDA banned a lot of these peptides because there is insufficient safety data for them.

Or there is a risk of side effects. Have you seen the list of side effects for Ozempic and Maunjaro? The FDA is fine with those.

I tried to Google around for serious problems caused by peptides. I couldn’t find any.

I also could not find any peptides manufactured by large drug makers and banned by the FDA. Sure they have the money to do extensive clinical trials, but shouldn’t the consumer have the right to choose? Especially if there have not been any harmful problems?

Why can’t people make the decision for their own health? People have been taking these peptides for years. Now suddenly the FDA decides they are too dangerous.

Fortunately there are organizations fighting to lift the ban. If you would like to donate to one, you can find them here.

Also talk to your compounding pharmacist if you’re interested in these peptide therapies. They may have some alternatives.