Dylan Gemelli: Can you trust the peptides you’re buying?

What happens when the people profiting from peptides have different motives from the people relying on them?  

For the past 15 years, the fitness and biohacking educator and host of The Dylan Gemelli Podcast has watched peptides move from bodybuilding forums and research chemical sites into the mainstream.

Then the market changed around him.

GLP-1s propelled peptides into public consciousness. BPC-157 became one of the compounds most closely associated with the category. And an underground market expanded alongside them, where suppliers, testing and certificates of analysis can create an appearance of certainty that may not always be justified.

Gemelli believes peptides have far more potential than the handful of compounds dominating the conversation. But he is equally concerned by what happens when consumers buy from unregulated suppliers, assume a COA proves quality, or trust that what is on the label is what is actually in the vial.

He explains:

■ How peptides went from obscure research chemicals to the mainstream
■ Why GLP-1s and BPC-157 have narrowed the public understanding of peptides
■ Why a certificate of analysis does not necessarily prove what is actually in the vial
■ What consumers should understand about underground suppliers, raw materials and peptide testing
■ Why he believes peptides will become more widely accepted, and why he worries about who ultimately controls them

Chapters

• (00:00) - Intro
• (02:09) - Fifteen years in peptides
• (09:17) - How peptides went mainstream
• (13:35) - The GLP-1 and BPC-157 problem
• (16:47) - Peptides beyond GLP-1s
• (19:18) - Protecting muscle on GLP-1s
• (22:11) - Are GLP-1s overprescribed?
• (23:12) - Inside the underground peptide market
• (23:56) - Where peptide raw materials come from
• (25:07) - Why COAs can mislead you
• (26:04) - Suppliers, Reddit and white-labelling
• (29:24) - Who controls the future of peptides?

Watch the full episode on YouTube

Further reading

FDA: Concerns around unapproved GLP-1 drugs, foreign APIs, illegal online sales and products marketed as being for research purposes: FDA: Concerns with unapproved GLP-1 drugs 

FDA: July 2026 Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee meeting covering BPC-157, KPV, TB-500, MOTS-c and other peptide-related bulk substances: FDA PCAC July 2026 meeting 

Follow Dylan Gemelli

Instagram: Instagram.com/dylangemelli
X: x.com/DylanGemelli
YouTube: YouTube.com/@DylanGemelliBiohacking
Website: DylanGemelli.com

Follow Richard Skaife

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardskaife/

Peptide Show

Website: Peptide.Show

The Peptide Show explores the science, medicine, business and people shaping the rapidly evolving world of peptides.

Presented by Longr: longr.io

Follow The Peptide Show for new episodes every Tuesday.

This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Some compounds discussed in this episode are investigational, unapproved for the uses discussed, or subject to changing regulatory requirements.

Creators and Guests

Host

Richard Skaife

Entrepreneur, Venture Capitalist and CEO of Longr, focused on longevity, health technology and emerging science.

Guest

Dylan Gemelli

Biohacking and wellness educator, speaker and host of The Dylan Gemelli Podcast, known for his work on peptides, longevity and cellular health.

Editor

Toby Sorabjee

Co-founder and COO of Longr, working across longevity, health technology, investing and media.

What is Peptide Show?

Welcome to the world of Peptides. New episodes every Tuesday.

I think that the term conventional medicine is nonsense

and what we call conventional is actually non

conventional I have studied these

with some of the most brilliant

peptide minds in the world

and some people are very pro some people are very anti

I am always in the camp of mindful usage

and understanding what you're getting yourself into

I also think that people buying them

are often going underground

and don't know what they're buying

most of them don't test their products

most of them are just throwing things out there

I could make a COA in 5 minutes

welcome to this week's Peptide Show from Longr

where we speak to the people who matter most

in the business of peptides

I'm Richard Skaife a venture capitalist and entrepreneur

each and every Tuesday

we sit down with a new guest for a fresh perspective

and an insider's view on peptides

you won't hear anywhere else

if you enjoy the episode

you could really help the channel grow with a like

and subscribe and if you really enjoy it

send it to someone who's peptide curious

or peptide sceptical we're really not fussy

you can find us across socials with links in the bio

15 years ago

peptides were barely part of the conversation

they lived largely on bodybuilding forums

and research chemical sites

understood by a relatively small group

in a world most people never saw

today peptides have moved out of the shadows

and into the mainstream

Dylan Gemelli has seen that transformation in real time

and what excites him about peptides

concerns him in equal measure

a certificate of analysis can look convincing

and tell you very little

what's on the label may not be what's in the vial

and while GLP-1s have propelled peptides

into public consciousness

Dylan believes they've narrowed our understanding

of what peptides may become

so how much of what we're told can actually be trusted

and as peptides move from the underground

towards established healthcare

who gets to decide what happens next

my guest today is Dylan Gemelli welcome to Peptide Show

Dylan

thank you very much for joining us on Peptide Show

pleasure you have a really interesting story

you spent 15 years of your life

involved in the peptide space

and you obviously I imagine

watched it evolve quite significantly

tell me a little bit about that

that early part of your journey into peptides

and what sort of happened to take you into this space

so I I discovered peptides

really what I discovered was the research

chemical facilities

and companies and things of that nature

kind of got put into my lap basically

it was a supplement company that found me

within bodybuilding forums

and they wanted to get me to start doing YouTube videos

and help promote me as like a entity online

a personality that discussed steroids and supplements

but they also wanted me to talk about SARMs

and peptides and I said look

I don't know what these are I've never heard of them

I have zero clue

I was very educated on steroids and supplements

which I had been studying for years and hormones

and I said if I'm gonna talk about these things

I need as much education as you can provide me well

there was very little at the time

but I did I had enough to where I became comfortable

at least discussing them and I had to preface with

you know the studies are quite minimal there

now there were a few that went back into the 90s

which I was able to get like late 90s studies on

MK-677 and MK-2866

which at the time

were categorized as SARMs

now we know that MK-677

is not a SARM at all it's a secretagogue

and now it's being marketed more in the peptide realm

however still kind of grouped in that range

but that's neither here nor there

at the time

there was only about six or seven

peptides that were even being sold

or that were being discussed

and generally

they were all growth releasing hormone peptides

so I'm talking CJC-1295, Ipamorelin

Sermorelin um

and then there was Melanotan II

which we know is now for tanning and things of

very popular very popular yeah

yeah and you know

at the time I didn't really get too intrigued with them

because for for bodybuilders in the bodybuilding world

SARMs were where it was at

because they were putting on more size

more strength and peptides

it was quite minimal

and people didn't understand exactly what they did

how efficient they were

and this was more along the lines of

bodybuilders were the only ones looking at research

chemical sites that was it and it was very niche

it was a lot smaller and in level

there were very few companies at the time

and everything was marketed as for human consumption only

wow okay

so we're we

we kind of we kind of gone

we kind of gone forwards and then gone backwards

yeah and and you know for me

I was saying what I

I don't want anything to do with this like it

it it became quite clear though

after just a few weeks of getting into it

why that it said that it was a legality thing

it was the only way that they could sell these legally

by putting that on there but

everybody that was buying from there was obviously

using them there was a lot

it was crazy because at the time

people would make posts online about well

my rat was tested with this product or that product

everybody was so paranoid about what they could say

and they used to speak I used to just say

it was rather ignorant and ridiculous

but that was what people believed they had to do

so there was this nod

wink-wink speak

yeah it was this stupid code and verbiage that

I eventually just told people

if you can't just tell me that you're using it and

and without fear then I'm not gonna be able to help you

because this is just absurd

the

the police are not gonna come knocking down your door

because you posted about using

some research chemical that nobody's ever heard of

so that and that paranoia quickly stopped

and I can even get into

how they became so large and prevalently discussed

from being so small

because there is actually a timeline to what happened

that would be that would be fascinating

I mean cause

I think for a lot of people who are new to the space

and you know

just you know

searching on YouTube

they're looking for the word peptide

they know very little

there's a common misconception that peptides are

steroids steroids are peptides

uh is that something that was present

when you first started looking at it

or is it is it simply something uh

you know whenever there's a police bust uh

we

we just had one here in Malta where we record this show

you know and peptides get linked together with steroids

and I'm not too sure if it was the peptides

that they were actually able to

you know prosecute and seize

you know what probably was the steroids

so you know

where those sort of two bedfellows sit

you know early on and

and where do they kind of sit now in your mind

so early on

it was viewed kind of like in that category because

like I said bodybuilders were the only ones using them

looking for performance enhancement

and ways to get maximal growth really

and quickly it came to the realization

1 there's this huge misconception

that human growth hormone

makes you massive or puts on size

which it does not human growth hormone does so well

when it's stacked with steroids

or used with other compounds that slab on

or pack on slabs of muscle

human growth hormone is great for lean

muscle gain and fat loss over time

but the main reason

that athletes were using human growth hormone

was for recovery

because they were recovering from injuries

so much faster it was not making them so crazy strong

or have all these abilities

so that's that's number one

No. 2 these are growth releasing hormones

so what they're doing is

instead of you taking exogenous human growth hormone

these are allowing your body to produce it

without taking synthetic growth hormones

so if you take something like Ipamorelin

and it's gonna allow for more growth hormone release

which is ideally what you want

it's a safer way of doing it

and it's a natural way of releasing

human growth hormone but at the same hand

you're not getting massive

or super strength from these at all

so they were really not really utilized

or they were just kind of looked at like well whatever

they were the ancillary they were the ancillary

I mean they sort of

you know yeah

it was the the soda with the vodka

there were a few people

that really grasped and understood what they did

and why they were important

there were a couple people out there

but they were few and far between and for me

for my audience and what I was going after

my vision was wow

SARMs are the future

they're gonna be the future of bodybuilding

I never saw peptides turning into what they are today

I I can tell you in all honesty I did not see that coming

and how do you think that happened

I mean with

you know jumping in now 2026

15 years of looking into this market

as you say it's now massively overtaken uh

you know steroids as a

as a point of conversation

to the point now where it's so

so much in the public zeitgeist

it's even it's even overtaken terms such as crypto

it's one of the most you know

one of the most googled search terms

why are we here in 2026 what's happened

so here's what happened

and I'll give you a little timeline first

there was a prohormone ban in 2014

so prohormones were basically

synthetic steroids that were legally sold

oh wow yeah

so when this happened

this was where we started to evolve

into what we're seeing today

more mainstream companies

had invested hundreds of thousands

even millions of dollars in raw powders of prohormones

that were now scheduled drugs

that if you sold them

you were certainly getting a prison sentence

it was like selling cocaine or heroin

yeah

so they were stuck what do we do with all of these

that's when they started to find SARMs

and so what happened

they started to put SARMs that were research chemicals

into capsules and start selling them

which was actually quite illegal

but they were

it was just another loophole to get away with it

for some time here's where the problem comes into play

what a lot of these companies were doing

was selling things as SARMs

but putting in their pro

hormone powders to get their money out of it

and trying to make SARMs look like they were

packing this serious

serious punch that these synthetic steroids

prohormones were already giving you

so that's when

we started to see

all of these research companies start to come out

because it was quickly realized

you can't sell SARMs as supplements

you can't do that and it was get

they were getting away with it

there's no GRAS

there's no GRAS certification for them

no absolutely not

and then you know

what happened was

is they got rid of their prohormone powders

but then people started to get these side effects

that weren't really associated with SARMs

steroid side effects

so then this misconception comes out that wow

SARMs are just as dangerous as steroids

well then

you start to get people that were getting them tested

seeing they were laced with different prohormones

and then even companies were putting steroids

actual steroids into these products

wild

and then that's when boom

the research

chemical industries just went out of control

and what you see is

a lot of them get busted and shut down

because the second you start marketing them

and saying that humans are using them

you start talking about any sort of human benefit

the FDA can really come in and shut you down

because you've broken the loophole

which is very slim as it is

and then what you're finding is

a lot of these research companies

when they go in there

they're doing other shit so they're selling steroids

they're into other things

they're not just doing one sort of thing

and they're just they're towing a gray line

to where it's just like slapping the FDA in the face

and eventually they're getting shut down

and some of them are even going to prison

because they're doing so many other shady things

and indeed, and there was a case

you know quite recently in the US

an entrepreneur who you know

and I think that the two got tagged in together

when you look at the areas

which were ultimately prosecuted

and probably what he went to jail for

it actually

I don't think was the peptides and the research use

only nature of them it was faking of COAs

it was the the steroid related activity

um peptides

like I say I think have become such a

a buzzword

that it will now get dragged into the equation

um

with with all of the

the excitement around peptides

and obviously now

a very different group of people who are using them

from when they originally were out there

15 years ago um

what's your biggest concern when you

when you look at the market today

well

there's a huge misunderstanding when you say peptides

now people think of two things

they think of GLP-1s

and they think of BPC-157

and they don't know anything else

that's like the majority of people out there

that when they think of peptides

they're thinking massive weight loss

ultra weight loss

we're gonna just turn ourselves upside down

or they're thinking well, we're gonna heal an injury like this overnight

and I

I have friends who are using GLP-1s and they say I'm

I'm I'm really

you know really happy with the results

but I could never see me using peptides

well and that's just it for one

and we could argue back and forth on GLP-1s

on if they're safe or if they're not and this and that

I'm gonna tell you this

and I'm a very spiritual person and you know

people know that that follow me

and I say this out loud and I try

when I say things

without getting too passionate or too aggressive

or any of that

I just like to say things very slowly out loud

and then you hear it and then you tell me how it sounds

so I'm gonna do what I do

with people that are just staunch GLP-1 supporters

do you think that it's wise

to shut off your brain from thinking that it's hungry

and if so what happens when that switch flicks back on

if your body was intended to eat to survive

do you think that it's smart

to turn that mechanism of action off

and again I ask you what happens

because eventually that switch has to come back on

and of course it's not just food

you know we're seeing more and more

you know suggestions that

you know this could also lead to

you know potential positives around

sort of alcohol and substance abuse but

but also you know

suggestions that you know

people are working in you know

sort of go out there and get it type careers

investment banking they're like

we don't want you taking these things because uh

you may lose that sort of uh hunter gatherer mindset

you know

there's other facets here so people will argue well

I'm only microdosing it

and there are cognitive benefits

there are there are

there I'm not

gonna sit here and act like there's not benefits

I have studied these with some of the most brilliant

peptide minds in the world

and some people are very pro

some people are very anti

I am always in the camp of mindful usage

and understanding what you're getting yourself into

I have put out some studies about how it's

it can cause cellular aging

heart aging then there's people that will argue

it's got heart benefits but just remember something

this was designed for diabetes

this is a diabetic medication

that was

secondarily found to have the fat loss benefits

so you're also got to be

aware what the primary use of this was

it's kind of like Jardiance for example

it's an SGLT2 inhibitor designed for again diabetics

but it's found to have benefits

for people suffering from heart failure

so increased ejection fraction

but you have to remember what it's primarily used for

and that the trickle down it could have

when you're using it for something else

it wasn't intended for

so the problem that I have is this out of control

like and misunderstanding of what peptides are

and how many there are that do so many amazing things

I don't want people to think that all peptides are just

GLP-1s

that can potentially have

all these negative effects

unlimited amounts unlimited amounts

yeah. I mean, my favorite peptide is KPV

of all the peptides you could pick

that's my favorite

and then something like SS-31

that has shown potential to help heart failure

MOTS-c for mitochondrial health

Selank and Semax for people with anxiety and stress

and things that are having mental issues

these are the ones I look at that I have all the the

the the um

study and care in that I know have such value long term

so and

and BPC-157 fair enough is amazing for what it can do

I just want people to look beyond that

and see what else is there

and if someone was looking to do that

you know they

they were talking to you uh

you sat uh

you sat sipping a cup of tea um

and and

you know and

and they feel that a GLP-1 is right for them because

you know

and let's say we are going more towards the classic um

your indications for it and for weight loss

and you were sort of saying

you may want to consider some alternatives

what are those sort of alternatives to GLP-1s

which sit in the peptide family

my second favorite peptide is tesamorelin

and I'll tell you why I like tesamorelin

because it has the ability to drop fat

cut visceral fat

but still build lean muscle in the process

so it's I

I I always call it recomposition in a bottle

because it carries that ability

now of course

you have to have the right kind of diet and training

to coincide with that

but if you're looking anatomically

you have that ability

everybody should have the goal of dropping fat

and gaining lean muscle right

because you want to gain the lean muscle

it's not about looking at the scale

it's looking at your body fat and your composition

and how you feel so that's one

if you're just chasing weight loss

tesofensine

AOD-9604

these are all other good options. Ipamorelin

isn't gonna be as drastic on fat loss

but it certainly has that kind of benefit to it

so there's plenty of other options that I give people

as alternatives to look at

that have different mechanisms of action

have more safety efficacy

aren't gonna shut your mind off

aren't gonna make you starve or forget how to eat

so you know, there's definitely options out there for people

and and

and you touched on it briefly

and it's a very important point uh

around that sort of augmentation uh

of diet and exercise if somebody is determined to

to to go the GLP-1 pathway

or they're looking at some of the alternatives

what are sort of

and you know right now protein's the craze

uh to

you know to protect themselves um

and to to

you know to sort of take to

to advance the things which are important

well with GLP-1s

you have to you have to really put a focus on your diet

and you know right now proteins

you can get it in every

you can get it in everything these days

even star even Starbucks will do a pro

a protein matcha latte

if you go down the line from when I was a kid till now

first it was the low fat craze

which was like a decade

and every single thing had to be fat free or low fat

then we realized that that's not great

so then everything is low carb and I mean

the shittiest product in the world

as long as it said low carb

that's good for me haha

now every single thing has protein in it and I mean

I'm seeing everything under the sun and it's like

listen people

just because it's got added protein in it first of all

doesn't mean it's good-quality protein

and also there's a fine line you don't want it I mean

I don't care who it is there's a line where protein is too much

yep absolutely

it is one of the keys to muscle gain

and you wanna make sure especially on a GLP-1

you have adequate amounts now adequate amounts

we could argue what that is

but you are gonna need a little bit more

and is that 20% 30% more

what

what should somebody be looking at if they've got a

a sort of a you know a

a typical protein range but then they

you know they're going towards a GLP-1 where

where should they try and be percentage wise

this is more general because I'm a very

personalized person on everything I do

but with GLP-1 use

I would be more in like what I recommend to people

really training hard which is one

gram per pound of body weight

I'm not saying that's the end all be all

but that's what I would like to see people doing

just to ensure that you're getting

adequate amounts of nutrition

taking something like a GLP-1

because let me tell you something man

especially as you age

sarcopenia and muscle loss is very dangerous in

and in extreme conditions can be quite fatal

but certainly can really

really lower length of life and quality of life

when you start to lose too much muscle

and let me tell you something

when you lose that amount of muscle

and then you stop taking the GLP-1

you're gonna gain weight back

but you're not gonna gain the muscle back

so that's something to keep in mind

would you say that there is

a an over prescription of GLP-1s at the moment

in the United States

oh yeah

I would say there's definitely an over prescription

over desire to use misunderstanding on how to use

and in a like a glorification

so to speak where people will glamorize something

that they don't even know how to use

that they misuse

they abuse and then have adverse effects later on

there's a way to use them and a way to not use them

that's much safer and I think there's an abusive nature

and I also think that people buying them

are often going underground

and don't know what they're buying

they there's there

I'm not saying every underground site is bad

cause that would be a lie

but the way they pop up out of nowhere right now

most of them don't test their products

most of them are just throwing things out there

and a lot of the the peptides I'm talking to you about

you can't get from compounding pharmacies

which are not perfect either by the way

and so you have no choice but to go underground

so let's talk about that underground market

you've obviously seen it evolve over the last 15 years

what are what are

you know some of the benefits of of that market

obviously cost is is one of them

but what are some of the

the negatives that you've you seen

what are

what are some of the real sort of horror stories

things that you really wish uh

you know were not happening

well catalog is one of the benefits

cause you're gonna be able to get so many things

that you would not be able to get otherwise

the catalog on some places is to the highest level

and a lot of stuff that comes from China

the people out in China will tell companies hey

we got something new coming or this is being developed

and so they'll get a heads up on that

the really good ones will

and just on China

and just on China before we go any further

cause it's a common theme and a common misconception

what percentage would you say

of the raw materials in America's peptides

actually come from China

well probably 95% if not more I mean

the the vast majority

now things have changed a little bit

but the vast majority

and there's ways around disclosing it

but I know better and how it works

so when that when that sticker on the Bodega door says

you know made in America

then there's not a lot of truth to it

I have there is so many of those places that do that

that are so full of shit it is just undeniable

and it's maniacal to me

because it's just a flat ass lie

I mean it and there's

there's no way to quality control that

it's impossible

yeah don't

don't buy your peptides

next to the monster energy drink

it's it's if they're gonna lie about that on the poster

they're probably gonna lie about everything else

including the really important stuff such as the COA

I mean

what are some of the shenanigans that people are doing

with with COAs

I could make a COA in five minutes

I and I always tell people I say listen

you're going and buying places

that fake Louis Vuitton bags perfectly

like designer things perfectly

do you think they can't make you a COA in 5 minutes

like what the hell is wrong with you

and and it's it's that tax stamp anomaly

so if you're selling illegal drugs cocaine

you know heroin whatever

you can get charged with a tax stamp

meaning that you didn't file taxes on the money

you were doing selling the drugs

you know what I mean it's just this

this nonsense that then it's the same with this

there's no way to know if those were made in

America or not

cause nobody has to do anything in an FDA facility

when it's illegal to the FDA so

you know that is just nonsense absolute nonsense um

now one of the other things that I find rather funny

and I always say this

Reddit is the biggest cesspool of bad information

and hate

and just dipshits that I've ever seen in my life

so so go there for your protocol advice

if you wanna get as stupid as possible go to Reddit

well here's the thing and why I bring that up

so if you go to Reddit

you'll see these arguments in different forums

or whatever you wanna call them threads

where people are saying oh

this company is so much better

and I had so much better results with this company

and this company sucks

two things that I want to say of hilarity

and one shady and one hilarious

the shady is

is most of those places are bought and paid for

so they're owned and ran and they're controlled

secondly

you'll see them comparing 2 3 companies right

and I have a big smile on my face because I know this

because I've seen it and talked with all of the people

cause I'm privy to this information

they'll mention 3

4 different companies and say how shitty one is

and how great the other is

it's the same product because if they're buying

these companies

have drop shippers and manufacturing companies

that put the same product with a different label on it

so you you people that think you're so brilliant

you're taking the same shit that you're saying

doesn't work over here

because you're shilling for another company or lying

or whatever the case may be

it's the exact same thing in a different label

so

what should people actually be looking for with a COA

and and how can they tell if it's legitimate

you have to remember when somebody shows you a COA

you can call wherever they got the COA from

and verify it here's the problem

the companies they'll get a COA

and they'll test one batch of things

and just leave it up there like great you

you got a good batch of something

but that doesn't mean every single

bottle that they sold has been tested

and verifiable

so that's a whole another thing

some people will put batch numbers on their thing

and show you and you can call and verify it

so I would say first is follow up and check and see

and make sure that these are all flat out tested

and it's not a COA from a year ago on a batch

somebody got that sent in

cause you know

it costs a lot to get these things tested

so a lot of people they'll test once and then skip the

the whole thing from there on out

because it's not cheap

do you think

people are getting better at checking that now

and what should they be really looking for

I don't really follow it intently enough to know now

cause I'm not really like involved in that realm

cause I can pretty much I don't personally use any

really anymore to that extent

and I don't you know

I I kind of stopped using pretty much everything

aside from the TRT that I take

so I'm not really entrenched there now

but I I

I would recommend it and the

the things that I do take

I just get from I I work with a few different vitality

clinics that I just go to

that I get with so

but I think I think there's more awareness

I think there's more people in tune

with the need to do it yeah

cause I see people talk about it and discuss it

absolutely

so looking forward

where do you see this whole space going

and do you see peptides becoming more widely accepted

well I see a future of I say this alternative medicine

I think that the term conventional medicine is nonsense

and what we call conventional is actually non

conventional and something like peptides

to me would be more on the conventional side

considering what they are

and so I I do feel that the acceptance

level of these is growing by the day

and more people are coming to the realization

of the benefit I do worry that it's gonna again

get taken over somehow by Big Pharma

and it's kind of hard to avoid

so I don't know what they'll do to them

how they'll control them how they'll push them

but I do believe that more people are aware now

and going that route

you just never know when

with people that are in control and money

and how it's gonna affect them

and if they're gonna shift their ways or try to

you know take over

I hope and

envision that there is gonna be a lot more use

and understanding I just don't know to what level

Dylan thank you very much

it's been a fascinating conversation

thanks very much for joining us on Peptide Show

thanks for having me man