Content warning: This article discusses eating disorders and weight loss. If you scroll through TikTok and Instagram long enough, chances are you’ll hear someone talking about injectable peptides, and claiming they changed their skin, their hair, and their body. At least, that’s what 20-year-old Kira* kept hearing. “It feels like everyone is on them,” the Ohio University student tells Her Campus. For Kira, constantly being told by influencers that peptides would “change her life” eventually got the best of her: “It made me want to try.”
After following a link from an influencer’s TikTok bio, Kira purchased her first peptide: GHK-Cu, a peptide often marketed for skin health, hair growth, and tissue repair. Despite the potential benefits, Kira remained unsure about taking it. How much did she really know about peptides? More importantly, how much did anyone know?
In case you fall into the latter camp, peptides are small chains of amino acids that act as building blocks, like LEGO bricks. When you connect these bricks, you get a peptide that tells your body how to perform specific tasks, such as boosting your collagen or stimulating keratin growth for thicker, fuller hair. It’s what the internet has called “bio-hacking” — making intentional changes to your lifestyle, diet, or environment to optimize how your body and mind function.
According to data by Rising Trends — a market research platform that analyzes search growth — the search volume for “peptides” has skyrocketed from 201,000 monthly searches in April 2025 to over 1.2 million in March 2026. As peptides continue to dominate social media feeds, people are becoming increasingly curious.
All over TikTok and Instagram, we can see influencers promoting [peptides] through their affiliate links and discount codes. The danger comes from the fact that gray-market injectable peptides are far less known.
But here’s the catch: While some peptides like tirzepatide (Mounjaro and Zepbound), semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy), and other GLP-1s are approved by the FDA to treat conditions like type 2 diabetes, manage chronic weight conditions, and reduce specific cardiovascular or breathing risks, other popular peptides — such as retatrutide (an experimental peptide currently being studied for weight loss, obesity management, and type 2 diabetes) and GHK-Cu — are not. Essentially, the mere word “peptide” doesn’t let consumers distinguish whether the injectable is FDA-approved, prescription-only, compounded, experimental, or being sold outside the medical system.
“[On social media], peptides are being promoted with health claims that have not been approved by the FDA or [clinical] trials,” Dr. Stephen Cosentino, founder and medical director of Empire Medical Training, tells Her Campus.
He adds, “All over TikTok and Instagram, we can see influencers promoting [peptides] through their affiliate links and discount codes. The danger comes from the fact that gray-market injectable peptides are far less known.”
And while it’s true many existing vitamins and supplements on the market aren’t regulated by the FDA, this lack of regulation eventually turned Kira off injectables. In fact, she only used them “once or twice” before stopping. “I got freaked out because there’s not a ton of information on them,” she says.
Still, that uncertainty hasn’t been enough to outweigh the normalization of peptides online. What may seem like an emerging wellness trend has already become part of some people’s everyday routines — including 22-year-old Leah*. “I was struggling with binge eating disorder, and an influencer I’ve followed for years posted her results taking them for BED,” she says.
Maybe I’ll start [peptides] again if there’s more research in the future, since people on social media say they’re life-changing. But for now, I’m just kind of skeptical.
Leah is currently using retatrutide, MOTS-c, and tirzepatide — and has been for about eight months. She injects tirzepatide once a week, which, she says, helps with her BED. (According to the FDA, tirzepatide is currently not approved to treat eating disorders like BED.) Five times a week, Leah also takes KLOW, a blend of different peptides meant to save users money from buying them individually. It typically combines GHK-Cu, BPC-157, TB-500, and KPV, and aims to target tissue repair, inflammation control, and cell regeneration.
As for how Leah obtained the four peptides she currently takes, she says she was able to purchase them from an “online source,” which cost her around $200 a month. Leah also says that, in her experience, peptide users are often reluctant to share where they get their injectables from online due to “FDA interference.” (In August 2026, the FDA sent warning letters to several companies marketing unapproved peptides online, including manufacturers of retatrutide.)
Still, on social media, peptide users find ways to share their sources — and some even make a profit. 26-year-old Emma* is on the other side of the FYP as a certified nutritionist and “peptide coach.” On TikTok, she posts regular videos about her peptide journey, as well as information about peptides with her followers. Her TikTok bio links out to three different peptide sources, with affiliate codes for up to 15% off injectables, as well as her personalized “guide” for peptide-stacking and usage, priced at $22.
Emma initially started peptides when she was prescribed tirzepatide by her doctor to “help with inflammation and weight loss.” But over the past three years, Emma has added retatrutide, GHK-Cu, and BPC-157 into her routine without her doctor’s prescription from an online source — and, despite the FDA’s lack of approval of these peptides, she’s impressed with the results and shares them with her followers. “I have gut health support, and my food intolerances went away,” she says. “[They] help with acne, [my] hair grows longer faster, [I] sleep better, my mood is clearer, it helps me focus, and calms my anxiety.”
But the reality of the results that many influencers share online is much more complicated. Dr. Maria Knöbel, a general practitioner board-certified in lifestyle medicine, says that while some peptides may “directly affect regions of the brain,” the evidence that some peptides improve your mental health is weak.
And when it comes to wellness creators who promote peptides, like Emma, a lot of credibility is lacking. A 2026 Pew Research Center analysis of thousands of large wellness accounts found that only four in 10 of these influencers describe themselves as health care professionals, with the majority being self-proclaimed entrepreneurs and “life coaches.”
Peptides aren’t benign — they are powerful substances which can have significant effects on the body and brain.
Because peptides are so prevalent on social media, Knöbel says it’s easy to understand why young people are buying into the popularity of peptides. “So many people, particularly younger ones, are drawn to the idea that injecting a mysterious-sounding substance will improve their lives — it sounds like a shortcut to better health,” she says. “But patients who purchase these products [online] may unknowingly inject something of unknown strength or purity.”
And the impacts of these peptides are real. According to the FDA Adverse Event Monitoring System database, there have been 73 reported hospitalizations connected to retatrutide at the time of publication, including 45 “serious cases” — five of which resulted in death. “Peptides aren’t benign — they are powerful substances which can have significant effects on the body and brain,” Knöbel says.
While Knöbel acknowledges that peptides can have “real benefits” in terms of weight loss, she emphasizes that they should only be used when prescribed by a doctor and “used in line with appropriate medical advice.” She adds, “The greatest risk associated with injectable peptides is their unregulated availability and [the] varying quality of off-label products sold online.”
But until the social media hype dies down, some Gen Zers are left balancing big promises against unknown risks. “Maybe I’ll start [peptides] again if there’s more research in the future, since people on social media say they’re life-changing,” Kira says. “But for now, I’m just kind of skeptical.”
If you or someone you know has an eating disorder and needs help, call the National Eating Disorders Association helpline at 1-800-931-2237, text 741741, or chat online with a Helpline volunteer here.
*Names have been changed.