Are Peptides Safe? What You Need to Know About BPC-157, TB-500 & their Unknown Risks | Dr Leigh Baxt

👇 Visit The Proof website for the full show notes and supporting studies. 👇 https://theproof.com/podcast/ Simon’s personal supplement stack: https://hub.theproof.com/supplements Peptides are everywhere right now. They are being marketed for fat loss, injury recovery, anti-ageing, gut health, energy, and almost every other wellness promise you can imagine. But behind the hype, there is a much more important question: what do we actually know? In this episode, I sit down with Dr Leigh Baxt to unpack the science of peptides, how medicines are really developed, and why the current peptide boom should make us pause. We explore the gap between compelling marketing and real evidence, why anecdotes are not enough, and what concerns scientists who work close to the drug development pipeline. What We Cover - What peptides actually are, and why they are not a new invention - The difference between FDA-approved peptide drugs and peptides sold online for “research use only” - Why the current peptide craze concerns many scientists - How the drug development process works from idea to approved medicine - Why more than 99 percent of drug ideas fail before reaching patients - The difference between promising animal or cell data and evidence in humans - Why “natural” does not automatically mean safe - How anecdotal success stories can mislead when safety and efficacy are still unknown - Why patentability is not the main reason these peptides remain unapproved - How to think more critically about bold peptide claims online 00:00 Stanford Expert Breaks Down the Peptide Hype 04:20 The Skill Set Behind Real Drug Development 07:14 FDA Approved vs Research Only Peptides Explained 10:17 Why Most Drug Candidates Never Become Medicine 15:10 Peptide Reclassification What Changes and What Doesn't 22:32 The Biological Risks Nobody Mentions About Peptides 24:55 Why Natural Peptides Are Not Necessarily Safe 30:35 What Safety Tests Drugs Must Pass First 39:04 Accepting Unknown Risk What That Actually Means 41:46 How to Find Credible Health Experts Online 44:52 Why Drug Development Always Requires A Team This conversation is a reminder that scientific uncertainty matters. When a compound has not gone through proper testing, the biggest issue is not whether the marketing sounds convincing, but whether the benefits, risks, dose, and mechanisms are actually understood. Disclaimer: The views expressed by Dr. Leigh Baxt in this episode are her own and do not represent the views of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center or any other employer or institution. To learn more from Dr. Leigh Baxt Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sciencemomscicomm/ Unbiased Science Website: https://www.unbiasedscience.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unbiasedscipod/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unbiasedscipod Twitter/X: https://x.com/unbiasedscipod Enjoy, friends. Simon This episode is brought to you by: 38TERA Consider 38TERA's DMN prebiotic supplement a daily multivitamin for your gut. Formulated by yours truly and gastroenterologist Dr Will Bulsiewicz. Head to https://38tera.com/?ref=SIMON and use code THEPROOF for a discount at checkout. 38Tera ships to the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. Function Health Take charge of your health with advanced blood testing and personalised insights. Function Health offers a practical way to track key health markers such as cholesterol, blood sugar, and more. Learn more and join at http://functionhealth.com/simonhill for a $25 credit toward your membership. Only available to those living in the United States. Function Health ships to 48 U.S. states, excluding Rhode Island, Hawai‘i, and Puerto Rico. Eight Sleep Upgrade your sleep with the Pod 5 Ultra by Eight Sleep. Clinically validated to deliver up to 1 extra hour of quality sleep per night through temperature control and biometric tracking. Use code THEPROOF for $350 off at http://eightsleep.com/theproof. Try it risk-free for 30 days, with worldwide shipping. Eight Sleep ships to the U.S. (excluding Alaska, Hawaii, and territories), Canada, Mexico, most of the EU, the U.K., Australia, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Switzerland. Cozy Earth Cozy Earth’s sheets are designed to keep you cool by wicking heat and moisture away from your body, helping you sleep deeper and wake less. Get up to 20% off at https://cozyearth.com/ with code THEPROOF. Cozy Earth ships worldwide. WHOOP Whoop, the most advanced fitness and health wearable available. Your personalised fitness and health coach to recover faster, sleep better, and train smarter. Claim your first month free on http://join.whoop.com/simon. Whoop ships to 56+ international markets, including the US, Canada, most of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, UAE, Singapore, and parts of Asia.