Peptide Expert: What Do Peptides Actually Do? (EXPLAINED) - Dr Alex Tatem

Methylene blue stains nails blue and hair blue when taken.

"There's methylene blue where people take it and they think it's going to make them live forever. Don't take this. It literally will stain your nails blue and your hair blue." (said at 0:01:22)

No published record matching the claim that taking methylene blue stains nails and hair blue was located; this does not prove the claim false. While systemic administration of methylene blue commonly causes blue-green discoloration of urine (chromaturia) and can cause transient bluish discoloration of the skin, saliva, or mucous membranes, published clinical evidence demonstrating that oral ingestion causes blue discoloration of the hair or nail plates is lacking.

In 2023, the FDA shifted 19 popular peptides from Category 1 to Category 2 for compounding, effectively banning compounding pharmacies from producing them.

"And all of these original compounds, these peptides that we're so interested in now, were originally on that first list, Category 1, all right? And so, they were able to be compounded... But then in 2023, the FDA at that time switched all of those peptides, 19 of them that were popular, to Category 2, and then they were banned." (said at 0:13:50)

No published record matching the claim that the FDA shifted 19 peptides from Category 1 to Category 2 in 2023 to prohibit compounding was located; this does not prove the claim false.

A patient with obesity and metabolic dysfunction increased his sperm count tenfold into normal range after losing 100 pounds using tirzepatide alongside diet and exercise.

"And I just saw a patient last week who increased his sperm count 10 times over and is now in a normal range because he's lost 100 pounds due to using tirzepatide, exercising, and improving his diet." (said at 0:22:42)

No published record matching this specific clinical case of a patient increasing his sperm count tenfold into normal range after losing 100 pounds with tirzepatide, diet, and exercise was located; this does not prove the claim false. While obesity is well recognized to impair spermatogenesis and substantial weight loss combined with lifestyle intervention can improve reproductive hormones and semen parameters, direct clinical trial evidence evaluating the specific effects of tirzepatide on human semen parameters remains limited.

Selank promotes calming and enhances restorative deep delta brain waves during sleep.

"things like Selank, which is another one that can help calm you as you're going to sleep about an hour ahead of time. And again, help those deep delta wave brain waves that are so restorative whenever you actually are, you know, resting." (said at 0:42:28)

While Selank (a synthetic heptapeptide analogue of tuftsin) has been studied in preliminary and Russian clinical literature as an anxiolytic agent that modulates GABA receptors, no published record matching the claim that Selank enhances restorative deep delta brain waves during sleep was located; this does not prove the claim false. The speaker may have conflated Selank with delta sleep-inducing peptide (DSIP), a distinct peptide studied for slow-wave sleep induction.

• partial: Peptide-based Anxiolytics: The Molecular Aspects of Heptapeptide Selank Biological Activit… (Protein and peptide letters 2018) · cited 13x in the literature

  "Heptapeptide Selank (Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro) exhibits prolonged anti-anxiety and nootropic effects." (abstract, background, passage verified)

  pubmedfull study (doi)
• context: Sedative-Hypnotic Agents That Impact Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid Receptors: Focus on Flunitraz… (Journal of clinical pharmacology 2021) · cited 25x in the literature

  "Phenibut and selank are poorly studied Russian drugs with GABAergic mechanisms that are inexplicably sold to US consumers as dietary supplements." (abstract, results, passage verified)

  pubmedfull study (doi)

Obesity rates in the United States are estimated between 40% and 70% depending on the BMI cutoff used.

"the unfortunate reality is that here in the United States, it depends on what database you look at, but obesity rates are estimated to be 40 to 70%, okay? Depending on what BMI cutoff you're using, okay?" (said at 0:46:25)

No published record matching the claim that obesity rates in the United States are estimated between 40% and 70% depending on the BMI cutoff used was located; this does not prove the claim false.