Wellness After 40
A podcast that empowers women in their 40s and beyond to embrace aging with vitality and purpose.
Wellness After 40
Peptides and Longevity: Hype or Helpful? with Dr. Christine Boev
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Peptides are one of the fastest-growing topics in health and wellness, with claims ranging from improved recovery and muscle growth to better metabolic health, healthier skin, and increased longevity. But how much of the excitement is backed by science?
In this episode of Wellness After 40, I sit down with Dr. Christine Boev to explore what peptides are, how they work in the body, and who may benefit from them. We discuss the current state of peptide therapy, potential risks and benefits, common misconceptions, and why peptides should be viewed as one piece of a larger wellness strategy—not a replacement for healthy habits.
Whether you're curious about peptides for aging, recovery, body composition, or overall wellness, this conversation will help you better understand the science and separate fact from fiction.
In this episode, we discuss:
• What peptides are and how they work
• Potential benefits for recovery, metabolic health, and longevity
• Common myths and misconceptions about peptide therapy
• Risks, considerations, and who may not be a good candidate
• Why medical guidance matters when considering peptides
• How peptides fit alongside nutrition, exercise, sleep, and other healthy lifestyle habits
Connect with Dr. Christine Boev:
Website: https://vitalize-fitness.com/bio
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drchristineboev/
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Peptides are one of the hottest topics in health and wellness right now. But separating fact from fiction can be tough. Are they a breakout tool for aging, recovery, and metabolic health? Or just another expensive trend? Today we're exploring the science behind the headlines to help you better understand what peptides can and can't do. You don't want to miss this episode. Welcome to Wellness After 40: Health, Goals, and Manifestation for Women, the podcast that empowers women in their 40s and beyond to embrace aging with vitality and purpose. I'm your host, Katie, an older millennial navigating wellness, personal growth, and the art of intentional living. Each week, we'll dive into the latest in exercise, nutrition, mental health, goal setting, as well as actionable steps for manifesting the life you want. We'll also explore the science behind women's health at midlife and beyond, along with conversations with experts to keep you thriving in your body, mind, and spirit. Whether you're focusing on achieving health goals, mastering your mental clarity, or transforming your life, this podcast will give you the tools to feel your best at every stage of life. Let's dive into the journey of not just surviving, but thriving after 40. Well, welcome to the podcast Wellness After 40. I am your host, Katie, and I am thrilled to be bringing back a very special guest. Welcoming back to the podcast is Dr. Christine Boev. Dr. Boev is a PhD-prepared ICU nurse, scientist, researcher, and health coach, specializing in metabolic health, healthy aging, and women's wellness. She has dedicated her career to helping women navigate perimenopause and menopause using evidence-based strategies that support optimal health and longevity. With expertise in nutrition, supplementation, cellular health, and emerging therapies such as peptides, Dr. Boev takes a practical science-backed approach to helping women feel and function at their best. A passionate advocate for strength, mobility, and healthy aging, she hopes to still be doing handstand push-ups at 120 years old. Welcome back to the podcast, Dr. Boev.
SPEAKER_00Hi, Katie. And uh hello to all your listeners. I'm excited to be back to continue this conversation about peptides. Yes.
SPEAKER_01We uh first met you in the episode on GLP medications. And you know, I feel like that was such a very, very buzzy topic that you made so understandable. So I'm grateful for you to come back. And I was looking into researching this topic, and I was like, who do I know that knows all like the buzzy wellness things, but can really bring it into the forefront of is it hype? Is it helpful? And so today we're talking about peptides, as I mentioned, I feel like are the very buzzy thing in the wellness industry now. For listeners at home who are completely new to this conversation, what is a peptide?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so great question. If people are listening to this episode, they've probably heard the word peptide. If you've got um teenagers or young adult children, they're talking about peptides. So as parents, it's really important that we understand exactly like what is what is available, what what they think is going to change their life miraculously, and what this is all about. So to start real simple, a peptide is a small chain of amino acids. So remember in high school chemistry when you learned about you know amino acids, a peptide is just a short chain of amino acids. In contrast, a protein, right? A protein is a much larger structure built from a whole bunch of complete, like all the amino acids that are made and that we need. And so our body naturally makes thousands of peptides every single day. And what they do is they act as little messengers. So they tell our cells what to do. And why they've become so popular, they've been around for a while, is a couple of reasons. Number one, they have been shown to be really helpful in the areas of inflammation and longevity. And more importantly, when we talked about GLPs in our last episode, GLPs are peptides. And so for the last several years, people have been using some of the GLP ones, GLP2s, and GLP3s to help them. The idea is with diabetes, right? I'm diabetic, I need to control my blood sugar. But as the GLP space has gotten to be more and more popular, so has this space of peptides. And so I would love to kind of dive into some of the big ones that are out there and just talk about how they might be helpful or not be helpful. But I'll preface this with nobody's giving anybody any medical advice. We are simply educating so that you can talk to your provider and make an informed decision.
SPEAKER_01Yes, absolutely. This is just an information gathering chat between two friends. Um, but I think that there is so much information out there. So I'm really thankful for your advice because it is it's it's murky out there. There's so much information, and we don't know what is being commercialized type versus like what is real. So I am thankful to talk about this with you. But yes, absolutely. Tip number one get this information and take it to your provider.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Um, so I would say the first thing is we have to talk about safety. And right now, you can go on to a TikTok shop, you can um go on to an Instagram influencer, and you can purchase peptides. And it is grossly unethical, and the safety concerns are monumental. So, number one, for everybody listening, if you are going to work with your provider and think about incorporating peptides into your life, you have to purchase them through a pharmacy. You can use a compounding pharmacy, but you cannot go on TikTok shop and order a vial of something and start injecting yourself. And that might be shocking, but it is so common. I can't really articulate how common it is. And it scares me. It scares me for young adults, people looking for a quick fix. It it really makes me very uneasy. It's not regulated. So, number one, guys, is where are you getting your peptides from? And if it's not from a pharmacy, then it's a hard no.
SPEAKER_01That is really sound advice because I think that they're like you said, it is it's very rampant. You can get them really anywhere. I've mostly seen them orally, like oral peptides that you get from, like, you know, a health food shop. Um, that's where I've seen a lot of peptides, but I haven't, you know, seen in person like any like injectable peptides, but that's really good rule of thumb. I think really in general, when it comes to any type of medication, it's best to talk to your doctor first. And then, yeah, I think that's a great little gatekeep. Like, if you're not getting this from a prescription from your provider at a pharmacy, it's it's either gonna be hype or it can be dangerous.
SPEAKER_00Right, because I there's no regulation. So I don't know what's in that vial. And again, just be smart, guys. Like, I think some of these things they sound so exciting and enticing and like this is gonna change my life. And if you refer back to our last episode, the point that we were making was you have to fix the foundation first. And so if you're not moving your body, fueling your body, drinking water, and like working on your mindset, none of this stuff is going to make a difference. And so these things that we're gonna talk about today are in addition to a really healthy fueling source, workout source, hydration source, like all of those things. If you don't build the foundation, like peptides are like curtains on a window, right? And so, yes, do we want pretty curtains? Yeah, but you've got to have really nice windows. So, again, just putting this into perspective because I think people get really desperate and just understanding like that there is no quick fix, there's no magic solution. If it sounds too good to be true, it is.
SPEAKER_01And I think with some of the confusing information out there, is well, when I think of a peptide being just a consumer, not a medical professional at all, I think of it as a vitamin. Um, and so and I think vitamins are just like totally safe, and I'm just going to use absorb what I need from that vitamin, and everything else just kind of like leaves in a and like a waste, you know, method. Um, and so that's how I always thought of peptides. So I appreciate you putting that pause on that and saying, no, they're they're a little bit more significant than that. And the second thing that I find confusing about peptides is that I have read that they are naturally occurring in the body. So I automatically think, oh, well, if it's naturally occurring in my body, why wouldn't I want to just amp that up on my own accord? But it sounds like that you start with your provider on if you need these or not.
SPEAKER_00Right. And the other thing just to think about is these are new to most providers. So you want to seek out somebody who has some experience. So oftentimes a functional medical doctor is a good place to start because they look at things not through your typical like Western medicine lens, but they're looking at things through prevention and optimization. So, like if you go to your standard general practitioner and you're like, I'm gonna try some BPC 157, they're probably gonna look at you like, what? So again, it's educating yourself. So starting here today, like learning about what some of these compounds do and why it may or may not be beneficial to you. So there's a there's a lot of hype and there's a lot of education that needs to happen. Um so just to kind of give everybody the state of the science, um, the FDA is scheduled to review several peptides um in July. So July 2026, they're going to review these that have become very popular, and we're gonna talk about them in functional medicine, in anti-aging, recovery, wellness. And basically, what is gonna happen is they're going to allow compounding of these certain peptides. So the pharmacies can go ahead and make these. Now, there's a lot of pharmacies that are already making these, and these aren't necessarily FDA drug approved because that process takes years. But there are things that we're like the FDA is like, okay, we think these things are helpful if under the right circumstances and compounded safely. So we're gonna go ahead and allow pharmacies to start making these. Okay. Then what you're gonna see starting in July, which is in two weeks, is um a lot of advertisement from medical and aesthetics clinics, wellness clinics, med spas of these medications. So I think it's really timely that we're getting a jump on this so that your listeners, when they start getting all of this information and all of these ads and things, they're like, oh yeah, I've heard about these things. And you need to decide for yourself too, if it's something that makes sense to you. So the ones that are going to become more accessible, I'll read them and then we can go through them one by one. And Katie just jump in and you know ask questions about them. But the big one is BPC 157, TB500, K KPV, MOTS C. I'll go over these, CMAX, epitalin, and then the last one is called Esmodeltide. Um, those are the big ones. There's another one called melanoitan 2 that your readers probab or your listeners probably have heard of. Melanoitan 2 is a peptide that stimulates your melanocyte. So it's melanocyte stimulating hormone. And people will use that before they go out into the sun, and it um will give you a stronger suntan.
SPEAKER_01And it's a yeah, okay.
SPEAKER_00So supposed to help prevent sunburn. Um, I will here's my caution for because most of people that are listening to this are females over the age of 40. It is also going to make any like dark spot on your face much darker. So I would just be careful with that. Like, if you're like, oh, I want to get a good tan, but then all of a sudden every little freckle and mole on your body is like accentuated. I don't know about you, but like I go to a laser spa to try to get rid of all my dark spots. So I would just caution that as something that like I guess people don't really think about in terms of like, okay, I want to be tan. So that's one. Um, but let's start kind of in the at the beginning. Um, and actually let me back up to our last episode because we talked about um Reditrutide, which was the GLP3. And that is one that is expected to get FDA approval uh sometime in early 2027. And people sell it, you can buy it on TikTok. I would caution you not to do that, but that one is um probably gonna take off in an in an Ozempic-like fashion because as we discussed in the last podcast, it's the results have been pretty significant, and it's it's just a a better version of Ozempic. So just something to think about. So the first peptide that your listeners um are gonna hear about is BPC 157. BPC stands for body protection compound. Okay. Here's what we think it does.
SPEAKER_01A quick pause before we continue. If you're looking for a little more support on your wellness journey, I've created a subscriber community for wellness after 40 listeners. For $5 a month, you'll get bonus episodes, guided practices, and conversations designed specifically for women navigating midlife health, hormones, stress, and healthy aging. It's a simpler way to go a little deeper and support the show at the same time. You can join through the link in the show notes. Now, back to today's conversation.
SPEAKER_00BPCD 157 is a very good anti-inflammatory agent. Why is this important for women over 40? A lot of you probably have, because this goes along with menopause, right? Tendinitis, rotator cuff pain, knee pain, low back pain. So BPC 157 has been shown to support a lot of healing of these injuries. It also has shown to help with gut health, which is critically important. So it's not a these are not weight loss supplements, just so you guys understand, it's not a weight loss medication, but you will hear a lot of athletes are taking this compound. Um, a lot of people who have arthritis, people who are just looking to like temper down the inflammation. So that's the first one that you've probably heard a lot about and is going to be available like legally through a pharmacy pretty soon.
SPEAKER_01And I didn't know that element about gut health. So I think that's a really interesting factor. And I think it's even more interesting that it is like in the in the cue to potentially being approved.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I believe that inflammation is the root cause of most of our chronic diseases. So if this peptide does what it says it does, then it's something it's something to consider as a way to just tone down the inflammation. You know, the clients that I work with, their biggest complaint is like abdominal fat around the middle. And a lot of that is from inflammation and stress and injuries, and your body is just like in survival mode. So I'm excited about BPC 157 because I really feel like it's got some really um good potential effects for women over 40.
SPEAKER_01And is this one naturally occurring in our body already?
SPEAKER_00Yes, they all are. Okay, yeah, they all are. And so the thing to think about is as we get older, right, we know that our body makes less of pretty much everything. So if we're I you can't measure this, like there's no BPC 157 blood test. But it's part of the reason why as we get older, things just start to feel kind of creaky. And so all of these things are made naturally in our body, but if we can give it a little jump start, will that will that be helpful?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's fascinating.
SPEAKER_00The next one is TB500. I the so a lot of people talk about BP BPC 157 and TB500 in conjunction with each each other. It's called thymic 4 fragment. You don't ever need to remember that. But what this one does is it's similar to BPC 157, but its mechanism is a little bit different. And what people have found is if you put them together, that works really well. So it will, it may, I'm not gonna say may reduce inflammation. It helps, it appears to improve healing in connective tissue. So you sprain an ankle, you pull a muscle. This this peptide is really helpful in that healing process. And then it supports tissue remodeling. So why would this be helpful if you are a female in our age bracket? Well, what we know is as estrogen declines, right, our recovery slows down, our connective tissue becomes less resilient, and then we are just in general at higher risk of uh injury. So if you've got chronic injuries, if you're recovering from surgery, if you've got repeated like tendon issues, ACL, plantar fasciitis, brositis, I can't tell you how many people I talk to have brasitis, shoulder issues. Um, this might be something that is going to help. Again, this is not a weight loss peptide at all. But if you are able to move with a little bit more fluidity, then your workouts are gonna be better, right? So it's it's something to think about.
SPEAKER_01And quality of life in general, like the movement mobility piece is really fascinating to me. And I think it's really interesting that this is going to help with that. And, you know, I want to keep going through the list, but if we could pause for a moment just on these two alone, is this the level that you're seeing in the research? Is it attainable to the level that you're maybe seeing with these peptides? Is it attainable to get this naturally just through diet exercise? Like if we start to kind of pull back the layer before we get die dive deeper into these others, is it even possible to get to this level at our age with just the the old school way of thinking, or is the research kind of showing that this in tandem with that is really kind of going to be a new recipe?
SPEAKER_00It depends, right? If you're some Somebody who has been dealing with chronic injuries or arthritis, you're not going to be able to eat and exercise your way out of that. But I'm super blessed. I have knock on wood. I have no injuries. I have no inflammation. I don't have any issues with my connective tissue. For me, this is not really something that I am going to think about right now because I am so dialed in with my workouts, with my nutrition, with my other supplements, that my thought is I want to wait till I actually need these things, right? To use them. Same thing with the GLPs. Like I don't want to take any of that. God forbid someday somehow my weight has gotten out of control and I want to think about it, then it's it's sitting there waiting. But if, you know, some people are just plagued with injuries. I've got a lot of women who were um high-level collegiate athletes who've had knee replacements, hip replacements, back surgeries, back problems. This this might make sense for them so that they can function at a higher level. Interesting.
SPEAKER_01And so we have quite a list. So can you explain the um the next one is KBV? I think. Is that the full acronym? Or is did I miss some numbers?
SPEAKER_00Um, well, the next one on my list is MOTS C. So M T Shen C. I might have gone out on border a little bit. Um, but this one is actually really exciting for women over the age of 40 because this one targets your mitochondria. So your mitochondria are the little batteries inside of your cell. They make all of our energy. And if your mitochondria are not working well, you're gonna feel like garbage. So MOTS C, and again, I want to just back up. These are all injectables. This these are not oral. So again, that's a huge barrier for some people to be like, yeah, I'm not sticking needles in myself. But these are right there. I'm like, oh no, no, no, yeah. But MOT C is gonna supposedly do a few things. Improve insulin sensitivity. That's huge, especially if you're somebody who maybe is uh pre-diabetic, borderline diabetic, maybe you're just a little bit overweight. Again, this is not a weight loss peptide, but if you can more effectively move glucose into the cell, then your metabolism is going to improve. So the thought is MOTC is going to increase metabolic flexibility. And the last one that I think is pretty cool is enhanced exercise capacity. So if you're a woman over 40 and you're dialed in with your nutrition, your workouts, you're very consistent, this might be something to think about because it in turn is going to help with belly fat. It's going to help with blood sugar instability. So those crashes and cravings that occur throughout the day. Um, it's going to help with fatigue, and it might be helpful with people who've had a tough time losing weight. So we think it influences some of the pathways that are activated by exercise. And so this one I'm kind of excited about as, you know, a non-GLP mechanism of improving your metabolic health. So it's something that you're going to hear a lot about.
SPEAKER_01And the only other peptide that I've heard that's similar to this, that I hear a lot about, is NAD. And I'm not sure what the NAD is the acronym is for, but I know it's usually for like cellular health, energy to the mitochondria. So how do those contrast? Are they very similar? Because I've only ever seen NAD as in like an oral supplement.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So NAD is not a peptide, it's a coenzyme. So it's a little bit different. Um, and NAD is best absorbed through an IV. So you'll see med spas that offer NAD infusions. So let me just kind of give you guys just a quick overview because it's they're totally different things. And what they've found is there's not really a great oral supplement that doesn't get broken down by your stomach acid before it actually gets into the cell. So that's why the best way to get NED is through an infusion. But I will tell your listeners, and they might already know this, there's two kind of barriers with this. Number one, it's pretty expensive. And number two, it's a two-hour commitment because the infusion has to go in slowly because if you put it in too fast, you feel like you're like there's an elephant sitting on your chest. So wow, it's it's a it's a great um anti-aging strategy because NAD levels naturally will decline as you get older. And the research suggests that NAD declines a lot during the ages of 40 and 60. So as these levels fall, you might just start to feel tired, you might have some brain fog and accelerated aging. So, yeah, so NAD, it works right in the mitochondria. It has to do with energy production, it helps to fix our DNA. It's really good for um healthy aging, but it's tough to absorb. So that's why it's one that you'll hear about. Um, but it's it's if you're gonna spend the money, I would just go get the IV version every couple of months.
SPEAKER_01And I know we kind of digressed a little bit into these coenzymes, but would you still say those are something that should be regulated by your doctor?
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah. Like you can buy NAD on Amazon, you know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I see it at the health food store all the time.
SPEAKER_00Right. The problem is, and and again, I've researched this one a lot because I think NAD is so important. I personally don't take NAD, but I do take other co-enzymes that help my NAD work better. So, what I like to do is like keep my own natural production of NAD as in tune as possible before I worry about, okay, now I want to supplement. Because you always worry when you supplement with anything, any of these peptides, am I stunting my own endogenous production, right? If I give myself all of these, is my body gonna stop making it? Yeah, and then you become dependent. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. It's kind of like the melatonin argument, right? Like people that take melatonin for sleep, that's great. But then your little pineal gland that's making melatonin is like, well, I guess I don't have to do anything anymore, right? So there you really want to be careful not to disrupt the your own production of these really important molecules by over-supplementing with things that you might not need.
SPEAKER_01That's very interesting.
SPEAKER_00Very interesting. It's always a catch-22.
SPEAKER_01Always. So true. But it kind of goes back to the old school of thought on just vitamins, because I feel like vitamins have been in our in our existence or are within our uh scope of understanding for so long. And it's like a vitamin is if you're just deficient in something, like you don't need it unless you're deficient, otherwise, your body just gets rid of it. So I think that that kind of goes back into either coenzymes as well as going, we can go back into peptides now, but it just sounds like it's really only if you need it. Like you shouldn't be overdoing it.
SPEAKER_00Correct. And that's what I worry most about with our young adults who now have access to all of these compounds. They're they're young. So my kids are in college and they were home and they're like, oh my God, everybody they're taking this and this. I'm like, what? And it's because they have access to it. So the next one, and because this is one of the big ones, um, is tesumorelin. So you're gonna hear a lot about tesumerelin, and a lot of people are very interested in this one because it so what it does is it is a growth hormone releasing, so it helps your brain release more growth hormone. Okay. Growth hormone production, just like anything else as you get older, slows down. Okay. This is one though, where I when I get my labs checked every six months to check my hormones to make sure that my HRT is where it needs to be. Um, I get my growth hormone releasing factor, GNRH hormone checked and my IgF, my insulin-like growth factor hormones checked every six months. Because I want to make sure that my brain is still doing a good job of making growth hormone because growth hormone is really important for fat burning. And for me, my levels have always been unusually high for my age. I'm not messing with that. I don't, I am so grateful my brain likes to make growth hormone. I'm gonna leave that alone. But so this is one you can kind of measure and you can get labs done and see do I actually need this? So tesumeralin is a peptide that stimulates your own natural growth hormone production. Okay. And when you make more growth hormone, it can increase fat burning, it can help with recovery, it can help with protein synthesis. One of the things that's been really interesting about tesamerelin and women is it is the one thing that has been shown to reduce fat around your abdomen. So this, you know, that visceral fat that's you know deep in your abdomen, it's around your liver, your pancreas, your small intestines. And visceral fat is associated with heart disease, it's associated with insulin resistance, and it's metabolically active. So if somebody's listening and they're like, okay, Christine, I'm doing everything, I'm working out, I'm eating well, but I still have this muffin top, this might be something to think about. Maybe you're not making enough growth hormone. Maybe tesmerelin would be helpful because you're already doing all the things.
SPEAKER_01Does that make sense? It does. Absolutely. Yeah. That's really interesting. I was racking my brain. I was like, what in the world would we need growth hormone for? I'm thinking maybe just repairing of the cells, continuously keeping your muscles and your skin intact. But I didn't really think about that. It helps with the breakdown or or the the reduction of belly fat. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And that's why a lot of these young adults are like, hey, take tesimerelin, you're gonna get a six-pack, right? That's what they hear in their brain. Meanwhile, if you're 19, 20 years old, you've got tons of growth, growth hormone, my friend. Like you don't need that. So again, so true.
SPEAKER_01That's when you take out a Coke a week, you know, the or drinking the, you know, the soda, or you know, eating out late night, you know, that when you're 19, you bounce back.
SPEAKER_00You like this. I yes, that's why in college we could order pizza at 3 a.m. and it made no difference. Yeah. So you don't want to mess with it. So for me, my growth hormone is great. I'm not gonna take this one. I'm not, you know, I'm good. And I like that we can measure this, but I also like that it potentially is gonna help people who really feel stuck and frustrated.
SPEAKER_01And I think two points that you made and just describing what that's used for is the very first one is you can measure it. So your doctor can actually tell you if it's something that you're deficient in and it can help you. And then the second is is that it really only should be in consideration after you're obviously talking to your doctor, but that you have already tried other methods to reduce the belly fat. Um, and then that's where it can come into play. But those are the first two check marks when it comes to using that medication. Um, so that sounds really, really fascinating, um, but also kind of scary. Like you're right, like it seems like it's see like something that's just gonna be like the fix. And I don't know if we know enough about it yet to know if that's really the case.
SPEAKER_00It's like just do the work, you know. If this is so important to you that you're willing to stick needles in your body, but you're not gonna just you're not gonna do the work, that that frustrates me because I don't I don't believe in shortcuts. I believe that there are like actual things that help you. There's no better medicine on the planet than exercise. So, you know, I've met so many people who are obsessed with peptides and they don't exercise. And I'm just like, I just that this makes zero sense to me.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, I think we talked about this a little bit in the in the GLP conversation that, you know, exercise is not for necessarily just for aesthetics. It's not for you looking, you know, a certain way that you want to look. It's so much more. And, you know, but at the same time too, the the argument is that exercise is work and that's hard and it's uncomfortable and it doesn't feel good. So I can understand where peptides come into play that make things just a little bit easier to then hopefully, you know, understand that moving your body is is more than just the aesthetic. But, you know, I think that's the conversation too. That that's the argument, you know. If we can make something a little bit easier for us, then will we exercise more? I mean, that's that's another topic, but we can go back to the peptides.
SPEAKER_00I only have a few, I have a few more. Um, and I'll go through them. I'll speed up just a little bit in the interest of time. But the next one is thymus and alpha. Thymusin alpha has nothing to do with belly fat or weight loss. This primarily impacts your immune system. So it helps to regulate your T cells, your inflammatory response. Why is this important for women? Well, if you've got autoimmune, any autoimmune disease, Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, this might be something that you want to talk to your doctor about. Because if this peptide is helping to regulate inflammation, reduce recurrent infections, then to me, I if I had an autoimmune disease, I would be all over this one because quality of life is so important.
SPEAKER_01Oh, wow. So this one is a really important one because of autoimmune. There's so many different types of autoimmune. Like I'm thinking eczema, psoriasis. Um, yes. I live with someone with a food allergy. So I would be so curious to kind of follow this one along in studies. And then it also kind of made me kind of perk up to think about, well, you know, cancer research in the future. Like I wonder if this is going to be part of that equation as well. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. The next one is epitalon. This one is um a big favorite of the longevity crowd. So one of the um claims of epitalon is that it lengthens the telomeres on your DNA. So the telomeres are the capped ends, and as you get older, they get shorter. This is one that if I had to pick one to take, this is probably the one I would consider because it helps with all of your cellular aging pathways, all of them. And if you can slow down cellular aging, then you're just gonna feel better in general. It helps with melatonin production, which is gonna improve your um sleep. It helps with your circadian rhythms, and it helps overall with just healthy aging. So if you're listening and you're like, well, I don't sleep, I really have trouble with recovery, and healthy aging is a big concern. It's something to think about.
SPEAKER_01Can you repeat the name of that one again?
SPEAKER_00Epitalon.
SPEAKER_01Epitalon. These are like these are like uh dinosaur names to me. Like they're so they're so distinct.
SPEAKER_00Epitalon has been around for a long time. I think it started in like they've been taking it in Russia for decades. And again, everything is just slower to kind of get over here and get approved. But this is a this is one that I've been um researching for many years, and I'm really curious about because if you can, if your DNA are healthier and more equipped, then to me as a scientist, everything else, my vision, my senses, everything should in theory work better. Um, all right, I just have two more. The next one is is developed in Russia. This is called C-MAX, S-E-M-A-X. And what they think this might help with is cognition. So for people listening who feel like they have brain fog or focus, um, not you know, reduce productivity, C-Max is something, again, it's been around for a long time. But this is a um the the word they use is a nootropic N-O-O-Tropic. And nootropics are supposed to be smart drugs to help with um concentration and things like that. So if you're somebody who feels like they've got brain fog, this is something that might be helpful. And then the last one we already talked about is Retta True Tide. This is one that people call it REDTA if they're cool, and we're not, so that's fine. Um, but this is the one that will be approved in early 2027, and this is the the next iteration of our GLPs. So those are the big ones that you're gonna be hearing a lot about. Um, and I think it's good to be like, was there one that resonated with you that like you're like, yes, I'm tired of this eczema and I really want to have a conversation. Like, just do your research. And um, if you're gonna talk to your provider, come with data because they're probably not super educated on these yet, because this is all brand new science.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that was gonna be my follow-up question to learning about these. So I think that that's uh one of the questions that I had. So it's you know, you can look into what they do and you can align them with some of the things that are going on in your body. Is that where you kind of start? My question really actually is it's like, how do we know that this is something that we should investigate more for our body? Is it just looking at the list of what kind of the pros that it does and just aligning those with some of the cons that we are like living with and then take that information to our doctor? Or is there another type of standardization that we'll see in the future on like how do we know if this is the right fit for us?
SPEAKER_00I think it's a little bit of trial and error, you know, and then cost. Most of these you're gonna be paying for out of pocket, and they're not, they're not cheap. So I think you have to do your research. And again, these are not FDA approved yet. So there's always gonna be an asterisk there. But there's so many studies, like you can just go on to Google Scholar and do a study about Tesumeral, like, look at Tesumerelin for visceral fat for women over 40. You're gonna find plenty of peer-reviewed articles. And then you need to decide, okay, is this something I want to try? And I would give it six months, really. Like if you're going to invest in a peptide, give it a good six months to see if it's actually making a difference. You know, if if you're noticing a decrease in visceral fat, if it's tesumeral, and if you're looking at um, you know, issues with autoimmune diseases, the thymus and alpha, like, okay, am I noticing that if I have eczema, I'm having less flare-ups? And pay attention to how your body responds. And maybe you're like, eh, I really didn't notice much. I'm I'm good. I've tried it and it's not, it's just not a great fit for me. Or it could be a game changer, you know, something like epitalin is difficult to measure. Like you can't, you're not going to all of a sudden feel a particular sort of way because cellular health is very tiny changes, right? But you might feel a little bit more energetic. Maybe your sleep is a little bit better, but you just have to pay attention to your own symptoms. As far as like Risks. These are compounds that are naturally made in your body. So obviously there's risks to everything, but they're pretty low.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that was going to be another question that I had because we typically, when you hear about uh medication, it's usually kind of promoted in some way. And so you really kind of only hear about the good. And so I was curious if there was any research out there about the risk, if there was any type of information that is out there about the the negatives or the side effects of these types of peptides, or are we just too early in their and their usage to to know?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, so there's not a lot of um human, you know, human studies, right? And we don't have people using them like on the street where we're, you know, monitoring for long-term side effects. But thinking about just general things, if you think about um peptides that impact insulin and glucose regulation, well, one of the side effects is issues with your blood sugar. Maybe you have high blood sugar or low blood sugar or um insulin resistance. So anytime you're messing around with that pathway, that is a potential. Um, if you're doing something that impacts growth hormone, then you worry about fluid retention as a potential side effect. Um, one of the biggest ones that we don't really understand is if I take something that's going to mess around with my growth hormone, could that stimulate cancer cells? Right. Again, we don't know. There's not enough good data about this, but could it accelerate growth of like existing cancers because you have growth factor, right? And growth hormone, could that be? In theory, potentially, but that's not what the literature shows. There's gonna be a lot of um, a lot more studies coming out as these become more popular. I think the biggest risks are where they're coming from, the source, because again, you can get these pretty much anywhere. There's a whole like there's a black market, there's a gray market. Guys, none of these markets are where you want to be shopping. So because you don't know whatever is in that vial is what it says it is. You just don't know. Um, there's contamination issues, there's dosing issues, and then anytime you stick a needle in your body, you can introduce infection, you can cause cellulitis, you can get an abscess formation, which is a big pocket of pus. So you gotta be really careful with these substances. They are no joke.
SPEAKER_01And so for someone who is listening at home and they feel a little overwhelmed by all of this, where should they start? Should they start just doing some research and then looking into some methods of health and longevity that we know are tried and true? I'm thinking diet, exercise, weight management, stress management. Or, you know, where what would you say is kind of a roadmap into trying to feel our best?
SPEAKER_00So this is where I think AI is going to change the way that we do things in the health and wellness space. If I was a listener and I'm like, yeah, like this is resonating with me, I feel like this might be able to help myself, I would use whatever your AI platform of choice. Right now, I'm a big fan of Claude. I think it's the superior place. I would tell Claude everything that there is to know about your health and your longevity and what are your concerns. And it's going to tell you that, like, you know, just like we told you, we're not giving you medical advice, but it might offer just an opportunity for you to explore some areas where these substances, these peptides, may be beneficial. We have a huge opportunity. Your phone is basically equipped to give you some really good data and provide an analysis. So that's where I would start. And I know that's new and maybe controversial, but um it's you're crazy not to leverage AI at this point.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm. Yeah, it seems like it's such a a good tool in tandem with your practitioner and what is already working. I think sometimes too that we forget that we know a lot about what feels good to our body. We know a lot about what really works for us. So I think sometimes we forget and like to empower the listeners that like stop what has worked in the past. Like, you don't have to change that. But maybe with technology updates, medication, just advancements in, you know, just our healthcare system, and maybe the addition of peptides or supplementation as we move forward are all kind of in tandem together.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I agree. These aren't going anywhere. And, you know, the the rise in the popularity of peptides are because of a couple of things. You know, number one, they're they're not from a pharmaceutical standpoint, they're not making like the big pharma companies aren't making money off of these. So they're not super interested in peptides right now because they're not profitable, because they're basic compounds, right? They're amino acids. But you still have, I mean, you still have to pay for them, but they're not like your, you know, thousands and thousands of dollars a month type of medication for different things. So the pharma companies were very like, oh, we don't like these, but they don't like them because they're not really profitable for them. That doesn't mean they're not going to be helpful in the anti-aging and longevity space, because I'm pretty certain they are.
SPEAKER_01That's a very interesting point, too. To be determined. TBD. Well, Dr. Boev, if someone wanted to connect with you, and I know that you do a lot of services for Wibbid in their midlife and to feeling their best. Can you tell us a little bit about how we can connect with you?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so you can follow me on Instagram and it's DR Christine Boev, and I'm very active on that platform. My website is mastermenopause.com, and I work with women to help them look and feel their best. And so if anybody is interested in a consult, just shoot me a message and we can hop online and have a conversation.
SPEAKER_01And I have to say, you are probably the most thorough, educated, lovely person to work with. So anyone who gets to work with you is very, very lucky.
SPEAKER_00Oh, thanks, Katie. I appreciate that. I love this stuff. I love diving into the science, what works, what doesn't work, what's worth it, what's not worth it. So any education that we can bring people that might bring them relief is is important.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I hear here. I can't agree more. Well, Dr. Boev, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today. Again, it was just such a wealth of information. I took so many notes, and I cannot wait to share this with the listeners. So thanks again. You're welcome. As we wrap up today's conversation, one of the biggest takeaways is that peptides are tools, not shortcuts. And while they may have a place in supporting health, recovery, and healthy aging, they work best alongside the foundations of wellness, strength training, nutrition, sleep, and stress management. If you're considering peptides, be sure to have that conversation with a qualified medical practitioner, rather than relying on information you find online. What works for one person may not be appropriate for another. A big thank you to Dr. Christine Boet for sharing her expertise today. You can find her links and learn more about her work in the show notes. And a thank you to you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast, leave a review, and share it with a friend. Your support helps us continue to grow and bring more evidence based wellness conversations to women in midlife and beyond. Until next time, this is Wellness After 40.