The Science

How peptides
actually work.

Peptides are how your body talks to itself. We restore the signals you've been making your whole life, at the levels you used to make them.

Move your cursor and the chain follows
01 · Building blocks

A peptide is a short message
written in amino acids.

Proteins run huge, hundreds or thousands of amino acids strung together. A peptide is much shorter, usually 2–50 amino acids. That smaller size is what makes them good at one thing: carrying a signal.

Every peptide in your body has a specific job: regulate appetite, repair tissue, release a hormone, modulate the immune system. They're how cells communicate with each other in real time.

Therapeutic peptides are precision copies (or close analogs) of the same signals your body already uses, dosed at the levels needed to nudge a specific outcome.

2–50
amino acids per peptide
7,000+
peptides in the human body
100+
FDA-approved peptide drugs
<5kDa
typical molecular weight
Gly Pro Glu Leu Val
02 · Delivery

Why peptides are injected,
not swallowed.

Your stomach is built to demolish proteins. That's literally its job. Acid and digestive enzymes (pepsin, trypsin) tear peptide bonds apart in minutes, so a peptide you swallow rarely survives long enough to do anything. A subcutaneous injection skips the digestive system and puts the signal straight into your bloodstream.

Oral path

Swallowed as a pill

Peptide hits the stomach, gets pulled apart by acid and proteases before any signal reaches the bloodstream.

Mouth
Stomach
Intestine
Destroyed
<1% survives digestion
reaches bloodstream intact
SubQ injection

Subcutaneous injection

Peptide goes into fat just below the skin, absorbs into capillaries, and enters circulation intact within minutes.

Skin
Fat tissue
Capillaries
Bloodstream
~90% bioavailable,
delivered intact to target tissue

Hover over either card to speed up the flow.

03 · Mechanism

A peptide asks the cell.
The cell does the rest.

Once a peptide reaches its target tissue, it locks into a specific receptor the way a key fits one lock. Binding flips a switch on the cell's surface that triggers a signaling cascade inside. Your own cells handle it from there: change gene expression, release a hormone, repair tissue. The peptide is only the message.

01

Approach

Peptide circulates in the bloodstream and finds tissue expressing its matching receptor: pituitary, hypothalamus, gut, muscle.

02

Bind

It locks into the receptor's binding pocket. The geometry is exact, so a peptide only fits the receptor it was shaped for.

03

Cascade

Binding triggers second-messenger pathways (cAMP, PKA, MAPK) that change gene expression and release hormones.

04 · In your body

What each peptide
actually does.

Each protocol targets a different receptor system. Tap any peptide below to watch its mechanism animate: the receptor it binds, the hormone it moves, and what changes downstream.

Semaglutide

GLP-1 receptor agonist · Weight management
Learn +
Appetite (baseline) Week 8

Semaglutide is a near-copy of GLP-1, the gut hormone your intestines release after a meal. It's been modified to resist enzymatic breakdown, so it survives a full week in circulation against the natural hormone's 2 minutes.

It binds GLP-1 receptors in three places: the hypothalamus (reduces hunger signaling), the stomach (slows gastric emptying), and the pancreas (sharpens glucose-stimulated insulin response).

i. Receptor
GLP-1R (G-protein coupled)
ii. Hormone
↑ Insulin, ↓ Glucagon, ↓ Ghrelin
iii. Outcome
Reduced appetite, fat loss, glycemic control

BPC-157

Body Protection Compound · Tissue repair
Learn +
Injury site New vasculature

BPC-157 is a 15-amino-acid fragment derived from a protein found in human gastric juice. It's the body's own repair signal for the gut lining, given systemically here to speed healing in other tissues too.

It upregulates VEGFR2 and the nitric oxide pathway, which accelerates angiogenesis (new blood vessel formation). Better blood supply to injured tissue means faster delivery of nutrients, oxygen, and growth factors, and faster healing in tendon, ligament, gut, and muscle.

i. Receptor
VEGFR2, FAK / Paxillin pathway
ii. Hormone
↑ Growth hormone receptor expression
iii. Outcome
Tissue repair, reduced inflammation, gut healing

CJC-1295 + Ipamorelin

GH secretagogue stack · Recovery & sleep
Learn +
GH pulse (overnight) 10pm 2am 6am

This is a two-peptide stack that tells your pituitary gland to make more of your own growth hormone, instead of injecting exogenous GH directly.

CJC-1295 mimics GHRH (growth-hormone-releasing hormone). Ipamorelin mimics ghrelin, hitting a separate receptor on the pituitary. Together they trigger a stronger, cleaner GH pulse than either does alone, without the cortisol and prolactin spikes older GH-releasing peptides caused.

Your body still sets the release pattern: overnight pulses, aligned to sleep.

i. Receptor
GHRH-R + GHS-R (ghrelin receptor)
ii. Hormone
↑ GH, ↑ IGF-1 downstream from liver
iii. Outcome
Deeper sleep, lean mass, recovery, fat oxidation

NAD+ & Epitalon

Cellular / longevity protocols
Learn +
NAD telomerase mitochondria re-energized · telomeres restored

NAD+ is a coenzyme rather than a peptide, but it's delivered the same way and runs alongside peptide protocols. Levels drop about 50% between age 40 and 60. Replacing it restores the activity of sirtuins and PARPs, the enzymes that maintain mitochondrial function and repair DNA.

Epitalon is a 4-amino-acid peptide that activates telomerase, the enzyme that maintains the protective caps on your chromosomes. In trials it normalizes circadian rhythm, melatonin production, and several markers of cellular aging.

i. Target
Mitochondrial sirtuins (NAD+); pineal gland (Epitalon)
ii. Hormone
↑ Melatonin, restored circadian signaling
iii. Outcome
Cellular energy, DNA repair, sleep quality
05 · Hormone signature

What this looks like
in your bloodwork.

Same peptide family, different goal, different hormone fingerprint. Drag the timeline to watch each peptide's effects build over weeks of protocol.

Protocol week 8 of 8
012345678

Semaglutide · 8-week signature

Net effect: appetite-control hormones go up, hunger and glucose volatility come down. Insulin sensitivity rises as fat mass drops.

Directional changes only. Individual response varies, and real protocols include monthly lab work.

Ready to put
the science to work?

Get matched with a US-licensed clinician in 5 minutes. They'll pick the protocol that fits your goal.

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Concept · designed by Alex Cruttenden