What Are Peptides? A Definitive Guide to Use, Benefits, and Side Effects

Have you recently hit a plateau in your fitness journey?

If you’re passionate about working out, or you recently overheard a conversation at the gym, you may have newly been introduced to the world of peptides.

Peptides are a great supplement to use if you’re looking to hack your fitness routine and transform your physical performance (and appearance). If you’re looking to heal from joint injuries, muscle stiffness, build more muscle, and increase your fat-burning rate, you may want to look Into learning more about peptides.

What are peptides, exactly? Are they safe to use? Are peptides the same thing as steroids? 

We’re here to break down all of the common misconceptions about peptides so that you can have a clear understanding of how peptides can truly transform your health and fitness journey. Keep reading to learn more!

What Are Peptides? 

A peptide is a short chain of amino acids that have been joined together by a bond. In most situations, an amino acid chain is comprised of fifty or fewer amino acids. Sometimes, an amino carboxyl end will connect to the Amino acid chain.

Peptides can be found naturally in your body, in the food that you eat, or they can be manufactured.

Peptides are often confused with proteins, as many people believe that these are the same thing. This is misunderstood, mainly because proteins and peptides are both made up of amino acids. However, proteins and peptides are not the same things.

Proteins and peptides are different because of their specific makeup. Peptides don’t have any more than 50 amino acids in a chain. However, proteins have 50 amino acids or more in their chain.

Keep in mind that small chains of amino acids can be found within the human body. This is because these small chains of amino acids are great to use to encourage hormone production. Hormones, such as the human growth hormone, are protein-based.

Are Peptides the Same Thing as Steroids? 

No, peptides and steroids are not the same things. While steroids and peptides are considered performance-enhancing drugs, this is the only similarity between these two substances.

Steroids are synthetically manufactured type of hormones. However, peptides can be naturally found in the body by locating chains of amino acids. The natural purpose of peptides within the body is to tell other cells what to do.

On the other hand, steroids are a synthesized version of the testosterone hormone. Many people are aware of the negative impact that testosterone can have on the male body. However, steroids are just as dangerous for men and women. 

Many people take steroids in an attempt to grow their muscular build quickly. While peptides also aid in helping fitness enthusiasts and bodybuilders bulk up, the way they go about accomplishing this goal is entirely different. 

Some of the most common side effects of steroid use include loss of libido, liver toxicity, moodiness, and heart damage. 

How Do Peptides Work?

Peptides work by stimulating the release of the growth hormone within the body. This helps people who use peptide therapy to see an increase in fat loss, see an increase in lean muscle mass development, a reduction and recovery time after intense workouts, and improved athletic performance. However, this isn’t all that peptides have to offer to its users.

Peptides work by stimulating specific receptors in your body to produce the growth hormones released. This means that you can tailor your results from taking peptides to see an increase in muscle gain, weight loss, a reduction in inflammation, or reduce recovery time.

When peptides enter into your body, they stimulate the production and release the growth hormone. The growth hormone that leaves your pituitary gland will travel around your body through the bloodstream. Eventually, the growth hormone will reach your liver. 

As the growth hormone reaches your liver, it will trigger an insulin-like growth factor that is referred to as IGF-1 to be released. IGF is the hormone that’s responsible for encouraging protein synthesis, which is responsible for muscle growth.  

What Are the Benefits of Using Peptides? 

Many bodybuilders recommended using peptides over other alternatives, such as steroids. This is because peptides offer numerous health benefits but thought posting the same risks that steroids do.

Not only are peptides commonly used in the bodybuilding community, but many medical professionals are beginning to use peptides as a treatment plan for health problems. Some of the most commonly found benefits of using peptides include:

• Increased fat loss
•  Faster metabolism
• Preventing the formation of blood clots
•  Increased muscle mass
•  Anti-aging and antioxidant effects
•  Lowers high blood pressure 
•  Reduces inflammation
•  Improves the functioning of the immune system
•  Faster and enhanced recovery from workouts
•  Kills microbes

By combining a healthy diet and proper training with the use of peptides, you’ll find a huge boost in your fitness efforts.   

Why Do So Many Bodybuilders Use Peptides? 

Many bodybuilders end up using peptides because of how peptides work to improve the growth hormone production rate. The human growth hormone makes it possible and easier to develop lean muscle mass.

By using peptides to increase HGH secretion rate, many bodybuilders find it easier to achieve a larger muscle mass and a shorter time. Plus, so many bodybuilders are using peptides because it helps bodybuilders enhance their strength and reduce the amount of time it takes for them to recover. 

Peptides work to reduce the necessary recovery time by making more oxygen available in muscle cells. Peptides also work to burn an increased body fat rate, which is why so many bodybuilders use peptides.

Do You Have to Inject Peptides?

For the majority of these substances on the market, you will have to inject peptides. However, many people are surprised to see how quickly and how easy it is for them to inject peptides into the skin.

The best places to inject peptides into your body are your upper arm, lower back, abdomen, and thighs. When you’re injecting peptides, you should aim to inject yourself in an area where your musculature is lean, so there should’ t be a lot of skin or fat. 

Before you go to inject yourself with a treatment of peptides, be sure to wash your hands. Next, you should be sure to prepare the needle and the injection carefully and follow the instructions provided with your peptide.

Carefully clean around the injection site with an alcohol wipe to ensure that you’re getting rid of any potentially harmful bacteria that could be around the injection site. Once you’ve sanitized this area of skin, grab one to two inches of your skin in between your index finger and your thumb. you’re going to want to pinch this area of skin.

After this, you’ll want to carefully insert the needle into your pinched skin. Next, you’ll want to release the skin and push down the needle’s plunger to release the peptides into your body. Carefully look over the peptide injection to make sure that all of the peptide dosages go into your skin.

Carefully remove the needle from your skin and properly dispose of it. Never reuse needles, as this can be extremely dangerous to your health. Finally, make sure that you use a cotton ball to apply pressure to the injection site to ensure that the cotton ball sucks up any blood. 

Are There Any Side Effects to Come With Using Peptides? 

Like with any other substance you introduced to your body, you may experience some side effects when using peptides. However, the majority of people that use peptides only experienced minors side effects.

Some of the most commonly found a side effect for peptides includes:

• Itchiness surrounding the area of injection
•  Dry mouth
•  High blood pressure
•  Increase the level of hunger
•  A high rate of water retention
•  Increase in freckles
•  Darkening of existing moles
•  Weight gain
•  Weight loss
•  Kidney pain
•  Numbness or tingling
•  Decreased level of fertility 

If you notice that you had experienced dramatic weight loss or weight gain, stop taking peptides immediately. You also noticed an increase in blood pressure, organ dysfunction, or increasing joint pain; you should discontinue the use of peptides immediately and talk to your doctor.

You can increase your risk of developing a severe infection if you don’t take the adequate steps necessary to prepare the injection site and the needle. Never share needles with anyone else and never reuse needles. If you don’t follow this advice, you will greatly increase your risk of developing blood infections, injection site infections, or exposing yourself to HIV.

Can You Use Peptides for Weight Loss? 

Peptides are only used in treating diabetes, cancer, dementia, and heart disease. Peptides have recently been found to be an effective and safe treatment for obesity. 

Some of the most commonly used peptides for Assisting in weight loss include:

• Ipamorelin
• Hexarelin
• GHR6
• CJC 1295
• Tesamorelin
• GHR6

These peptides are extremely useful for shed visceral fat, which is excess weight located around the abdomen. Also, these peptides help to encourage the release and production of growth hormone. 

Here’s a closer look at how peptides can be beneficial to individuals looking to lose weight:

Melts Fat Around Abdomen

Peptides work to melt abdominal fat by improving the process of lipolysis. Lipolysis is the body’s natural process to break down lipids, which are commonly stored and collect around the abdominal area. Many people who use peptides see a dramatic weight loss of up to 70% of their body weight.

Removes Damaged Cells 

People who use peptide therapies may see an increase in cellular respiration. Increasing cellular respiration in the body helps the body generate more energy for cells to carry out other activities. Also by removing damaged and dead cells, other cells will have an improved ability to function at their full capacity. 

Decreased Chance of Developing Chronic Illnesses 

Using peptides to stimulate the production and release of growth hormones is beneficial for people that are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes, dementia, cancer, and other chronic illnesses.  

With the removal of damaged cells, your body will have an easier time removing toxins that can increase the likelihood of you developing a chronic illness.  

What Are the Most Common Types of Peptides? 

If you’ve decided that investing and peptides are the best decision to make for your hell, it’s also vital that you understand all of the different types of peptides available on the market. Some of the most common types of peptides that you’ll find include:

• Mechano Growth Factor
• IGF-1 LR3
• Ipamorelin
• Hexarelin
• GHRP
• Sermorelin
• GHRP-6
• GHRP-2
• GHRH
• MOD-GRF (1-29)
• CJC 1295 DAC
• HGH Fragment 176-191

By learning about the variety of peptides that you will find on the market, you will have an easier time narrowing down at the options. This means that you 10 find the best type of peptide for your unique health goals and fitness needs. 

Understanding How to Transform Your Fitness Journey With Peptides

So, what are peptides?

Peptides are a chain of 50 amino acids or less used by fitness enthusiasts and bodybuilders for the anabolic effect they have on building muscle mass. By working on releasing the human growth hormone, peptides work to improve performance, reduce the recovery time, increase fat burning capabilities, and reduce muscle soreness.

No matter where you’re at with your fitness journey, understanding how peptides can benefit your unique health and fitness goals is essential. Peptides are a great supplement to add to your fitness routine to help you get your body where you want it to be.

Are you interested in learning more about other supplements available in the health and fitness community that can help you transform your fitness journey? We’re here to help you find the best solutions available. Click here to check out our blog to learn more today.