Peptides by Goal

Metabolic & weight management.

Sustained weight loss, insulin sensitivity, visceral fat, and metabolic markers that stop responding to diet and exercise alone.

What the research shows: GLP-1 receptor agonists are among the best-studied peptide-based medicines, with large randomized controlled trials supporting FDA-approved brand-name products for type 2 diabetes and chronic weight management. Dual GIP/GLP-1 agonists have shown larger average weight loss than GLP-1-only agents in head-to-head trials.

Several other metabolic peptides are being studied, including mitochondrial-derived peptides and growth hormone fragments. Most of that evidence is preclinical or early-stage, none of those compounds is FDA-approved, and The Tide does not offer them.

Recovery & injury repair.

Tendinopathy, post-surgical healing, slow-to-resolve soft-tissue injury, and gut lining repair.

What the research shows: Recovery peptides have some of the largest preclinical literatures in the field — hundreds of animal studies on tendon, ligament, muscle, and gut healing. Human evidence is much thinner: there are no large randomized controlled trials, and optimal dosing and long-term safety are not established.

None of these peptides is FDA-approved, and The Tide does not offer them. The foundations of recovery — loading, sleep, nutrition, and addressing hormones and inflammation — remain the best-supported approach.

Growth hormone axis.

Age-related changes in growth hormone, sleep, and energy.

What the research shows: Growth-hormone-releasing peptides act on the pituitary rather than supplying hormone directly. They can raise IGF-1, but clinical benefit in healthy adults has not been established. Sermorelin is compounded and not FDA-approved.

Sleep, nutrition, and correcting low testosterone or thyroid function are where any evaluation should start.

Sleep & cognitive clarity.

Shallow sleep, poor recovery, brain fog, and age-related cognitive changes.

What the research shows: Several neuroactive peptides have been studied for sleep, anxiety, and cognition, mostly in Eastern European clinical literature. Western randomized trial data is limited, and none of these peptides is FDA-approved in the United States. The Tide does not offer them.

Brain fog and poor sleep frequently have physical drivers that are well understood and treatable — hormonal shifts, thyroid problems, iron or B12 deficiency, and sleep apnea.

Skin, hair & tissue.

Collagen synthesis, wound healing, hair density, and support for dermal health.

What the research shows: Copper peptides have a long research history in dermatology, mostly from small and cosmetic studies of topical use; evidence for hair is limited. Topical GHK-Cu is a cosmetic preparation, not an FDA-approved drug.

For hair loss, peptides are best viewed as a complement to established, FDA-approved treatments rather than a replacement.

Immune & gut health.

Chronic immune dysregulation, post-viral recovery, gut barrier function, and autoimmune-adjacent presentations.

What the research shows: Immune-modulating peptides have been approved as pharmaceuticals in some countries outside the US, and antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory peptides are an active area of drug development. In the US, none is FDA-approved for these uses, much of the gut-focused evidence is preclinical, and The Tide does not offer them.

We do not treat autoimmune disease directly. We work alongside rheumatology, gastroenterology, and primary care, including off-label options such as low-dose naltrexone where appropriate.

Longevity & healthspan.

Biomarker optimization, mitochondrial function, senescence pathways, and sustained vitality with age.

What the research shows: Longevity is the area of peptide science with the widest gap between animal data and human evidence. Mitochondrial-derived peptides, pineal peptides, and senolytic compounds show interesting results in cell and animal models, but human trials are small or absent. None is FDA-approved, and The Tide does not offer them.

The best-supported longevity interventions remain exercise, sleep, metabolic health, and measurable biomarkers you can track and improve over time.

Sexual health & libido.

Desire, arousal, blood flow, and support for sexual dysfunction not resolved by hormone optimization alone.

What the research shows: Melanocortin-pathway peptides act centrally on desire rather than on blood flow — a different mechanism from PDE5 inhibitors. One of them is available as an FDA-approved brand-name product for premenopausal women with low sexual desire, supported by Phase III trials.

Low desire is often multifactorial, so hormones, medications, relationship factors, and mood are evaluated first.