Magic Medicine?

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People are excited about peptides.

The internet is filled with claims: Peptides raise your energy, boost metabolism, clear your skin, slow down aging, build more muscle, repair injuries ...

I want some!

But there's a problem: The FDA bans most of them.

Why?

Dr. Anita Gupta, an anesthesiologist and pharmacist who was on the FDA committee that recommended the ban, explains, "There is a lot of hype. We all want to hack into our health, right? Get better really quickly. But we can't reboot our own bodies, can't undo an injection. There could be an immune response."

"Could" be.

But peptides are definitely useful. Insulin is a peptide. So are the new GLP-1 weight loss drugs.

"People can lose up to a third of their body weight," says neuroscientist Andrew Huberman.

Popular young influencers boast about other results.

"I built more muscle and became much stronger overall," claims YouTuber Manuel Enrique.

"My best secret weapon to heal!" writes Instagram influencer Nikki Martin.

"They're not medical professionals," responds Gupta.

She points out that no government agency checks the ingredients. "Are you actually getting what you think you're getting? ... That's the problem."

It's a problem made worse by the FDA. Because of its ban, most American peptides come from overseas labs, often from China. They skirt rules by claiming their peptides are "not for human use," but for "research purposes only."

Since black market Chinese products dominate the market, how does the FDA's ban actually "protect" us?

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I confront Gupta in my new video: "Because the FDA makes peptides illegal, it's harder to check out the source. People sneak it in the country. If they just said, 'It's your choice,' there'd be American products. Why do you doctors get to be the gatekeepers? It's my body. Can't I make my own choice?"

"We have to respect patient's autonomy," she replies, "but at the same time we have to provide informed consent."

"I consent!" I say.

"Consent to what? Do you know all the risks?"

There are plenty of risks.

Some people experience allergic reactions. Some go into anaphylactic shock. Others develop high blood pressure.

But the FDA shutting down American suppliers doesn't prevent that.

I'm glad the FDA has protected Americans from bad drugs. But that protection also costs lives by denying people good drugs.

Beta blockers saved lives for years overseas before they were finally approved here. The FDA's delay may have cost 100,000 lives.

The FDA is a creaky bureaucracy. It can take 10 to 15 years to approve a new drug.

In the meantime, people die from black market drugs, and others miss out on products that might extend our lives.

"We're still in the early stages of trying to figure out if peptides are truly an innovation," says Gupta. "Sure, there is a possibility that there is a great breakthrough that we're about to see, but the long-term study has not been done."

Still, the FDA now at least says they may ease restrictions the Biden administration put on popular peptides. Maybe they'll do it because RFK Jr. is a "big fan" of peptides.

My question: In a "free country," why do bureaucrats have the right to tell us what we may and may not put in our own bodies?

Don't we own our bodies?

It should be our choice.

I got stronger after the internet told me to take daily creatine and protein powder. Protein breaks down into peptides. I'm old. Maybe I should take the new peptides?

I'm scared to try.

Still, it should be my choice.

There should be 1,000 experiments instead of our one-size-must-fit-all FDA.

Every Tuesday at JohnStossel.com, Stossel posts a new video about the battle between government and freedom. He is the author of "Government Gone Wild: Exposing the Truth Behind the Headlines."

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