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"Anyone who’s not been living under a rock knows that we’re in full peptide mania." No, they don't, it's a very Silicon Valley specific thing and I never heard
by aweb 1mo ago
"Anyone who’s not been living under a rock knows that we’re in full peptide mania."
No, they don't, it's a very Silicon Valley specific thing and I never heard about them here in France. People need to stop thinking their experience generalizes by default
- inigyou 1mo agoOne of America's biggest exports is culture - but primarily in English. I bet the UK knows it.
- PessimalDecimal 1mo agoYeah, France should try to export its culture sometime!
- ggm 1mo ago"Ils sont fous, ces Anglais!"
- pseudohadamard 1mo agoYou've never heard of Asterix comics? Of which I think the other reply to your comment is a reference.
- KellyCriterion 1mo agoa "global brand" (tm) :-)
- ShinyLeftPad 1mo agoHe said, eating a croissant...
- Integrape 1mo ago"Omelette du fromage"
- holbrad 1mo agoAs someone from the UK, Techy, nerdy people can know, but normies don't. Also, I'd add that gym bros definitely have heard of them, especially if they are familiar with steroids. The GLP-1 drugs are probably the main cause of this. We have this amazing class of compounds that work really well, But are priced pretty high, at least considering lower UK wages. So there is a big incentive to look at getting these much cheaper from China. You hear about this happening, and then you see the fact that these companies have big catalogues full of other peptides that are a crypto payment and a click away.
- roryirvine 1mo agoI strongly suspect that peptide use is more common amongst the botox/filler crowd than techies in the UK. Most aesthetics clinics have been pushing peptide-based skincare for years, so it was only a small step into injectables for them. And, as you say, the gym performance / sports crowd. The BBC and the Guardian have covered it fairly neutrally, but the likes of the Daily Mail and gossip mags have been both more frequent and more breathless.
- ikr678 1mo agoNot just clinics, but mainstream skincare and cosmetics companies have been doing topical peptide products for the past 10 years. You can get a peptide serum from a drugstore for ~$30.
- pydry 1mo agoThe only reason I know it is because I keep seeing spam for it on reddit. Not every aspect of american culture makes it overseas and much less does now than used to 20-30 years ago. I think peptides (and medicating yourself out of a hole in general) are a pretty uniquely american thing.
- inigyou 1mo agoYou reading things on Reddit is one way that America exports culture, yes. Or on Hacker News.
- jappgar 1mo agoBut in this case it's "exported" primarily to be ridiculed. We're amused by your antics but no one wants to emulate American culture anymore.
- inigyou 1mo agoIt doesn't work that way. You're not immune to advertising.
- jappgar 1mo agoDeep
- bluefirebrand 1mo ago"you're not immune to advertising" does not imply that "any sort of advertising will work on you, guaranteed" though. :/
- RugnirViking 1mo agoI agree. it also doesn't imply a direction, same with the propaganda version. It's quite possible you overindex in the other direction! heck I know I do this with some american stuff
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- zzzeek 1mo agoEast Coast exurbs of NYC here, these things are everywhere, go to a gym the whole place is on them Maybe a US thing
- CerebralCerb 1mo agoIt's all over in Norway too. Anecdotally it is definitely more common than steroids already. I can only find statistics on the legal ones, but they show that 10% of all women in their 50's are prescribed the ones for weight reduction <https://www.fhi.no/he/fr/folkehelserapporten/samfunn/legemiddelbruk/ https://www.fhi.no/he/fr/folkehelserapporten/samfunn/legemid...> (Fig 13).
- annzabelle 1mo agoI'd make a distinction between Semaglutide/Tirzepatide and other GLP-1 agonists that are available through the regulated pharmaceutical system with strong evidence for particular uses, and ordering unregulated peptides from China based on a subreddit's recommendation. I used to be on a biohacking/nootropics discord a decade ago. People were trying to treat their depression by ordering research chemicals from Russian labs or synthesizing them themselves. Huge difference between that and going to the GP and getting a Prozac prescription, with semi-regulated supplements being in the middle. That's analogous to ordering peptides from sketchy suppliers, getting a GLP-1 prescribed by a doctor, and getting a peptide facial from a medspa. I would assume that an order of magnitude more people are getting prescription GLP-1s than are ordering other peptides from online suppliers and injecting them.
- znpy 1mo agouh, a friend of mine in barcellona is going all in on peptides as well, along with his friends. it's not a sv-only thing.
- aweb 1mo ago[dead]
- sajithdilshan 1mo agoI don’t think it’s popular in Germany as well. I know some Leo taking steroids, but seems like peptides are yet to be popular
- Arodex 1mo agohttps://www.quechoisir.org/actualite-peptides-vendus-en-ligne-une-mode-risquee-venue-des-reseaux-sociaux-n177794/ https://www.quechoisir.org/actualite-peptides-vendus-en-lign... https://pro.inserm.fr/press_synth/peptides-les-autorites-alertent-sur-les-risques-hantavirus-impact-des-vagues-de-chaleur-sur-les-naissances-prematurees-sport-et-dopage-traitement-de-larthrose https://pro.inserm.fr/press_synth/peptides-les-autorites-ale...
- UncleMeat 1mo agoI live in a college town on the east coast and it is highly advertised at all of the wellness businesses here.
- adammarples 1mo agoYou've never heard of Ozempic? It's not a silicon valley thing, it's made by Novo Nordisk, Denmark's second biggest company, and Ozempic is partly why they're so big.
- deleted 1mo ago[deleted]
- aaron695 1mo ago[dead]
- djeastm 1mo agoThey might have been too hyperbolic with the "living under a rock" comment, but at least in the US they're very much the latest health thing (among those with the money/access to get them). Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. touts them.
- conception 1mo agoSo the latest grift to separate fools from their money? Noted.
- andai 1mo agoI think it's more generational than geographic. I shall consult the zoomers.
- MrBuddyCasino 1mo agoEveryone with ADHD knows about peptides. But the normies still have no idea.
- shitcoder 1mo agoThey are pretty big in Australia, and have spread through TikTok, Snapchat and IG. I doubt there's many people here who are across all of these circles and I only found out when it was mainstream news https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-05/unregulated-peptides-uptake-eating-disorder/106932704 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-05/unregulated-peptides-...
- rconti 1mo agoI mean, I _live_ in Silicon Valley, work in tech, and I've only ever heard of them from podcasts allegedly reporting on Silicon Valley. I've never heard an actual human in person talking about them.
- SilentM68 1mo agoThis person does talk about it and actually uses them: https://shorturl.at/KdH1z https://shorturl.at/KdH1z
- phazerfamza 1mo agoI live in the Netherlands, and travel multiple times a month to france for me, and peptides is definatly popular.
- marton78 1mo agoHello from Berlin. I am aware of peptide mania, along with my health conscious / gym affine colleagues.
- xorcist 1mo agoOutside the gym bro bubble I would be surprised if people had a clue.
- KellyCriterion 1mo agodo "gym bros" have actually some type of clue?
- Glawen 1mo agoYes they are a thing in France, haven't you seen young people being obssessed with their body? It seems there are more gym that boulangerie now. They learn about it through Insta or Snapchat and take whatever is promoted by whatever big muscular guy.
- KellyCriterion 1mo ago-- more gym that boulangerie now. -- haha, good one! ++1 While I doubt, actually, just for the reason that a) a boulangerie is much cheaper to open and that there are in general b) more people who need a boulangerie more necessarily than a gym? :-))
- reverendjames 1mo agoI've been buying peptides for over 10 years and know all about them becoming popular in the news. I live in Asia. Living in Europe isn't an excuse. You're indeed under a rock. I've never been to silicon valley.