The guest
Dr. Abud Bakri: A 33-year-old board-certified internal medicine physician who works hospital wards (ER to ICU) and has encyclopedic knowledge of peptide science, history and safety. He recently released a circadian-biology app.
What this episode covers
Huberman and Dr. Bakri break peptides into categories, chiefly those with known receptors (like GLP-1 drugs) versus those without (like BPC-157), and trace each compound's history, mechanism and evidence base. They cover BPC-157 for tissue/gut repair, the Russian 'bioregulator' peptides epitalon and pinealon, thymic peptides (thymosin alpha-1, TB-500, thymulin) for immunity and aging, GHK-Cu for skin and collagen, and growth-hormone secretagogues. A large portion examines GLP-1s (semaglutide, tirzepatide, retatrutide) for weight loss and metabolic health. Throughout, the discussion stresses that most human data is thin or comes from single labs, that the gray-market supply chain is the real danger, and that peptide use should be physician-supervised.
Recommended on this episode
ProductRecommended
Raw Optics circadian lamp
Raw Optics
“I really, really like them”
“Raw optics made one that goes from a morning really bright light full spectrum to candle light mode in the evening. I really, really like them.”— Andrew Huberman
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
ProductReferenced
BPC-157
Dr. Predrag Sikiric / Croatian research group
“I tore my tricep a few months ago. And I put BBC in locally with a couple of other peptides. And within 3 weeks, my PT is like, this is healing so fast.”— Abud Bakri
ProductReferenced
TB-500 (Thymosin Beta-4)
Goldstein lab
“Thysin beta 4 seems to be this 43 amino acid peptide that helps in the actin cytoskeleton of cells.”— Abud Bakri
ProductReferenced
GHK-Cu (Copper Peptide)
Dr. Loren Pickart
“GHKCU is a tripeptide with a copper ion in the middle. It's glycine histidine and lysine. It's actually found in type one collagen fibers.”— Abud Bakri
ProductReferenced
Pinealon (EDR)
Dr. Vladimir Khavinson
“If I do a very small injection of pinealon at that point, the one and a half hours of REM I would get, now I'm getting 3 hours.”— Andrew Huberman
ProductReferenced
Epitalon (Epithalon)
Dr. Vladimir Khavinson
“He got people in nursing homes, one group got epithalon, and they had a significant lower mortality when it came to cardiovascular disease, infectious risk and cancers.”— Abud Bakri
ProductReferenced
Thymosin Alpha-1 (Zadaxin)
Goldstein lab
“I've used thymus alpha one when I travel to avoid the cesspool of planes and hotels, this year on the wards I didn't get sick a single time.”— Abud Bakri
ProductReferenced
Thymulin
French research group
“Thymulin is a nine amino acid peptide that is the marker of thymus function. It also has very interesting neurological effects.”— Abud Bakri
ProductReferenced
MK-677 (Ibutamoren)
MK-677
“MK67 not FDA approved orally available pill that makes you bleed out growth hormone like you make so much growth hormone in response to that.”— Abud Bakri
ProductReferenced
Tesamorelin
Tesamorelin
“Tesmorine especially when combined with eporin. Tesmor is FDA approved. Those two together can create a giant growth hormone response.”— Abud Bakri
ProductReferenced
Sermorelin
Sermorelin
“Ceremorine is kind of a weaker GHRH. Tesmorine especially when combined with eporin.”— Abud Bakri
ProductReferenced
Semaglutide (Ozempic / Wegovy)
Novo Nordisk
“You have your semiglutide which is Ozempic and the Wegovy is the FDA approved version for the weight loss.”— Abud Bakri
ProductReferenced
Tirzepatide (Mounjaro / Zepbound)
Eli Lilly
“For tirzepatide you have Zepbound and Mounjaro. Zepbound being the FDA approved version for weight loss.”— Abud Bakri
ProductReferenced
Retatrutide
Eli Lilly
“Retatride is going to be a trillion dollar industry. Retatride has 39 amino acids.”— Andrew Huberman
ProductReferenced
Orforglipron
Eli Lilly
“Some of the pills I think you can pay 150 bucks a month for the orforglipron which is not a peptide but still GLP1 agonist.”— Abud Bakri
ProductReferenced
NMN (Nicotinamide Mononucleotide)
NMN
“I do augment NAD using NMN, it gives me more morning energy. I will say it does make my nails really thick and my hair grow fast.”— Andrew Huberman
ProductReferenced
Bon Charge light bulbs
Bon Charge
“For a long time, I've used Bon Charge's bulbs cuz they have these bulbs that switch from full spectrum in the day.”— Andrew Huberman
Big reveals from this episode
- Bakri says compounding-pharmacy clinicians often pocket the markup between the pharmacy's price and what they charge patients, and urges patients to ask the doctor what they paid.
- All peptide raw materials (the API) come from China; there is no such thing as an American-made peptide.
- Bakri estimates $5-10 billion was spent on gray-market 'research-only' peptides in the US in 2025.
- Bakri recounts injecting BPC-157 locally into a torn tricep and healing in ~3 weeks versus a typical 3-month recovery.
- Huberman admits he uses pinealon a few times a month to roughly double his REM sleep, with effects lingering on off-nights.
- Huberman says sermorelin spiked his PSA (prostate-specific antigen), so he stopped it immediately.
- Bakri describes self-experimenting with a 1mg Ozempic dose and suffering 'projectile vomiting' through a hospital night shift.
- The 'celebrity protocol' is a trinity stack of GLP-1, growth-hormone modulator and androgen therapy for rapid fat loss and muscle gain.
Worth remembering
- BPC-157 is a 15-amino-acid fragment of a larger ~40 kDa gut protein (BPC) isolated by a Croatian group in 1991; humans don't naturally make the 15-mer.
- Animal studies gave 1,000x doses of BPC with no real adverse effects, so its LD50 is unknown, which blocks FDA approval.
- Orally or rectally administered BPC-157 doesn't appear to go systemic; it wasn't detectable in the blood in trials.
- More than half of the peptide market is female; 'soccer moms' have become major peptide affiliates.
- Pinealon (EDR) is mislabeled; it actually derives from a cortex extract (cortexin), not the pineal gland, while epitalon is the pineal one.
- The thymus is largest before puberty (baseball-sized in a baby) and shrinks under androgens, estrogens and corticosteroids after puberty.
- GHK-Cu is high in youthful blood (~200 ng) and drops to the 60s by age 65; a properly formulated topical should be blue from the copper.
- A $3 lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio on a standard CBC can stratify disease risk, yet Bakri estimates ~0 of 100 US physicians use it that way.
- GLP-1 was discovered in the saliva of the Gila monster.
- Lilly is trying to push retatrutide above 40 amino acids to classify it as a 'biologic' for a far longer (~15-year) patent and to block compounding.
More from Andrew Huberman
All 3803 recommended