肽的狂热与冷水：一个身体里本就有的东西，如何被吹成"神药"

从健身房的更衣室，到各大社交平台，仿佛一夜之间，人人都在谈论它、追捧它。

From gym locker rooms to the major social platforms, it's as if overnight everyone is discussing them, chasing after them.

在正式开聊之前，先花一分钟，把"肽"这个概念本身讲清楚。

Before we dive in, let's take a minute to clarify what "peptide" itself means.

说白了，肽就是一小段氨基酸连接起来所构成的物质，本就天然存在于我们每个人的身体里。

Plainly put, a peptide is a short segment of amino acids linked together — a substance that already exists naturally in every one of our bodies.

它一点也不神秘，也绝非什么外来的黑科技。

It's not mysterious at all, and hardly some exotic dark technology.

举个例子，大名鼎鼎、用来控制血糖的胰岛素，本质上就是一种肽。

For example, the renowned insulin, used to control blood sugar, is essentially a kind of peptide.

既然是身体里本来就有的东西，那它究竟是怎么突然爆火的呢？

Since it's something the body already contains, how exactly did it suddenly catch fire?

这背后，最关键的推手，其实是减肥药。

The key driver behind this is, in fact, weight-loss drugs.

这几年，以司美格鲁肽为代表的一批减肥药风靡全球，效果立竿见影，而它们，恰恰全都属于肽。

In recent years, a wave of weight-loss drugs led by semaglutide swept the globe with immediate results — and they happen to all be peptides.

于是，一种朴素却危险的联想，便在大众心里悄然生根：既然这些肽能让人瘦下来，那其他的肽，是不是也各有各的神奇功效？

So a simple yet dangerous association quietly took root in the public mind: if these peptides can slim you down, don't other peptides each have their own miraculous effects?

然而，"减肥药是肽，所以别的肽也必定管用"，这个推理本身，从一开始就站不住脚。

Yet "the weight-loss drug is a peptide, so other peptides must work too" — that reasoning doesn't hold up from the start.

在这股热潮里，真正起到助推作用的，是社交媒体上数量庞大的网红和博主。

What truly fueled this wave is the vast army of influencers and bloggers on social media.

他们日复一日地安利各种肽，声称打上一针，就能增肌、能加速伤病的恢复、能对抗衰老，甚至能让头脑更清醒。

Day after day they promote all sorts of peptides, claiming a single shot can build muscle, speed injury recovery, fight aging, even make your mind sharper.

其中被吹捧得最神乎其神的，是一种代号为 BPC-157 的肽。

The one hyped as most miraculous of all is a peptide code-named BPC-157.

在他们的话术里，肽俨然成了包治百病的灵丹妙药。

In their spiel, peptides have become nothing less than a cure-all miracle elixir.

于是这两年，越来越多原本毫无医学背景的普通人，也开始给自己注射五花八门的肽。

So over the past two years, more and more ordinary people with no medical background have started injecting themselves with peptides of every kind.

可与这股狂热形成鲜明对比的，是医学界持续不断的泼冷水。

But in stark contrast to this frenzy is the steady stream of cold water from the medical field.

专家们的忧虑，主要集中在两个层面。

Experts' worries center on two levels.

其一，是最根本的"到底有没有用"。

First, the most fundamental: whether they even work.

许多被捧上神坛的肽，比如 BPC-157，迄今为止，连一项正规的人体临床试验都没有做过。

Many peptides placed on a pedestal, like BPC-157, have to this day not undergone a single proper human clinical trial.

绝大多数所谓的功效，都只停留在小动物实验的层面。

The vast majority of their so-called effects rest only at the level of small-animal experiments.

换句话说，成千上万的使用者，其实是在拿自己的身体，充当没有报酬的试验品。

In other words, tens of thousands of users are, in effect, using their own bodies as unpaid test subjects.

其二，也是更令人不安的一点，是安全。

Second, and even more unsettling, is safety.

监管部门抽查网上销售的肽后发现，竟有多达四成的产品，要么剂量与标注不符，要么含有标签上根本没有写明的成分。

When regulators spot-checked peptides sold online, they found as many as 40% of products either had doses that didn't match the label or contained ingredients never listed on it.

更让人脊背发凉的是，已有研究提示，某些肽可能会加速体内异常细胞的增殖，理论上，甚至可能与癌症沾上边。

Even more spine-chilling, research already suggests certain peptides may accelerate the proliferation of abnormal cells in the body — in theory, possibly touching on cancer.

除此之外，这类物质还可能引发水肿、头痛、血压波动等一连串副作用。

Beyond that, such substances may trigger a chain of side effects like edema, headaches, and blood-pressure swings.

这里还藏着一个耐人寻味的细节：这些肽，相当一部分是从中国等地，经由网络销往世界各地的。

There's another intriguing detail hidden here: a considerable share of these peptides are sold from places like China, over the internet, to buyers worldwide.

为了规避监管，它们大多顶着"仅供科研使用"的名头，实际上却源源不断地流入了普通消费者手中。

To evade regulation, they mostly wear the label "for research use only," while in fact flowing steadily into the hands of ordinary consumers.

有数据显示，仅二零二五年前九个月，美国进口的此类物质，金额就高达三亿多美元，较上一年整整翻了一倍。

Data shows that in just the first nine months of 2025, U.S. imports of such substances reached over 300 million dollars — a full doubling from the year before.

而今年年初，美国一位高官还公开放话，要放宽对部分肽的限制，无异于给这把火，又添了一桶油。

And early this year, a senior U.S. official publicly declared he'd relax restrictions on some peptides — tantamount to adding another bucket of oil to the fire.

说到底，肽绝不是什么点石成金的仙丹。

Ultimately, peptides are by no means a magic elixir that turns stone into gold.

在正规医疗的手里，它自有其独特的价值；可一旦沦为网上任人乱买、乱打的商品，风险便被无限放大。

In the hands of proper medicine, they hold their own distinct value; but the moment they become goods anyone can buy and inject online at will, the risk is amplified without limit.

真正的健康，从来都没有那么廉价的捷径。

Real health has never had such a cheap shortcut.

好，今天这个话题，就先聊到这里，我们下期再见。

Okay, that's where we'll leave this topic today; see you next time.