Discover Youth: Peptides For Aging Gracefully

Mark Sherwood, ND

Well, first of all, I’m grateful to be here with you. It’s such an honor to meet you. I’m just blessed and humbled to be with you. Thank you for the kind introduction. Of course. We also had my wife, Dr. Michelle, as I said to you before we started recording. She’s my best friend, and I want to give her honor, of course, because I appreciate her so much. She puts up with me and my vision every day. 

But we’ve written several bestselling books. For Your Diet, is one. Quest for Wellness. We have one called Surviving the Garden of Eaten, a cool title there. Then our newest one is called The Narrow Road, and it’s more of a devotional book, for those of you who like that stuff. 

Movie-wise, we started with what I called a Healthymentary, a documentary, and the journey of two guys and our health journey, one pretty much done without doing anything at all, and that’s pretty good. It’s called Fork Your Diet. The movie. Then we also started getting into the faith-based family entertainment business with movies. We created another, and after that, The Prayer List is my wife’s story and how she overcame a lot. I encourage people to watch those things. We did one called WWJR, which stands for When Will Jesus Return? But it’s funny. It’s got some pretty famous comedians in it. Then we’ve got Heaven’s Gate, and these are all family-friendly. Then, our most recent one is called Holy Flicks. The message behind that is great. They’re all available, I know. How to get those people and go to sure went on TV, and that’s why there are drop-down boxes for that.

Jen Pfleghaar, DO, ABOIM

Yes. That’s so awesome. I love faith-based movies, and I’m going to check them out with my family because they are family-friendly. Awesome.

Mark Sherwood, ND

Well, yes.

Jen Pfleghaar, DO, ABOIM

I am so excited to dive into peptides with you. I know you have extra peptide training. Let’s dig into it. Let’s talk about general peptides, their rotations, and why we should rotate peptides.

Mark Sherwood, ND

Well, I’ve used peptides for several years. Probably many out there who are listening. We hear about them and the media training they received. I don’t know how practical they are. What do they do, and how do you release that? We came in at a disadvantage because, out in the biohacking fields, they were already using those for a long, long time. They’ve been around for several decades. The study that’s in the functional medicine space is just coming upon us now. I’m grateful for that. But as anything gets into the functional medicine space, they start getting attacked by the FDA, of course, because that seems to be par for the course. But what we’ve done over time is that we have several that we use, and I’ll just go over a few of them we use, and then we’ll talk about why we rotate those. 

I use a mitochondrial peptide called MOTS-c, which I use a lot. I pretty much run that one the majority of the time. I cannot find any real negatives about the need to cycle on and off of that. But I also have BPC 157. That’s one of my pretty constant ones too. I know there is an oral form that I typically use for those who have GI problems, but I generally use the subcutaneous delivery method the majority of the time. There are some times when I’ve used both at the same time and frankly, I haven’t seen any negatives or all of that either. Those two are probably my two favorites. I have used a lot of the Thymosin alpha-1, and the Thymosin beta-4. I tend to bounce those back and forth rotationally because, they both positively affect immune system adaptation, but I still think that we need to look at that because I’m not sure over time what continual usage of those means. I don’t think anybody else does because they have been around quite that long. 

I like using GHK-Cu a lot. Probably 90% of our ladies that are in our population across the country use GHK-Cu as a night cream, and then they love that one. That one works amazingly well, and I don’t see a negative behind that. Now, if you use it injectable, which can be done subcutaneously, it is important to make sure you dose up with the zinc behind that because you can develop copper-zinc imbalance there, less important. Epitalon, depending on the spelling and pronunciation of that. That’s one I will cycle off 2 or 3 times a year as well. That’s going to help lengthen the telomeres and allow us to repair DNA more. I like Cerebrolysin as well, along with C-Max and C-Link, to help develop more BDNF. I look at that brain fertilizer. I want to keep my mind strong and vibrant. 

Then certainly, when I look at some of these, there’s a lot of usage we have for PT-141 for libidos. That is a great peptide. I think it’s probably underutilized quite a bit. Then above that in that chain, a lot of our patients who are not cycled off and on Mylanta 12 tend to because it has a little bit of libido, a little bit of tanning, and a little bit of appetite suppression. Most people are familiar with the GLP-1 agonist out here. It has a little bit of a mimicking effect of that. I find that it doesn’t have quite as strong an effect as the GLP-1 agonist, but it has enough to help a little bit with people who overeat. That’s just a general, overall, broad-spectrum, Dr Jen, of what we are to use as a rotation.

Jen Pfleghaar, DO, ABOIM

I love it. Now, how did you start using these in your practice? What piqued your interest in these? Because this is a rabbit hole sometimes for practitioners to get into. You just dip your foot in, and then it feels good to jump?

Mark Sherwood, ND

Yes. Honestly, I got into looking at the mTOR and autophagy antagonistic pathways. That was my entry point. When I got into that, I thought, Okay, there are people out of here that will say you want to shut off the mTOR pathway because history tells us that the dwarves live longer and don’t get cancer. I mean, I get the logic behind it, but I also understand that muscle tissue retention and development are important for functionality, metabolism, mobility, etc. I think there’s some balance there. I got into it that way. Then, at the same time I was looking at that pathway, we started looking at genetics. That opened up a whole Pandora’s box. It was not just a rabbit hole; it was a tunnel that kept going. 

I started looking at the SNPs that were around methylation, the SNPs that were in the oxidative stress pathway, and the SNPs that were in lipid metabolism, inflammation, and detox. I started thinking to myself, How can we make things happen more naturally to help offset any genetically vulnerable places? I don’t believe the genes are bad. I think that just shows the vulnerabilities in this environment. Then how can I have that under the guise of balancing the mTOR autophagy pathways? I realize that you don’t want to be in the mTOR, the mammalian target of the rapamycin pathway, all the time because you’re perpetually building. That’s not good. I’ve used the analogy of a house that’s never being repaired from the wiring or the plumbing, and we just keep putting sheets of paint on it to keep putting a roof on that carpet. Well, that house is going to fall apart eventually because all you’re doing is continuing to paste on top of dysfunction. 

That got me going on this. As far as a rotation goes, I mean, this is going to sound crazy, but we just started coming up with it on our own because it made sense when nobody taught us that. Before I knew it, I was trying it on myself, and my wife was trying it. Of course, aren’t we at the end of 1 or 2? We started doing that, and we started seeing interesting results. We started measuring or using those age clocks that are through true diagnostics and age. We started seeing Glycanage; the biological aging process is held tight and even goes backward a little bit. We got it all figured out because I’m still learning. But it’s just been a journey of learning how to optimize function and life. Again, not trying to necessarily bring more years. That’s not the point. But maybe more quality in those years is what we’re trying to do and trying to live younger, older, and perhaps die younger, older.

Jen Pfleghaar, DO, ABOIM

I love that. Yes. How old are you? 30?

Mark Sherwood, ND

No.

Jen Pfleghaar, DO, ABOIM

What is your biological age?

Mark Sherwood, ND

My biological age, depending on which clock. I get, ranging from 20 up to about 47. But my actual chronological age is 59.

Jen Pfleghaar, DO, ABOIM

Yes. You wouldn’t have guessed. I love how you talked about the ladies using the GHK-Cu peptides. I love them, and yes, there are so many things that we can do too. You said we’re not trying to; we’re reversing aging, but not. It’s when you see an apple and it sits on you, you take a bite, and it starts to brown. We’re just trying to not be oxidized. We’re trying to reduce all of that. As you talked about Epitalon, you’re not going to be able to see your telomeres getting longer or stopping them from shortening. But it’s all these things happening inside. We don’t turn brown. on the inside. 

There are basic things like nutrition, which your books are about, and all of the movies and everything nutrition, sleep, and movement. We have to optimize all of those too. But these peptides can just maximize longevity. As you age, you’re feeling good. I don’t know about you, but I talk to my patients about that. I’m, once we fix gut health and the chronic conditions that they’re coming to me at first because they’re symptomatic, we can have fun and do the longevity things, do the fun things peptides and, biohacking. It’s such a fun world, and you have a decent amount of muscle mass. I guess your personal story, is that you were on the Swat team and all of that. How did your body change when you started introducing this rotation of peptides?

Mark Sherwood, ND

Well, it’s a great question because I got into this whole area of health when I was on the police department, and I traveled the world with The Power Team, and were out there breaking bricks and breaking through ice with our heads and blowing up water bottles, using it as an evangelistic tool, and I.

Jen Pfleghaar, DO, ABOIM

Okay. I’m sorry. What is this power team?

Mark Sherwood, ND

Okay.

Jen Pfleghaar, DO, ABOIM

I know what it is. I mean, maybe other people wouldn’t.

Mark Sherwood, ND

Yes. It was a group of men known as The Power Team. You people can Google that. We used to go around the world and stack up big stacks of bricks and break them with our arms and heads, break baseball bats behind our backs, and blow up hot water bottles. It was designed to get people’s attention. Then we would use that to present the gospel. That’s what it was. It was an evangelistic tool. 

The guy who started it is named John Jacobs. It was John Jacobs and the Power Team. It was well-known back in the 80s and early 2000s. It was just that we had a weekly television show. It was national TV, and it was on all the time and allowed me to travel on every continent except Antarctica. It was cool. But, that got me into it, because here I was, this little token bodybuilder with these big old, ex-NFL linemen or something, and I always wanted to be a little bit better. I was never the most talented guy in anything I did, even though I did play professional baseball for a time. It’s hard work, and nothing’s free in life. I wanted to figure it out. 

But then, fast forward: when I was in the police department, I was put in charge of a wellness program that didn’t exist. Dr. Jen, I didn’t know what to do. I started looking around, and this one statistic changed my whole life perspective. It was this. It fits very well into our conversation. I determined by statistical analysis that the average life expectancy for a 20-year-old male police officer with 20 years of service was 66 years of age, and that was an FBI study back in the 1970s. Then, when I was looking at this early 2000, it hadn’t changed. That broke my heart because I saw some of the finest men and women I’d ever seen in my life and knew that they were going out there every day serving the public, and they could die. 

It was interesting because I wanted to figure that out. How can I help them? But then I quickly learned that that was the world, wasn’t it? Stress, the chaos there is, the constant connectivity—the way things are then or die—that we just do. Nobody seems to talk about it. The lack of sleep that is not addressed or the lack of movement. I wanted to solve that equation. That got me into this whole idea of peptides. Then I started studying this stuff, and it’s almost like Forrest Gump started running and didn’t stop. I started studying and didn’t stop even back in those days. I just started to go ahead and change career directions and keep it going. As it always worked out, I tried to continue to stay in shape. I do eat. We do practice what we preach, and there are no excuses on my part. I’m not going to do it. God, I don’t want to live and represent hypocritically. 

But since I’ve been using peptides, and this is me talking here, and this is Mark again talking in the audience. I can probably do exactly what I did 25 years ago, but probably a little bit better. I still work out every day. I eat right every day. I work hard every day. Doing what we do to represent and help mankind every day is a load. It’s a heavyweight. But I’m able to maintain a lower percentage of body fat and maintain my energy. I don’t need chronic medication usage to deal with these problems that people have. I don’t have high blood pressure. I sleep well every night. The people that we help, and you’re in the same boat with this. They experienced the same thing. Sometimes you look at that and you go, How do I measure this? Measuring rehabilitation or proactive care is a little different. It’s something you have to get your mind around because most people measure stuff by disease. Did I get the disease fixed? I get it corrected, and the symptom is managed by whatever. Did I get this issue solved? But we look at it, and I don’t want to have any issues. I don’t want to deal with the fact that. Sickness is way more expensive, way more costly, and way more distractive than wellness. 

I’m more motivated today. probably have been in my life for the idea that we have peptides, we have the idea of how we can, and we’re going to die at some point. But I think we’ve been shortening our expectations of what life is like. I think you’ve heard it; I’ve heard it as a listener and have heard it. Well, Aunt Sarah lived 80 years. She had a good life. But what does that mean? I tend to come from the camp, and I don’t push this on anybody. But I do believe in God. I do have a faith relationship, and I believe personally that our organ system functionality is most likely, Dr. Jen, who is probably 120 years old. I think that looking at the centenarians in some of our blue zones and all this stuff, I think we see that playing out in front of us. Some people might not take that angle. That’s okay. But I think the facts are that most people can see that. Whether what side caught your eye with faith is that that lifespan potentially is probably around that time. 

My question always is, especially for the people in America who seem to think we’ve got it all figured out, can we do a little bit better than that? I know that was a long answer to a short question, but we must get that across, that you can indeed build better about yourself. You can honor this thing we call the temple better. Frankly, I have a responsibility to my wife. I do. I’ve got a responsibility for the 12,000-odd people we deal with in our community and the millions we touch to just an unmerited blessing. I just want people to know that there’s better out there. I feel that way.

Jen Pfleghaar, DO, ABOIM

That was all so beautiful. It made my heart sad about the police officers serving the communities; their life expectancy is 66. Then that gave me all these ideas, and maybe I should reach out. Do they want to lecture? It’s so hard. We’ll talk about, police officers’ stress, stress can shorten those telomeres. That’s why it’s so important to make sure you keep that stress under control. Our bodies are resilient. But yes, it’s a lot, especially post-pandemic. I’m seeing a lot of people who are just dysregulated from a nervous system standpoint. 

That brings us back to peptides. I mean, peptides can help calm down an inflamed gut and help you build muscle so you can do your daily activities properly. all of these things. and you were talking about your peptide rotations, and I think a good point to bring up is, some people might be thinking, Can you take peptides together? Sometimes,  you can take certain medications together. How does that work with peptides?

Mark Sherwood, ND

Well, from what I’ve seen and experienced, and again, I think a lot of the peptide therapies now are under live investigation. If you will, I mean, I think we’re all trying different combinations. As far as history goes, we don’t have 100 years of experience here. We probably got 20—probably the last 10. They’ve been more mainstream. There’s a ramp-up on those things now. There is, and it’s not. Thank you to the doctors for that. It’s a thank you to the community during the biohacking space that pushed that on. We’ve got to give credit where it’s due. 

I will have, and this is just today, for example. Since I have all these going on now, I’m not saying this is for everybody. This is part of what we do as we cycle through these things. Today I injected much. I did that today. Today I injected AOD 9604; today I did BPC 157; and today I did Thymosin beta-4. I will have these varying angles going at the same time. I have not seen anything that shows me or tells me again; that I’m not for learning all the time. I can’t figure it out. That tells me I can’t do that now. There are some oral peptides out there that I’ve still questioned, and I’m working through those, such as 5-amino-1MQ, which inhibits fat cell growth. I have used that a few times, and I’ve been testing that head-to-head with maybe an AOD 9604 to see which one works better. 

I’ve even done a lot of the BPC orals, and I’ve done BPC oral and injectable at the same time, and all I can do is measure that through perhaps my percent body fat because pretty much consistency exists with what we consume. Not that we consume the same thing in food every day, but I don’t get bound by food. I just eat when I’m hungry and don’t when I’m not. When I am hungry, I want to make sure I fill my stomach with this size and high-quality nutrients. I even put supplements in that category, Dr. Jen, because when I eat a big old handful of pills, man, I don’t think supplements. I think of high-quality food. I think, How cool is that? I can take food in a capsule, and so it’s been an interesting perspective change with that. I have not seen where you can’t take certain ones all at once. If there’s new information out there, I’m up for it.

Jen Pfleghaar, DO, ABOIM

Yes, I love that. I like 5-amino-1MQ, and I’m cute. I think genetically to that one particular. I have some patients who love it. They do so well with it. It’s so good for their energy. Then some. They’re just, yes. 

I take it when I am traveling and maybe across a time zone, and everyone reaches for their caffeine and all that, and I’ll just bring my 5-amino-1MQ with me because it’s convenient. After all, it’s a little red pill, a little capsule. But that’s fun that you’re using your metric, your percent body fat, to play along with these. Have you done any of the GLP-1s, GIPs, or anything like that?

Mark Sherwood, ND

I have. This sounds a little bit wacky, but you probably, I presume, would have the same mentality. I’m not going to rule something on the patient base until it’s rolled in my own body. My wife and I remember this. This is probably dating back to maybe, perhaps the late fall of 2022, I suppose. They heard about the GLP-1 agonist and so we got some, and I used it for five months. I want to know how to dose up on it. I want to know how to do off on it. I want to know what would happen if I just stopped it. Cold turkey. I want to know how it affected me and my wife. We did this experiment, and this is interesting. I can see both sides of this. I think I’ll talk about the negative side first, used for weight loss purposes only. I think it is a bad idea because if we don’t talk about nutrition. We don’t talk about filling that stomach up with a good spatial density of nutrients. Dr. Jen, then I think we end up seeing a lot of muscle tissue loss. 

I looked at this from the standpoint that I’m not going to use it for weight loss, but I’m going to see what I can do to inhibit me from eating too much. Genetically speaking. I have and know a lot about the SNPs, but in the taste receptors, I have what’s called a TAS1R2, and it’s a taste receptor for sweets that I have a hypersensitive sweet tooth. I also have Mylanta chordin receptors, which is basically what I call death by aging. I mean, I don’t hear the signal very well. Further, I don’t produce, genetically speaking, the GLP-1 very well anyway. When I  look at that, I tailor it so I can tailor it to a genetic profile. I determined that I was able to lose body fat, maintain my energy, and maintain my muscle—even put on muscle—while using the GLP-1. 

I have used semaglutide. I’ve used the  Tirzepatide, which is the GIP, and the GLP-1, and I’ve used those a couple of times just to make sure I’m tracking well so that I communicate well. I think at the time, I mean, more or less, I’ve got an in-body analysis machine that I check a lot. I think I may have dropped a couple of percent of body fat. I maintain, somewhere around 13, 14% ish more or less. It may have dropped to 11% or something. But you can also measure your skeletal muscle mass and total body mass. I may have gained a pound in that area. It could have been just a weird coincidence. But what wasn’t a coincidence was that I didn’t lose. This is an important thing too. In my exercise, I always take a pen out and document my exercise. It’s a notebook, and I want to make sure that I’m able to maintain strength because strength maintenance is also muscle maintenance. 

As I was doing that, I determined that I couldn’t maintain strength, which was akin to maintaining muscle mass and losing body fat. I think under proper guidance, under the proper environment, control, encouragement, and knowledge, they’re great. They can be used for great, great benefit to reverse high blood pressure to reverse that thing called type 2 diabetes, which, frankly, shouldn’t exist in one person. I don’t know what we’re doing with that. I’ve seen it reverse those things in a hurry. If people begin to think that, we just talked, they can be significant game changers. Now, what I don’t know is that over time, as long-term usage, I don’t know the answer to that. I don’t think anybody does at this point. I’ve used them off and on. My wife used it off and on, but it’s not something that we feel is needed continually in the long term. Under that context.

Jen Pfleghaar, DO, ABOIM

Yes, we’re definitely on the same page with that. I would say to anyone listening out there, it’s a big red flag if you’re going to a local med spa or anywhere, a gym, anywhere recommending these. If they tell you you have to be with them for the rest of your life, Because I’ve had, I’ve heard that’s what they’re saying. Well, if you don’t come back every week for your shot, you’re going to gain all the weight back. Well, yes. If you have someone who is not well-versed in peptides and knows that they should be rotated, your body should get a break. You were saying that we’re teaching them how to eat, lift, and protein. 

I counsel every patient before I put them on a GLP-1 or GLP-1 GIP. I counseled them, I’m, you need to have 30g of protein each meal. What are your protein goals? You need to be lifting weights. Otherwise, I won’t prescribe it. I talked to them about all of those side effects. We have to make sure they’re pooping well, too. Because of that toxic load. I mean, that’s the one where I think the side effects are also because they’re not getting titrated properly. They’re just getting slammed. My patients are having those crazy side effects that we’re hearing about.  I mean, you said yourself, you just played around with it. You could titrate it perfectly. People do well on that because peptides shouldn’t be something that’s a terrible thing. I hate how GLP-1 has gotten this terrible stigma, and they’re fine. You’re just using it wrong.

Mark Sherwood, ND

Yes. They can be a significant change agent for the betterment of our world. We need to because now is big pharma, a $1.7 trillion industry. The sick care system is the most profitable out there. It’s not okay for our population. I’ve always believed that the greatest enemy we have is the way we destroy our lives. If you look at obesity, is the fastest-growing non-communicable disease in the history of mankind’s existence. What is that? Why are we allowing that to happen? But you nailed it. There’s a lot of charlatans out here, and I’ll call it what it is: doing things for the money. You can make some money. You can. But money is not what changes lives. 

My wife and I have this discussion a lot, and it goes with peptides. That goes with everything. Even though we’re talking about here, if people use these things for the right reasons, money and provision will follow the truth every time. Count on that principle, money, and provision. Does that mean there are certain amounts? No, but it means what you need is going to be there. That’s important to understand. But there are a lot of things out here, as you nailed it, even in the baseball world. I’m not saying they’re all bad, but for someone to come in, let’s just use a semaglutide as an example, and the first time they come in, they give them a quarter mil or something like that. They’re going to get nauseous, and they’re not going to feel good. But then they’re told, Come on back; we’ll do it again. That’ll go away. But they’ll see their scale, and then they magnify the scale going down because they got nausea. Some would need it, and that doesn’t do any good. 

Also, I’ve seen this too. I check micronutrients all the time on a cell level. If people are not getting micronutrients down to the cell level, you’re not going to be able to maintain the functionality of your organ systems, and your organ systems are what protect you. It all goes back to nutrition. The only way I know how to get nutrition into my cells is to consume it or inject it, but it still has to get inside the cells, and in most cases, sad but true, they’re not being counseled on nutritional density or robust nutrient intake. They talk about calories, which I’m sure can have some benefits, but it’s not a perfect science. High nutrition is, though, something that’s been around since the beginning of time. I think that there’s a lot we can do with this, and I hope that people listening will replay it again and again. If you’re a practitioner, please, I beg of you. I plead with you to follow these principles. We just talk about them here and use them under that guidance. If you need guidance, reach out and get guidance because there are ways you can help people. There are ways that you can bless people, and they can get truly better.

Jen Pfleghaar, DO, ABOIM

Yes, I love that. and getting the body back to homeostasis where it wants to be, the body can heal. We just have to use the tools in our toolbox. Now, have you ever seen any pitfalls or anything negative happen with peptides, and if so, how could you talk to, maybe other practitioners out there or people who are listening who want to dive into peptides? How can they avoid those?

Mark Sherwood, ND

Well, I think that knowledge is power, but I think even more powerful than knowledge is the correct use of knowledge. Some would define that as wisdom, I suppose. But ultimately, when you get into peptides, the biggest pitfall is that we get too many things going. You learn one peptide, master that thing, and then go on to the next one. Then there are many certifications out there. Find one, learn it, get a book, and read it. Don’t get ahead of yourself, because getting ahead of yourself is going to get people off base. Some of the basic ones that pretty much anybody can use. BPC 157, that’s being attacked now. If you can get that, that’s great. That’s always a good one. It’s pretty safe. It’s good. 

The GHK-Cu cream. That’s simple. Learn your hands, rub your face, and move on. I mean, just master the little things and expand the big things, and then work on how to get those pushed into practice. When they become the norm, they become regular. They become an expectation. This is the key out here. I think this is the best tip that I’ve learned. If you have a staff out there and they’re not using peptides, that’s your fault. Make it happen for them; make it possible for them at all costs. Buy and form because they’re your biggest spokesperson. The biggest post is the person answering that phone out there, greeting somebody, or even sending an email. It’s important because if you make somebody else’s life happy and better, they’ll talk about it. Those couple little simple principles and guidelines will go a long way towards probably increasing the usage and effectiveness of the peptides in the person’s practice.

Jen Pfleghaar, DO, ABOIM

Absolutely. How have you seen peptides work in your practice? Can you give some examples?

Mark Sherwood, ND

Yes. We are, and it’s a culture that you create in your patient base of expectations. This was just yesterday. We always talk about peptides. There were seven areas of focus within our practice. Everybody that comes in gets the speed and gets the story. We do it every time. The four areas we have control over are nutrition, sleep, stress management, and movement. We always talk about those. Then the three areas we don’t have control over, are genetics, hormones, and peptides. We go to the check box, and we make sure that people are informed about that. then I will put resources in their hands every time. Whether it be a book or some piece of literature, I always do that. Then they’ll go about their business, and some of them will use things above them. Won’t that be how that goes? 

But then eventually there’s one, two, three, or four that come back in and say, Well, I’m ready for those peptides now. Then it just started dominoes. Now, people do come to us and say, That age management thing that you’re doing or that biohacking thing—whatever they’re calling it, I call it biological aging optimization is what I should use. They’ll come in and say, Can you put me on a plan? Can you guys put me on a plan? Then I will immediately go. You have to have measurables to keep people motivated. Measurables motivate. 

Always remember that one. then you have to have the tools and a purpose behind what you do. You don’t just take peptides to put on muscle, like a test Ipamorelin, and just to put on muscle. Lots of great peptides and it can help lose fat. It’s good for vascular health and correction. It’s good. Ipamorelin and the CJC. 1295, some people even more than they’re nice. But you have to measure it. Body composition, good blood labs, not basic, age clocks, micronutrient testing. The more metrics and measurables you could put on there that are quantifiable with the use of peptides, that’s a win.

Jen Pfleghaar, DO, ABOIM

That’s great. I love that I wrote that down. Measurables motivate. 

Mark Sherwood, ND

They do. 

Jen Pfleghaar, DO, ABOIM

Yes. Especially if you’re coming and if you’re not in the medical world, because we know things are working and we know we’re doing things preventatively, but someone who maybe doesn’t know the science needs to see something. Yes, just your pants fitting better is probably not enough. I like that. Yes, it’s a measure. Things are that. 

Where do you see peptides going in the future opportunities? I know that they keep discovering more and more peptides that they can then compound. Where do you see all this going?

Mark Sherwood, ND

I think it’s unlimited; I think it’s only limited by our belief system. Dr. Jen, I think that potential is out there for us to continue to if we keep asking what could be or why can’t it be. What are the possibilities? Those questions. I think we’ll keep discovering things that have always been under our noses. They’ve always been part of our function because life is about giving the body what it needs and keeping the information that it reads and understands fresh. That it can do what it does. Peptides are just that—the simple idea of using structure to combine amino acids to benefit the human body. That’s what the body does. It brings them together. It makes peptides; it makes hormones and proteins. We’re not doing anything weird or woo-woo. It’s natural. 

I think that we look at the areas of what the body’s doing in its normal, optimal function. We shift our paradigm that way. We should start studying healthy populations more. Why are they doing that? We’ll start testing them more instead of just the sick model. If we shift that paradigm, we’ll find out more information. That’s going to be a blessing to that element of optimization of those biological aging processes and speeds. and I think that the sky’s the limit out there. I think that there’s so much to be discovered. I think we’re just on the very tip of some cool, awesome things. If we get our minds in the right direction,

Jen Pfleghaar, DO, ABOIM

Yes, absolutely. Now, with you doing the bodybuilding and doing that before, where do you think the future is going to be with peptides being allowed or not allowed? Because I know that is a little controversial and I know that BPC 157 is banned in a lot of things.

Mark Sherwood, ND

I think most of that’s done by just erring on the side of caution with MOTS-c and all that stuff. I think there’s just a lot of unknown out there. What does performance-enhancing mean? Is it an unnatural edge? I don’t look at a BPC 157 as having an unnatural edge because it’s a natural thing. Now, if you add a bunch of exogenous testosterone and endogenous growth hormone, I suppose that’s a whole different story. But when I look at it, we need to be a little more open-minded in the area of performance enhancement. That’s a question. But what is injury prevention? What also is longevity in acting and creating? What is health? If you look at the bodybuilding situation, for example, it’s so far away from health, and now it’s a freakish thing. 

I remember back when I was competing, quote-unquote drug-free. I didn’t know peptides at that point at all. But I thought that could do pretty well. But if you get out there with the big anabolic steroids, there’s no way, and you’re not going to be there. That shift has happened. But I think as we go forward in athletics, professional athletics, college athletics, high school athletics, and even bodybuilding sports, we need to start looking at peptides more from a prevention standpoint. Either way, let’s think about the NFL for a minute. What would be the thing that would be harmful to have every player using Cerebrolysin? I mean, what would be bad about having players use MOTS? What would be so bad about having them use Epitalon periodically? Is that giving them an edge? I don’t think it would be something on the field, but maybe in life, and maybe that needs to be our perspective.

Jen Pfleghaar, DO, ABOIM

Yes, it’s a little bit frustrating because they still inject steroids into their joints and destroy them. Healthy joints, but they won’t do BPC 157, was interesting. I was in Key West, and there were some NFL players there, and I was talking to one of them. He was a tight end, and I was talking about BPC 157. I’m wondering, how can they even test for that? They’re done. We make it naturally. It’s just when you see the injury and injury prevention. 

Not only that, you said, the longevity of that. I mean, we know that these high-performance athletes age faster because of their intense training, and that goes back to bringing it back to the beginning with mTOR stimulation. It’s a nice balance. But these athletes are performing at their top-notch. But, they might be 30 years old, but who knows, if you do a biological age test on them, they might be 10 years older because of their training because they’re not able to use things like peptides that would support their training in the hardness of it on their body.

Mark Sherwood, ND

Well, I would tell you, factually speaking, that I’ve got a couple of NFL players currently that I work with, and both of them have a very high biological age. Both of them have horrible nutrient deficiencies. To your point about high-level athletes using peptides like the BPC. Yes, there’s no way you could know about it. I believe my intuition tells me, as a former athlete, that it’s probably used a lot out there, a whole lot, and probably not talked about because it’s not hard to get anymore. That’s an unfortunate thing because you get out here on these, these worlds where you get a peptide. I think this is worthy of mentioning this order out there, and it’s going to stay on it. Not for human consumption. 

Now, I don’t know what that is or what it’s not. I think there’s a chance that some people might take it because it is a little bit cheaper and you don’t have to get it prescribed. But do you take a chance? Yes. Because you don’t know that. If let’s use BPC if you think you ordered BPC, you get it in and you think they can’t test that it might not have BPC in it, it might have something else, and you might get yourself in a mess, but that’s your fault because you didn’t do your homework. They need to be obtained from good sourcing. That’s for human consumption. But I suspect, Jen, there’s probably a lot of users out there because they’re so good for injury prevention that we probably don’t know about it.

Jen Pfleghaar, DO, ABOIM

That’s a great point. and I hope so. But you brought up cerebral ice and how neuroprotective it is. In other countries, they’re using it IV with strokes. We’re just, I don’t know what we’re doing here, but it’s, I do know, but it’s very frustrating. That goes into the whole sick care model. and how it’s, it’s just about money sometimes. This is why it’s so good to be informed and to know about people like Dr. Mark, what they’re doing, and how you can stay well and feel good.

Mark Sherwood, ND

Yes. We need to connect. That’s why I’m super honored to be with you today, Jen. Because it’s important. People need to know you’re not alone out there. Some people think like you, people who can encourage you. My word of encouragement is to always lean towards the idea of helping people. Keep learning. I don’t think you got it figured out. Don’t get satisfied, and then become the model. Become the person that is the person that knows and the only person you can help. The old saying goes, physician, heal thyself. We need to work on that in our own lives. If we do that, I think that is infectious. That’s what draws people to you, and that’s how you get an opportunity to be your audience, which is good.

Jen Pfleghaar, DO, ABOIM

Yes. Well, I would love to know what you told us about your current stack. What are your favorite stacks that you do personally?

Mark Sherwood, ND

I love Tesamorelin. I think Tesamorelin does so many positive things. I have a Tesamorelin and I like BPC and I like MOTS. I have noted that I alternate a lot between AOD and the 5-amino-1MQ.

From a sheer subcutaneous standpoint, that’s what I like. Then, of course, GHK. I mean, that’s going to be in my little nightstand. My wife and I are forever and ever in a day.

Jen Pfleghaar, DO, ABOIM

Yes, I love it. GHK-Cu is used for wound healing, too.

Mark Sherwood, ND

Yes.

Jen Pfleghaar, DO, ABOIM

Crazy cool stuff on my kiddos. Yes, that and in red light. He knows the drill. We’ve avoided some oral antibiotics with that. It’s been great. These tools are just so good to know about and to have. Dr. Mark, how can everyone connect with you? I know a lot of people probably want to read your books and watch your movies. You’re such a great speaker. Very motivational. I feel like I want to get up and change the world. How can we connect with you?

Mark Sherwood, ND

Well, we’re pretty easy to reach, and we’re here just to serve people, so people can go to Sherwood.TV, it’s really simple. It’s got all the stuff that we were able to do. We’ve got into product development for the whole kingdom line of food, and we have cereals coming out and snack bars. They’re all good ingredients—no sugars and like that—so people can find our movies there, books, and stuff. It’s all there Sherwood.TV.

Jen Pfleghaar, DO, ABOIM

I love it. Everyone, go check it out. Thanks again so much for sharing your expertise today.

Mark Sherwood, ND

Thanks for having me. It’s an honor.