Peptide & Hormone Therapies for Health, Performance & Longevity | Dr. Craig Koniver

(Upbeat music playing) Welcome to the Huberman Lab podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life. I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. My guest today is Dr. Craig Koniver. Dr. Craig Koniver is a medical doctor who did his training at Brown University and Thomas Jefferson University. He is a world expert in what he refers to as performance medicine, which involves the use of peptides and other therapies for improving mental health, physical health, and performance. Now, many of you have perhaps heard of peptide therapies. Perhaps some of you have not. A peptide is simply a small protein, so insulin is a peptide. We have many different thousands of peptides in our brain and body, and they perform a variety of different roles. Dr. Koniver's expertise is in the use of exogenous, that is peptides that one takes, exogenous peptides for activating multiple pathways in the brain and body to augment health. Now, of course, peptides such as insulin have been used for many years now to treat things like diabetes, but today we talk about novel peptides, including GLP-1, so these are glucagon-like peptide analogues, things like Ozempic and Mounjaro, which I realize are a bit controversial. However, today we talk about the microdosing of those peptides. We talk about those peptides combined with other peptides, as well as behavioral practices to offset the muscle loss associated with them, and then we dive into some lesser-known peptides, but ones that are growing in use. For instance, BPC-157, or body protection compound 157, which is used to treat inflammation, to accelerate wound healing, and a variety of other things. Then we discuss the use of peptides specifically to increase growth hormone secretion during sleep, as well as some peptides that can actually increase rapid eye movement sleep dramatically. Today we also discuss testosterone therapies, not just for men but for women. These are growing increasingly popular, as well as things like NAD, as well as specific supplements. Dr. Koniver, as he will soon tell you, is not a huge proponent of supplements, but he does mention several that he feels are of particular use, including things like coenzyme Q10 and some of the methylated B vitamins, and he explains why he takes that stance. So today's discussion is really for anybody interested in mental health, physical health, and performance. And the reason I say that is that even if you aren't considering taking peptides or are already taking peptides, peptides and some of these other compounds I've mentioned sit somewhere between doing nothing except diet and exercise, supplements which I sort of see as the next step up the ladder in terms of augmenting your health approaches, and then, of course, there are a number of prescription drugs, including hormone therapies such as growth hormone therapies, testosterone therapies, and a number of other things that, yes, can modify those hormone pathways, they are in fact hormones, but they actually can shut down one's natural production of those hormone pathways. Peptide therapies sit somewhere between doing nothing and supplementation and those more advanced hormone therapies, and that's why peptide therapies, I believe, are growing in popularity. They can augment specific hormone pathways. They can augment specific, in fact multiple processes within the brain and body to augment health, but they don't tend to operate in that negative feedback cycle by shutting down one's own endogenous production. Now, that doesn't mean that they aren't without some safety concerns, and today we of course discuss the potential side effects and safety concerns of peptides, as well as the critical issue of sourcing clean peptides and working with a board-certified physician if one is going to pursue peptide use. So by the end of today's discussion, you will be right there on the cutting edge of what's happening and where things are going with peptides, and in keeping with that, you'll notice that during today's discussion, we talk a fair amount about what the FDA currently allows in terms of prescription peptides, what the FDA has recently removed from the market in terms of peptides, and as a very recent update, just prior to the release of this episode, I learned that three peptides, CJC-1295, ipamorelin, both of which are in the growth hormone secretagogue family, meaning they promote the release of growth hormone, as well as thymosin beta alpha, which is in the sort of anti-inflammatory and tissue repair pathway, those three are now re-allowed for prescription in the United States. So at the time of recording this episode, we discussed some of those as being recently banned by the FDA. They are now approved again for use in humans by the FDA, so there's a brief and very recent update. So just to summarize this admittedly long introduction, today you're going to learn about this incredible area of science called peptide biology and how it can augment mental health, physical health, and performance, and you're going to do so from one of the world's leading clinical experts. Before we begin, I'd like to emphasize that this podcast is separate from my teaching and research roles at Stanford. It is, however, part of my desire and effort to bring zero-cost-to-consumer information about science and science-related tools to the general public. In keeping with that theme, I'd like to thank the sponsors of today's podcast. Our first sponsor is Joovv. Joovv makes medical-grade red light therapy devices. Now, if there's one thing that I have consistently emphasized on this podcast, it is the incredible impact that light can have on our biology. Now, in addition to sunlight, red light and near-infrared light sources have been shown to have positive effects on improving numerous aspects of cellular and organ health, including faster muscle recovery, improved skin health and wound healing, improvements in acne, reduced pain and inflammation, even mitochondrial function, and improving vision itself. What sets Joovv lights apart and why they're my preferred red light therapy device is that they use clinically proven wavelengths, meaning specific wavelengths of red light and near-infrared light in combination to trigger the optimal cellular adaptations. Personally, I use the Joovv Whole Body Panel about three to four times a week, and I use the Joovv Handheld Light both at home and when I travel.If you'd like to try Joovv, you can go to Joovv, spelled J-O-O-V-V, .com/huberman. Joovv is offering an exclusive discount to all Huberman Lab listeners with up to $400 off Joovv products. Again, that's Joovv, spelled J-O-O-V-V, .com/huberman to get up to $400 off. Today's episode is also brought to us by BetterHelp. BetterHelp offers professional therapy with a licensed therapist carried out entirely online. Therapy is an extremely important component to overall health. In fact, I consider doing regular therapy just as important as getting regular exercise, including cardiovascular exercise and resistance training exercise. Now, there are essentially three things that great therapy provides. First, it provides a good rapport with somebody that you can really trust and talk to about any and all issues that concern you. Second of all, great therapy provides support in the form of emotional support, but also directed guidance, the dos and the not-to-dos. And third, expert therapy can help you arrive at useful insights that you would not have arrived at otherwise, insights that allow you to do better, not just in your emotional life and your relationship life, but also the relationship to yourself and your professional life and all sorts of career goals. With BetterHelp, they make it very easy to find an expert therapist with whom you can really resonate with and provide you with these three benefits that I described. Also, because BetterHelp is carried out entirely online, it's very time efficient and easy to fit into a busy schedule, with no commuting to a therapist's office or sitting in a waiting room or looking for a parking spot. So if you'd like to try BetterHelp, go to betterhelp.com/huberman to get 10% off your first month. Again, that's betterhelp.com/huberman. And now for my discussion with Dr. Craig Koniver. Dr. Craig Koniver, welcome.