Ground Truth

Updates

What we check, how often, and when we last did it. For the news itself, see News.

Last successful source check
Oct 28, 2026
Last editorial review
Oct 28, 2026
Last substantive change
Oct 28, 2026

How often

Weekly, Mondays
The news and legal-status sweep: FDA, the Federal Register, the compounding advisory committee, warning letters, WADA and major trial readouts. A dated line goes on the news page even when nothing changed.
Legal status changes what you can lawfully get. It never changes a grade.
Monthly
A full pass on the ten most-read compounds, dose-table rows included: every source reopened, every grade checked against the rubric.
These are the pages most people act on, so they get rechecked most often.
Quarterly
The same full pass on all 42 compounds.
Slow-moving compounds still get new trials, retractions and label changes.
Same week
Any FDA action or Phase 3 readout on a compound we cover.
The two kinds of event that can change a grade or a legal-status line overnight.

Every item is triaged one of three ways, update a profile, open a new one, or kill it as noise, and logged with its source and a credibility tag. So a change to a grade can always be traced back to why.

Recent changes

  1. Oct 28, 2026

    Rebuilt the site around four plain answers per compound, and regraded every compound per use.

    The headline grade is now the grade for the use people take it for, with any approval on its own line. Every dose now sits in a table with its named source on the same row. The calculator no longer fills in a dose. No grade moved because of regulatory news.

  2. Oct 12, 2026

    Refreshed the whole site: a currency pass on all 42 compounds.

    Three GLP-1-class evidence grades (retatrutide, survodutide and cagrilintide) went up on published phase 3 trials. FDA and Federal Register status was rechecked on October 12: still no proposed rule for the July peptides, and the next panel still has no date. And we added case studies of what we actually ran, and why. No other grade moved because of a regulatory vote.

  3. Jun 2026

    Split the read into evidence, real-world reports, safety and placebo.

    A single grade hid the real question: proven for what?

  4. Jun 2026

    Re-verified every external citation on the site.

    A source you can't open isn't a source. We dropped dead links and replaced them with ones that actually resolve.

  5. Jun 2026

    Reflected BPC-157 and TB-500 coming off FDA Category 2 (FDA's page was current as of April 22, when the nominators' withdrawals were listed).

    Regulatory status changes the access picture (the legal-status lens on the profile). It never changes a grade.

The sources we watch

28 sources, grouped by type, with conflicts of interest flagged.

Independent science

  • Examine.com Web

    Conflict-free evidence grading of compounds.

    No ads, no sales, no sponsorships, the gold standard for what the evidence actually says.

  • Eric Topol. Ground Truths Substack · @EricTopol

    Cardiologist; wrote 'The Peptide Craze.'

    A leading academic directly critiquing the hype cycle, keeps us honest about the gaps.

  • McGill Office for Science & Society Web · Jonathan Jarry

    Science communication; debunks biohacker claims.

    Best-in-class myth-busting to separate signal from marketing.

  • Rhonda Patrick. FoundMyFitness Web · @foundmyfitness

    Evidence-based aging & supplement science.

    Rigorous, citation-heavy, generally product-agnostic.

Clinician

  • Dr. Abud Bakri Web · @AbudBakri

    Peptides, hormones, circadian; Huberman guest (2026).

    Our lead authority, the animal-vs-human-gap framing the whole site rests on. We hold him to the same disclosure standard as everyone else here, and that cuts toward us: leaning hardest on one voice is itself a bias we should name.

    Conflict: Sits on the Medical Commission of Enhanced, a company selling prescription peptides including topical GHK-Cu and sermorelin, compounds this site grades. Also publicly promotes ne1.study, a crowd-sourced N-of-1 research platform. Neither invalidates his framing, but this site flags every other figure's commercial ties and had none listed for the authority it relies on most.

  • Dr. Craig Koniver, MD Instagram · @koniverwellness

    Charleston performance-medicine physician; the peptide doctor on Huberman's Oct 2024 episode. Full track record on our authorities page.

    Candid field notes from the off-label frontier, worth tracking, but he sells nearly everything he recommends. Note: he did not 'pioneer' NAD IV therapy as the viral clips claim, clinical IV NAD predates him by decades.

    Conflict: Runs a cash-pay clinic selling the peptides, NAD IVs and hormones he discusses; also sells a paid clinician certification and licenses branded protocols.

  • Dr. Peter Attia. The Drive Web · @PeterAttiaMD

    Longevity; did a full AMA on gray-market peptides.

    Cautious and mechanism-first, a model of the nuance this page wants.

  • Dr. Kyle Gillett. Gillett Health YouTube · @GillettHealth

    Hormones, peptides; 'hype vs. misinformation' framing.

    Dual board-certified; explicitly addresses peptide misinformation.

    Conflict: Runs Gillett Health (labs/consults), minor.

  • Dr. Ben Bikman Podcast

    Metabolic scientist; peptides & metabolism, GLP-1 mechanism.

    Academic physiologist explaining mechanism, not selling.

Communicator

  • Andrew Huberman. Huberman Lab @hubermanlab

    Two dedicated peptide episodes (Koniver 2024, Bakri 2026).

    The single biggest driver of mainstream peptide interest, what he covers becomes next week's search traffic.

  • Paul Saladino, MD @paulsaladinomd

    Animal-based/carnivore health; metabolic & hormone takes.

    Huge reach; not a peptide specialist, track the narrative, weigh the conflict.

    Conflict: Founder of Heart & Soil supplements; sells products he promotes.

  • Tim Ferriss Web · @tferriss

    Early peptide-curious podcaster; experimentation framing.

    Cultural bellwether for biohacking topics crossing mainstream.

Community & fitness

  • Derek. More Plates More Dates YouTube · @moreplatesmoredates

    The most technically detailed lay coverage of peptides/TRT.

    Genuinely the deepest community explainer, treat claims as Grade D until corroborated.

    Conflict: Co-owns Marek Health (TRT clinic) and Gorilla Mind (supplements).

  • Nick Trigili. Bodybuilding & BS YouTube · @CoachNicholasTrigili

    Former IFBB Pro bodybuilder; long, experience-based peptide/TRT/GLP-1 breakdowns, retatrutide, GHK-Cu self-experiments, visceral-fat and 'get shredded' stacks.

    Unusually granular field-level dosing and side-effect detail from someone who's actually run it, a good early read on what the physique world is using. Take with a grain of salt: treat claims as Grade D until corroborated.

    Conflict: Sells coaching and cycle/protocol consults; videos promote specific stacks. Blog: nicholastrigili.com.

  • Peptide Daily X · @peptidedaily_

    High-velocity peptide aggregator ('scientific data behind peptides, zero marketing lies'); clips podcast content, Huberman and others, into daily threads.

    A fast early read on which peptide claims are going viral, so we can fact-check them before they spread. Case in point: its Koniver thread (78K+ views) misnamed him 'Craig Conover' and called him the NAD-infusion 'pioneer' he isn't, which is exactly why aggregators get a grain of salt here.

    Conflict: Anonymous lead-generation account funneling to a private list; repackages others' content and has misidentified its sources.

  • ThePeptideList X · @peptidelist

    Peptide-content account on X; threads on compounds, stacks and vendor chatter.

    Another fast read on what's circulating in the peptide-curious corner of X, watched so we can corroborate or debunk before a claim travels. Take with a grain of salt: treat claims as Grade D until corroborated.

    Conflict: Anonymous aggregator: we do not know who runs it or whether it has vendor ties, and social peptide aggregators have skewed toward lead-gen and vendor-adjacent accounts.

  • Dr. Marlon Peralta X · @drmarlonperalta

    Doctor of Pharmacy turned performance/peptide coach; X + 'The Performance Edge' Substack. Peptides, PEDs, and a fundamentals-first message: nutrition, training and recovery before compounds.

    A more grounded social voice than most, he openly argues you won't feel peptides' effects without the basics, a useful counterweight to stack-hype. The pharmacist credential gives more standing than bro-science, but still corroborate specific dosing claims (Grade D until confirmed).

    Conflict: Sells peptide-optimization coaching and a paid newsletter funnel (Stan store, Substack); markets to a 'get shredded' audience.

  • Dr. Mike Israetel. Renaissance Periodization @drmikeisraetel

    Sport-physiology PhD; candid PED/peptide commentary.

    Science-trained and blunt about what peptides do and don't do for muscle.

    Conflict: Co-owns RP (programs/supplements), minor.

  • Chris Bumstead @cbum

    Classic Physique Mr. Olympia (recently retired); recovery, TRT, and what the elite-physique world actually runs.

    Enormous reach at the very front of physique performance, track what the top of the sport adopts before anyone else.

    Conflict: Sells programs / supplements; promotes within the industry.

  • Dorian Yates @thedorianyates

    Six-time Mr. Olympia, HIT pioneer; unusually candid about PEDs, recovery and post-career health.

    A historical authority, performance enhancement has run through bodybuilding for decades, and he's one of its most honest narrators.

    Conflict: Sells training programs + a supplement line.

Conflicted commercial

  • Gary Brecka. 10X Health @garybrecka

    Sermorelin, CJC-1295+Ipamorelin, NAD+; aggressive promotion.

    High-influence hype driver, track to know what claims we'll be asked to fact-check.

    Conflict: Sells the peptides he promotes; FDA-flagged compounds; debunked by McGill OSS.

  • DTC telehealth peptide brands Web/IG (Marek, Peptual, etc.)

    Direct-to-consumer marketing & dosing claims.

    The front line of consumer messaging, a 'what's being sold and how it's framed' signal.

    Conflict: Sell what they market.

Data & labs

  • Janoshik Analytical Web

    Third-party purity/quantity testing; COA verification.

    The default independent lab, the reference for 'is this vial real.'

  • Finnrick Analytics Web

    Independent vendor testing (8,000+ tests, 225+ vendors).

    Anecdote's antidote, independent, at scale. Trust agreement across two labs.

  • PubMed / NCBI alerts Saved searches per compound

    Primary literature on every compound we grade.

    The actual evidence base, alerts so we cite new human studies the day they post.

Regulatory

  • FDA. PCAC Advisory committee calendar

    503A bulks reviews. Voted on BPC-157, TB-500, KPV, MOTS-c and three more on July 23-24, 2026; next tranche (GHK-Cu, LL-37, Dihexa, Melanotan II, PEG-MGF) before end of Feb 2027, date not set as of Oct 12, 2026.

    The single most consequential venue for peptide legality, though its votes are advisory.

  • Federal Register, compounding dockets Search '503A bulk drug substances'

    Official notices, comment windows, Category 1/2 changes.

    The authoritative, dated record, comment deadlines matter.

  • FDA. Warning Letters Enforcement database

    Enforcement vs. compounders making false peptide/GLP-1 claims.

    Real-time 'who got flagged this month' signal, naming bad actors.

Open decisions and trials are listed on the news page. Who the people behind these sources are: authorities.

Not medical advice.