In this YouTube monologue, primary‑care physician Dr. Ashley Frazee discusses five non‑peptide compounds that are popular in the biohacker community but are rarely covered by conventional doctors. She frames the video as an educational deep‑dive, repeatedly emphasizing that she is not giving medical advice and that any experimentation should occur under professional supervision. The compounds covered are: 1. MK‑677 – a ghrelin‑mimetic oral agent that raises growth hormone and appetite, offering muscle‑building and sleep benefits but carrying a high risk of chronic hyperglycemia and potential diabetes. 2. NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide) – a NAD+ precursor marketed for energy, cognition, recovery, and skin health; its regulatory status is uncertain as the FDA has removed it from the supplement list while it is being investigated as a prescription drug. 3. Rapamycin – an immunosuppressive drug used in organ transplantation that inhibits the mTOR pathway, purported to extend lifespan via autophagy; however, it can cause infections, cold sores, vitamin deficiencies, and other serious side effects. 4. Methylene Blue – a blue dye that at low doses may improve mitochondrial ATP production and neuroprotection, but at higher doses can cause serotonin syndrome, toxicity in G6PD‑deficient individuals, and neurotoxicity. 5. SLU‑PP332 – an estrogen‑related receptor (ERR) agonist developed at St. Louis University, shown in mouse studies to increase mitochondrial biogenesis, boost fat oxidation, improve insulin sensitivity, and potentially enhance focus; human data are lacking. Throughout, Dr. Frazee highlights the appeal of these agents (oral administration, cost, anecdotal efficacy) while underscoring the trade‑offs, safety concerns, and the need for medical oversight. She concludes by inviting viewers to judge the risk‑benefit balance themselves and encourages subscription for more such deep‑dives.
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I'm a real-life primary care doctor, and I have this problem. I'm fascinated by things that seem to be more impactful than traditional modern medicine. I'm still a regular old doctor doing regular doctor things, but I think people are hungry for more. Sometimes the answers you get from regular doctors just aren't enough. And so that's why I deep dive into things like peptides. Today I'm going to talk about 5 things that are not peptides, but get wrapped up in the peptide circle because they're kind of biohacker-y. Now, I'm not making any promises here. I'm not going to tell you where to get these things, and I definitely don't want you to try them, without medical supervision. But I also realize that most doctors aren't willing to talk about things like this, and so that's why I'm making these videos. All right, let's dive in. Let's start with one that I actually have really mixed feelings on— MK-677. Why am I talking about this one? Honestly, it's because people keep asking me to. And again, don't mistake me talking about this as encouragement to you. I do not like MK-677, but plenty of people do, and that's fair. The quick and dirty: MK-677 is not a peptide, though many think it is. It's been studied a lot for people with muscle wasting because of diseases like HIV or cancer or other serious conditions. And what it does is it mimics ghrelin. Ghrelin is a hormone that makes you hungry, and it also increases release of growth hormone. Now, MK-677 is popular because that increased growth hormone can aid in things like muscle building, strength and recovery, and even things like sleep and overall wellness. But it does this by causing a kind of a consistent release in ghrelin and growth hormone, which can jack your sugars way up And honestly, people are putting themselves at risk for developing diabetes if they use this, especially the wrong way. I mean, if you want increased growth hormone, I can think of like 5 peptides that can help you do that without giving you the risk of diabetes. And after hearing that, you're probably wondering, well, why would people take this then? It's because it's a pill, it's more cost-effective, and people say it really does work. It's just that the trade-off for it is constant hunger and elevated blood sugar. I don't know, maybe people are using MK-677 combined with like a GLP agonist. And if you're out there, go ahead and drop it in my comments. All right, time to move on. Let's talk about NMN, nicotinamide mononucleotide. This isn't a peptide either, but it's actually in a gray area right now, so it's fitting. NMN is a precursor to NAD+, which is something that your cells use for energy metabolism, DNA repair, and cellular stress responses. I have a video on NAD+. Go ahead and watch that. You can boost your NAD+ levels via IVs and injections because naturally we lose NAD+ as we age, but orally NAD+ is actually not a thing. So when you take NAD+ supplements, you're actually very likely taking NMN. Interestingly, the FDA actually removed NMN off of the supplement list because it's being studied right now as a potential prescription drug. I really don't know how to feel about this, but you can still buy it in the supplement stores and online right now. So basically, people take it for better energy, recovery from workouts, better cognition, or less brain fog. Sometimes people think their sleep and mood are better when they take it, and even little things like their skin maybe improves. Okay, moving on again. Let's talk about something really interesting, but also really controversial. The fascination I have with things that are risky, I don't know. Just remember that I said not to try any of this without talking to a doctor. We're gonna talk about rapamycin. Seriously, do not try this without medical supervision. Rapamycin is a drug that we use in organ transplant patients to lower their immune function so they don't fight off the transplanted organ. Transplant patients will take the medication daily to suppress immunity, and with that comes some serious side effects, as you can probably imagine. But in the longevity world, people have started taking small doses of rapamycin once weekly, and supposedly it reboots your system. If you want to understand this, know that rapamycin works by targeting something called mTOR. What is mTOR? It's a protein literally named after rapamycin— mechanistic target of rapamycin. It's a protein in our bodies that actually governs key aspects of cell function, including cell growth and proliferation, protein synthesis, cell metabolism, cell survival, and autophagy. Rapamycin inhibits mTOR activation. Which is a little confusing, but think of it like when people do something like intermittent fasting and they flip their cells into autophagy. Now growth and anabolism slows down, but your cells will go into kind of a cleanup and repair mode. There's a study out there showing that rapamycin actually extended the lifespan of rats. Now again, do not try this without medical supervision. The side effects of rapamycin can be serious, like cold sores in your mouth or vitamin deficiencies. You can get outright bacterial or viral infections by using it because your immunity is Suppressed. But isn't it interesting that using just a little bit of something that's supposed to be kind of bad for you can actually end up turning up your energy production and rebooting your system? Moving on again, let's talk about methylene blue. You've probably all heard of this one. This is literally a blue dye. So why are people ingesting it? Well, apparently it boosts mitochondrial efficiency and it can increase the amount of ATP or energy that you produce. At higher doses, it can actually be antimicrobial. There's a lot of research on methylene blue for its neuroprotective effects like memory and cognition. We think that the antioxidant effect that it has combined with its ability to cross the blood-brain barrier means that it can improve brain health. Some people even believe that it enhances their focus and they take it for things like ADHD. I'm not telling you to do that, I'm just saying. But here's the catch: dose matters. People will take anything from like 4 to 50 milligrams of this stuff daily, and I think if you're going to try anything experimental, I would never advocate for you doing anything but starting at a microdose and increasing very slowly. You see, at low doses, methylene blue has this Incredible ability to increase your ATP production, but at high doses it can be very toxic. It can cause things like serotonin syndrome, and if you take an SSRI or an anti-depression medication, you put yourself at risk for serious side effects. So I just wouldn't do it. You also can't take it if you have something called G6PD deficiency, and there are concerns that high doses of methylene blue are neurotoxic. So while it's intriguing, it can't just be guzzled down. All right, last up. This one's actually a favorite of mine recently. SLU PP332. This is really hot in the peptide world right now, but it's not a peptide. SLU PP332 is actually an estrogen-related receptor agonist, and it's being studied for fat loss and metabolism. It has nothing to do with estrogen, just FYI. It's been developed by researchers at St. Louis University, hence SLU. Now the idea is that if someone takes it, their body will start to make more mitochondria and start to burn more energy and fat. It's like exercising. Without actually exercising. In mice studies, you can see all of these effects, and also you can see increased insulin sensitivity, which is a good thing, and with fat loss, muscle retention, also a good thing. So yeah, it's being treated like lazy exercise in a bottle. I find this one interesting for its anecdotal ability to increase people's focus as well. Now again, that's not researched, but there's some thought that by increasing mitochondria in the brain, you can get more focus. I don't take that as medical advice, and remember, nothing I say on here is medical advice. I am just a doctor on YouTube. I'm not your doctor. So those are 5 of the most talked about non-peptide biohacker-y things that are out there right now. Fascinating, but also a little risky. Is it worth it? I'll let you be the judge of that. Just please be safe, everyone. I'm Dr. Ashley Frazee. I run a direct primary care clinic in Mesa, Arizona, which is where I don't bill insurance. My patients pay me directly instead of insurance, and so I have more freedom to explore topics like this. If you like these deep dives, hit like for me, subscribe to my channel, and I'll keep making videos that bring light to things that people are curious about but probably your doctor isn't talking about. You You guys have the best day.
