The Morning Dose #16: HCG Alternatives, Eat Less to Live Longer, and the Legality of Peptides

In this week’s edition of The Morning Dose:

Reader Q&A

 Peptide Spotlight: Kisspeptin-10

 Are Research Peptides Legal?

Research Spotlight: Eat Less to Live Longer?

Let’s inject this.

First time reading? I’m Matt, and this is The Morning Dose. Every week, our team scours hundreds of sources to bring you need-to-know news and insights you won’t find elsewhere. All in 5 minutes.

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 Reader Q&A

Want us to answer your questions? Hit reply, ask us your training, nutrition, or peptide questions, and we’ll choose one to answer in each edition of The Morning Dose.

We can’t guarantee an answer, but we’ll pick an interesting question each week to share. If you want to speak with us directly about your burning questions, our coaching team is available for consultations.

Here’s this week’s question.

“Are collagen peptides good for anti-aging? I used to take them, but I’ve heard people say they aren’t a good protein source, and they don’t do very much.”

This is a great question, one we see fairly often.

If you look at the label on a bottle of collagen peptides, you’ll notice they contain nearly as many amino acids as whey protein, only in slightly different ratios.

On the surface, the two look very similar, and since the nutrition label on collagen says it contains 10-20g protein per serving, it can be confusing.

The difference between collagen and traditional protein powders?

Collagen peptides support healthy joints, tendons, cartilage, and skin. Most other proteins are better for your muscle tissue.

Dairy-based protein powders, like whey and casein, tend to be more supportive of muscle tissue.

They contain higher amounts of leucine, the amino acid associated with muscle protein synthesis.

Collagen peptides are higher in glycine, which may be anti-inflammatory, and studies have shown collagen supports healthy tendons, reduces exercise-induced joint pain, and may support healthy skin and nails.

Technically it’s a protein, but it won’t have the same impact on muscle as meat, dairy, and non-collagen protein supplements.

Collagen shouldn’t replace your standard animal-based protein, which we need for our muscle tissue, but it may be a nice add-on if you suffer from joint pain.

 Peptide Spotlight: Kisspeptin-10

Continuing our deep dive into lesser-known peptides, this week we’re going to take a look at Kisspeptin-10.

Kisspeptin-10 is a stimulator for gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH).

Scientists believe that the exogenous administration of this neuropeptide, which is naturally secreted by the hypothalamus, can be considered a key regulator of GnRH.

This peptide can also increase LH levels in both men and women, making it an LH secretagogue as well.

If this sounds familiar, that’s because it has a nearly identical action as HCG.

With the FDA cracking down on HCG compounding, it’s become more difficult to acquire, and Kisspeptin-10 is another alternative available to users.

Increasing GnRH and LH stimulates the reproductive system, which increases testosterone in men, and may increase fertility and sex drive in all genders.

Some use Kisspeptin-10 along with TRT to preserve fertility or any time they wish to improve reproductive and sexual health.

Is a good alternative to, or better than HCG? That’s a decision for you and your doctor. They’re very similar, and it’s good to see an alternative to HCG.

For more, check out our complete guide to Kisspeptin-10.

 Are Research Peptides Legal?

Last week, we told you that the FDA recently re-classified all kinds of peptides, making them significantly more difficult for prescribers to obtain for their patients.

We received a lot of questions, many of which were asking about the legality of research peptide companies like BioTech Peptides, which often include disclaimers that warn against human use.

We’ve got a full article explaining all the ins and outs of peptide legality right here, but I’ll summarize the important pieces for you, as the topic can be a bit confusing.

In short, research peptides exist in a gray area, where human consumption is not approved… but sale for research purposes isn’t illegal either.

The main reason most peptides aren’t approved for human use?

We simply don’t have many human studies yet.

Now this doesn’t mean research peptides are necessarily dangerous.

After all, anything can have side effects, even peptides prescribed by your doctor and manufactured in an approved pharmacy.

Obviously, there will be peptide companies popping up that don’t follow the safest manufacturing processes, which is why we only recommend using companies that rigorously lab-test their products and share the results.

From our article:

“Research peptides are the ones that are developed within the premises of a certified laboratory. These peptides are used for study purposes that will lead to pharmaceutical breakthroughs.

After rigorous clinical trials, including the ones having human subjects and undergoing the FDA approval process, these peptides become available for medicinal purposes. These are then certified as Prescribed Peptides.

Prescribed peptides are carefully assessed by healthcare workers who ardently believe in the therapeutic effects of the peptides.”

Now, since many of these experimental peptides haven’t been approved by the FDA yet, they’re stuck in the research category.

Companies can not sell research peptides as FDA-approved medication, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re illegal to sell as research compounds.

Not to mention, laws change depending on the country.

For example, in the United States, the majority of the peptides are not approved/authorized by the FDA due to the lack of clinical trials involving humans as subjects.

However, this doesn’t mean that it is illegal for you to consume these peptides; rather, these peptides can’t be sold legally or be publicized under the “human consumption” tag.

So next time you see a warning that peptides aren’t meant for human consumption, know that they simply aren’t approved for human use yet, and companies have to protect themselves with that disclaimer.

What people do with research peptides after purchasing is up to them.

For more, read our in-depth article: Are Peptides Legal – Legality Status in Each Country.

Research Spotlight: Eat Less to Live Longer?

According to the National Institute on Aging, reducing your calorie intake may rejuvenate your muscles and promote healthy aging.

In animal studies, reducing food intake has been shown to delay the progression of age-related disease, and now the same thing may be true in humans.

There were a few things we found particularly interesting in this new study.

First, the researchers asked the participants to decrease their calorie intake by 25% over a two-year span, but the highest reduction the group could reach was only 12%.

A 12% decrease in calories is very modest, and shouldn’t be too much of a hassle. If you consume 2,000 calories per day, a 12% decrease would put you at 1,760 calories, which is still reasonable.

That’s a small change for a big result.

In addition to improving fat loss due to reduced food intake, decreasing caloric intake seemed to decrease overall inflammation, reducing the risk of many age-related diseases.

The second thing that seemed counterintuitive is the idea of reducing calories to rejuvenate muscle tissue.

After all, don’t we need to eat more to build muscle?

Yes, but the study found something interesting.

Even though participants lost an average of 20 pounds over two years, including some muscle tissue, they didn’t lose muscular strength.

This seems to indicate that restricting food intake improved the amount of force generated by each muscle unit, even though overall muscle mass may have been down.
 
So if you’re interested in longevity, making a slight adjustment to your nutrition to reduce your calorie intake may promote fat loss as well as improve muscular health.

If you’re already quite lean, don’t wish to lose any more weight, or your doctor has advised you to avoid weight loss, this may not be for you.

But if you’ve got a few pounds to lose, this one small change could lead to better health, lower inflammation, stronger muscles, and a reduced risk of age-related disease.