Peptide Primer: The Copper Peptide - Healing Magic

July 15, 2019

References: WikipediaJr of Atheroscl ResVet ResearchArch Fac Plast SurgJ Peri Nerve Sys., Genome Med,

If you have been to a beauty salon in the last 30 years and been asked if you "Would like the peptide skin treatment" you have been exposed to GHK-Cu already. It stands for a simple three amino acid sequence: Glycine, Histidine, Lysine. It strongly binds copper and is in you right now at about 200 ppm if you are 20, and at 80 ppm if you are 60. This is aging in a nutshell. 
How can you demonstrate it's importance? A scientist by the name of Loren Pickart in 1973 reported that liver cells from older folks (60-80) started functioning like they were from younger folks when they were exposed to their serum, eventually isolating the peptide. 
By the 1980s, GHK-Cu was being found to be involved in wound repair with upregulation of collagen synthesis and impact on the metalloproteinases that dissolve and break down tissue. By 2003, rat research with full thickness woundsshowed wounds would heal by 67% compared to 28% with GHK-Cu. A study in humans with diabetic wounds showedsimilar dramatic improvements
But let's talk about the important stuff: women's wrinkles and men's hair. One study showed that applied twice a day to faces with wrinkles, the "copper peptide" dramatically reduced wrinkles. Men's hair transplants survived and thrived better with it too. You can't find many facial treatment creams today that don't have a bit of it in it - at least if you are paying top dollar.

But cosmetics is only the tip of a very large iceberg. Turns out GHK-Cu turns on and off hundreds of genes. The implications of this might be huge. For example, radiation causes all sorts of damage to the DNA of healthy cells. GHK-Cu helps those cells recover. If you have a head and neck cancer, and are getting radiation. Make sure you are on it. How about any radiation? It helps with damaged nerves with peripheral nerve damage. In folks with severe COPD, it upregulates hundreds of good genes and downregulates hundreds of destructive ones. 
Or is it all about the copper? Copper is an incredibly important metal that is a two-edged sword. Too much of it is way toxic on the brain. Too little, and you can't repair. We have copper pipes in most of our homes and are being exposed to lots of metallic copper. Could our lower level of this important peptide by a natural response to too much copper in our environment. All conjecture. But the conversation is now starting around using this healing peptide for cancer care, for COPD, for diabetic wounds. Stay tuned. This is an interesting time.

WWW: What will work for me. I'm reading and learning about the use of peptides as fast as I can go. This is just another in the series of miracles our body pulls out and shows us. The hundreds of genes that are affected by GHK-Cu at the genomic level leads to believing that the next revolution in health will be about expertly managing your peptides, after reading your genomic signature. One step at a time. I'm working on getting the peptides under my belt.

Pop Quiz

  1. GHK-Cu binds what metal? Answer: If you don't get this one, ...
  2. Most American homes have what type of water pipes? Answer: Copper
  3. As we age, what happens to our GHK-Cu levels? Answer: Drops 60%
  4. In COPD, how many destructive genes are downregulated with GHK-Cu? Answer: Go read the link, it's over 100 so far that we know of.
  5. f you had a diabetic wound on your leg, or a diabetic nerve damage, or radiation to your face, or breast, or prostate, would you want to take some? Answer: Too early to tell, but no known toxicity to date and lots of interesting, tantalizing data.