2 min read A FEW YEARS ago, talking about peptides would pretty much guarantee blank stares from your friends. Now peptides is the latest buzzword in wellness spaces. But what is a peptide exactly? The simplest definition of a peptide is that it’s a small protein—a chain of amino acids (those are the building blocks of protein). While protein is most known for building muscles, it also has other important functions. Peptides act as messengers throughout the body, telling it to perform a wide variety of functions from regulating hormones to boosting your immune system. There are millions of natural peptides in the body. Given their versatility, artificial versions of peptides are used in medicine. These are lab-grown strings of amino acids that mimic fragments of the natural peptide. Insulin and GLP-1s (Ozempic, Zepbound) are two well-known examples of FDA-approved synthetic peptides. Other peptides have also exploded in popularity.…