You may have heard about uk peptides as the latest must-have anti-ageing addition to your skincare routine, or perhaps you’ve seen them used in beauty products that promise everything from firming to reducing fine lines and wrinkles. But what exactly are they, and how do they work?

Peptides are shorter versions of proteins that appear to have a range of health benefits, from anti-aging support and weight loss to muscle-building and more. The various peptides available are made from specific combinations of amino acids that look to do a particular job within the body, and they tend to be grouped together based on their mode of action.

One such grouping includes’strength peptides’, whereby certain amino acid chains are bonded together to stimulate muscle growth and performance enhancement. These types of peptides are popular with athletes and bodybuilders seeking to maximise their training performance, and are often sold in combination with other strength-building supplements and hormones, such as testosterone and nitric oxide boosters.

Another grouping involves’recovery peptides’, which help to restore the body’s natural ability to recover from injury and illness. These types of peptides are widely found in recovery drinks and sports supplements, but they are also used in skin creams for their apparent healing properties.

Finally, there is the ‘grey market’ supply of novel synthetic peptide hormones (SPH) through sellers on mainstream e-commerce platforms like Amazon and eBay in the UK. Despite ‘grey market’ warnings and product descriptions declaring these substances as’research peptides’ not for human consumption, this type of SPH is readily available for sale in the UK at a relatively low cost, and appears to be growing in popularity.