Anyone looking at grey market peptides?

[leebrown5]

I saw some information about MOTS-c and wondered if anyone had additional information

 

[andrei25]

MOTS-c is one of the more interesting peptides to read about because it’s actually encoded by mitochondrial DNA, which is pretty unusual.

I work with Peptides.io, and we recently looked into the research on it. The animal data around energy metabolism and AMPK is interesting, but the human evidence is still really early, so I’d be careful with some of the stronger claims being made online.

We put together a straightforward research summary here if it helps:

MOTS-c: Mitochondrial Peptide Research Guide – Peptides.io

MOTS-c is an early-stage peptide from your cells' power plants, studied for energy. It is not FDA-approved.

peptides.io

I’d also be interested to hear if anyone here has found good human data beyond the newer clinical trials.

 

[leebrown5]

I have been trying it on myself, these are the initial results - afaik there is no scientific evidence for human use, dosing or timing. I am using grey market information for myself. Of course long term results are 100% unknown, I am my own guinea pig. I was wondering if anyone else was doing something similar

 

[janetmurphy]

What are you/your Garmin measuring here?

 

[leebrown5]

Garmin has a "body battery" reading that it generates each morning. I'm not clear on what it uses in its calculations. I also have it linked to Fatigue sense for my own use, and a relay app called Labfront for a clinical trial I am currently wrapping up. Neither of them gives me much insight but the fatigue sense is not able to extract an HRV which is unfortunate. So I can't say if it sees an HRV but if it does it keeps it to itself LOL

 

[leebrown5]

I'm considering asking my kids to gift me a whoop subscription. I had it for 3 years and it generated lots of biometric data but in March I got fired just ahead of my renewal and right when I was given the Garmin by the trial people in Boston so I cancelled it. It's a little pricey but I really liked the deep dive data and it would be nice to have it in parallel with the Garmin. Not sure if it can share with Fatigue sense and I would probably use both.
Whoop doesn't know that people can be unhealthy which is annoying. But it needs very little recharging compared to Garmin vivosmart 5. And my Garmin has a tendency to light up very bright with red and or white lights while on my wrist In The Middle of The Night!!!! Grrr... I don't have it on the original silicone band, I bought a cloth like band so maybe that's part of it.

 

[EstherJonesPeptide]

@leebrown5, Garmin says Body Battery is an estimate based on HRV, stress, sleep and activity. It isn't measuring MOTS-c or mitochondrial output. I can see why you'd watch it alongside symptoms, but a change in that number alone can't tell you what caused it; sleep and activity can move it too.

The MOTS-c research is genuinely interesting, just more specific than many online summaries make it sound. In a 2021 paper, exercise raised the body's own MOTS-c in ten men. In separate experiments, giving MOTS-c to mice improved their physical performance. The men weren't given MOTS-c, and the study didn't test fatigue improvement in people with ME/CFS.

One person who posted a 20-day account described better endurance and recovery, but also itchy welts and bruising. They were using other compounds as well, so the cause of the changes is hard to separate. Your tracking adds a real-world observation to this discussion, even if it can't settle that question by itself.

I contribute to PeptideWHY. Hey, check out this article if you want the study and that user report in one place: https://peptidewhy.com/materials/mots-c/ . It shows which findings came from people and which came from mice.