FoundationsGuide
How to Read a Peptide Study
Cells, animals or people; which form and route; what was measured; who paid. The questions to ask before a study result means anything to you.
Literacy guide · no evidence ratingChecked
Learn well · Choose thoughtfully
A clearer way to understand peptides.
Explore the research, understand which product category you are reading about, and know what to look for before comparing options.
This week’s guide Copper Peptides in Skincare: How to Read the Evidence →
- Sources beside every claim
- Evidence stage on every guide
- Commercial ties disclosed
Five categories. Different questions.
Evidence and product status don’t travel between categories — so neither do our conclusions.
- 005 guides
Foundations
Category literacy, study reading, and how we evaluate.
No commercial links - 013 guides
Skin & Topical
Finished cosmetic products. Evidence for a topical formula is not transferred to injected forms of the same molecule.
Product reviews · no paid links - 023 guides
Collagen & Nutrition
Collagen and related consumer products. The formula and the measured outcome are always stated together.
Product reviews · no paid links - 033 guides
Therapeutics Explained
Approved treatments, investigational drugs, and regulatory news — explained, never sold.
Education only · no sales links - 047 guides
Research Peptides
Study literature and supplier documentation. No human-use guidance or protocols.
Supplier links off
The reading room
Make sense of the science.
Editor’s pick · Start here
What Are Peptides? Start with the Product Category
The same word covers skincare ingredients, prescription medicines, supplements and research materials. The category decides which evidence applies.
- Four questions to ask before reading any claim
- A reading path through the launch guides
- FoundationsGuide
Cosmetic, Prescription, and Research Peptides: Key Differences
How US rules treat peptide cosmetics, prescription drugs, dietary supplements and research-use materials, and why intended use decides the category.
Literacy guide · no evidence ratingChecked - Research PeptidesGuide
What a Certificate of Analysis Can and Cannot Tell You
A certificate of analysis reports specific tests on one batch. How to read what it covers, who issued it, and what a purity number leaves out.
Literacy guide · no evidence ratingChecked
What we know
The short answer first, tied to the product category and form it applies to.
What remains uncertain
Limits sit next to the claim they qualify — not in a footnote.
Sources, checked
Every guide lists its sources, a last-checked date, and a correction path.
- Controlled trials in people, for this specific claim.
- Small, short, or uncontrolled human studies.
- Cell or animal studies only.
- Conflicting results or too little to judge.
Before you compare
Look beyond the label.
Desk reviews of documentation and policies. We say what we checked — and what we didn’t.
Recently checked
What changed, and why.
An updated date means something was re-checked. We log what it was.
All research updates →- Approved, Compounded, and Unapproved: Understanding the TermsAdded HHS's October 30, 2026 draft enforcement-discretion policy for six peptides and why it is neither a 503A listing nor an approval; compounding statuses re-checked.
- BPC-157 Research: Study Types and Open QuestionsAdded HHS's October 30, 2026 draft enforcement-discretion policy for 503A compounding of BPC-157 acetate, its conditions and its account of the committee vote; status re-checked.
- MOTS-c: What Is Being Studied?Added HHS's October 30, 2026 draft enforcement-discretion policy for 503A compounding of MOTS-c acetate, its conditions and its account of the committee vote; status re-checked.
- MOTS-c: What Is Being Studied?Removed a short-answer sentence saying a placebo-controlled trial began recruiting in 2026; it described the registry record we do not count.