Kent Holtorf, M.D. is the medical director of the Holtorf Medical Group (www.HoltorfMed.com) and a founder and director of the non-profit National Academy of Hypothyroidism (NAH) (www.NAHypothyroidism.org), which is dedicated to the dissemination of new evidence-based information to doctors and patients on the diagnosis and treatment of hypothyroidism and advanced integrative diagnostic and treatment protocols.
Here is the video we created featuring Dr. Holtorf discussing peptides:
What are Peptides?
If you have investigated improving your health, you have probably come across the term ‘peptide,’ and you might be wondering, what exactly is a peptide? A peptide is a compound made of two or more amino acids linked in a chain. Essentially, they are short chains of amino acids linked together. If the chain is longer than 50 amino acids (AAs), it is called a protein. If it has less than 50 AAs, it is called a peptide. You may also hear the term oligopeptide, which is a term occasionally used for short peptides with less than 20 AAs.
The simplest peptides are dipeptides (two AAs), followed by tripeptides (three AAs), tetrapeptides (four AAs), and so on, and so forth. Meanwhile, a polypeptide is a long, continuous unbranched peptide chain. Peptides regulate most known processes and systems in the body in a tissue and cell-specific manner. Compared to medications and hormones, they tend to be more selective and less likely to be associated with serious adverse side-effects.
Many commonly used peptides have been found to have no side effects even when given at doses 1000 times the usual dose, which is unheard of with any medication, or even water for that matter. Peptides generally have high potency, being very active on their target receptor. They are often naturally occurring and naturally degraded in the body, further adding to their safety profile. They typically have a vast therapeutic window, meaning that there can be a considerable variation in the doses utilized, depending on the desired effect.
Many popular peptides have no known toxic level, meaning researchers could not elicit any toxicity effects no matter how high the dosage. Peptides’ ability to control and modulate most systems in the body also includes hormone production, immune function, the sleep cycle, production of inflammatory mediators, DNA replication, cell division and renewal, cancer cell destruction and apoptosis, libido and sexual arousal, weight loss, lean muscle gain, mitochondrial function, cognitive function, mood, energy and other metabolic activities, tissue healing and specific biological functioning of the brain, skin, eyes, urinary and reproductive systems, aging and longevity, and many more.
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