The Limitless Research Library

Plain-language summaries of the literature behind every protocol.

Each piece is written by a physician, anchored to primary sources, and updated when the evidence changes. No marketing — just what the data says, why it matters, and how we use it in clinic.
Authored by Joshua Hare, DO and the Limitless clinical team
All
Peptides
Hormones
Longevity
Metabolic
Cognitive
Regulatory
Metabolic · Body Composition · Weight Loss

The muscle you keep — why GLP-1 weight loss has to be body-composition weight loss.

A GLP-1 drug moves the scale — but a quarter to a third of that weight can be lean muscle, not fat. The 2026 body-composition data (and why tirzepatide loses more muscle than semaglutide), why losing muscle while losing weight is a bad trade, and the protein + resistance + GH-axis protocol Limitless builds around every GLP-1 prescription. The honest version the weight-loss mills skip.
2026 · 8 min readRead →
Peptides · Regulatory · Day-Two Docket

DSIP, Semax & Epitalon — the day-two PCAC peptides, read by a physician.

The July review runs two days; day two — sleep (DSIP), cognition (Semax), longevity (Epitalon) — is where the marketing most outruns the human data. An honest, evidence-tiered read on each: what the literature actually shows, why none is a default Limitless protocol, and why a favorable July 24 vote would make a peptide legally compoundable, not clinically warranted. The page for the patient searching “is Semax legit?” and finding only vendor blogs.
2026 · 7 min readRead →
Peptides · Regulatory · Live Tracker

PCAC Watch 2026 — the peptide reclassification, tracked in one place.

A physician-maintained tracker of the July 23–24 FDA compounding review that decides the durable legal status of several peptides we prescribe. Key dates (comment window closes July 22, comments by July 9 reach the committee in advance, meeting July 23–24, second meeting early 2027), the full docket with salt-form nuance, the comment we filed, sourcing and safety, the evidence on each peptide, and a dated update log. One page, updated when the facts change.
Updated 2026-05-31Open the tracker →
Peptides · Regulatory · June 2026 Status

Peptide reclassification, plainly — a June 2026 status read.

A dated, plain-language snapshot of where compounded peptides actually stand in June 2026. The one distinction the headlines keep blurring (a meeting vs. a recommendation vs. a rule), the seven peptides on the July docket (FDA-2025-N-6895) by category, what is not on the docket and why that matters, the second review already signaled for early 2027, and four things a patient should actually do with the news.
2026 · 6 min readRead →
Peptides · Regulatory · Patient FAQ

The July FDA peptide vote — what it does and doesn't change for you.

The patient version, in four minutes. Does the July meeting change your protocol? (No.) Is your GH-axis therapy affected? (No.) What happens after the vote, what Limitless does, and why a recommendation is not a rule. Calm, accurate answers for current and prospective patients hearing the noise.
2026 · 4 min readRead →
Peptides · Peer-Reviewed Primer

What the 2026 AJSM peptide primer says — a physician's read.

A peer-reviewed primer in the American Journal of Sports Medicine covers BPC-157, TB-500, CJC-1295 + ipamorelin, tesamorelin, and GHK-Cu. Here is the honest read — and exactly where the peer-reviewed journal article and the standing Limitless posture line up, and where (CJC-1295) they don't. A peer-reviewed primer strengthens the conversation, not the prescription.
2026 · 9 min readRead →
Longevity · NAD+ · Route Comparison

IV NAD+ vs oral NR — what the 2026 tolerability data shows.

The Frontiers 2026 retrospective IV-NAD+-vs-NR tolerability pilot, the npj Aging crossover RCT on a systems NAD+ supplement, and the May 11 NPR skepticism story — read together, by a physician who prescribes both routes. Mechanism settled, precursor RCT data moderate and growing, IV pharmacokinetics real and under-trialed, longevity endpoint trials still missing. Why Limitless leads with the IV load, and what would change that.
2026 · 8 min readRead →
Peptides · Metabolic · Cognitive

Tesamorelin beyond visceral fat — the cognitive and metabolic evidence.

Tesamorelin is named in the literature for more than belly fat. The hepatic-fat data is a randomized signal on a hard endpoint — roughly a one-third relative reduction in liver fat. The cognitive data is one real GHRH trial in mild cognitive impairment, not a settled case. And a third "signal" — a 49% jump in patient search demand — is a market fact, not a medical one. What the 2026 evidence supports past the on-label indication, and what it does not change about how we prescribe.
2026 · 8 min readRead →
Peptides · Metabolic · Stack Rationale

Tesamorelin + MOTS-c — why we pair them, not pick one.

The internet frames them as rivals — "tesamorelin vs MOTS-c, which wins?" In the clinic that is a category error. Tesamorelin works the GH/IGF-1 axis with FDA approval and randomized, CT-measured visceral-fat data; MOTS-c works AMPK and mitochondrial efficiency with a clean mechanism but zero completed human RCTs. Different levers, opposite ends of the evidence spectrum. The honest reason to use both — and how we match the strength of the recommendation to the strength of the data.
2026 · 7 min readRead →
Peptides · Regulatory · Menu Roadmap

The PCAC roadmap — which docketed peptides could join the menu?

Twelve peptides across two PCAC meetings — seven in July 2026, five more in early 2027 — and eight of them are not on the Limitless menu. KPV, Semax, Epitalon; then GHK-Cu, Melanotan II, LL-37, Dihexa, PEG-MGF. A favorable vote makes a peptide legally compoundable, not clinically warranted. The honest roadmap for each, wave by wave: evidence tier, the menu-addition gate, and whether Limitless would add it.
2026 · 9 min readRead →
Peptides · GH-Axis · Alternative

Sermorelin — the alternative GHRH analog in the 2026 Limitless menu.

Companion piece to the tesamorelin brief. Walker 2006 long-term safety, Khorram 1997 and Vittone 1997 efficacy signals, and the specific situations where sermorelin substitutes for tesamorelin in the standing protocol — contraindication, supply gap, cost-sensitivity, lower-magnitude target, cycle transition. Where ipamorelin stacks on top, and what the July 23 PCAC outcomes would change.
2026 · 7 min readRead →
Longevity · Cardiometabolic · Five Systems

Daily tadalafil — five systems, one molecule.

A primary-source brief on the five organ systems where low-dose daily 5 mg tadalafil has durable evidence — BPH/LUTS (FDA-approved), endothelial function, exercise capacity in HFpEF and PAH, prostate perfusion, and cognitive perfusion. The mechanism is unified through cGMP. The case for a standing preventative protocol in adult men over 40 is unusually clean — and this is the evidence anchor for it.
2026 · 8 min readRead →
Peptides · Regulatory · Patient Safety

503A vs 503B vs "research use only" — where your peptides come from.

The molecule is only half the question; the source is the other half. The three sourcing lanes explained plainly — 503A patient-specific compounding, 503B outsourcing facilities, and the unregulated "research use only" grey market — why Limitless uses only licensed 503A pharmacies, what a per-lot certificate of analysis is, and the single question that separates safe peptide care from a gamble.
2026 · 6 min readRead →
Peptides · Regulatory · Public Filing

Our PCAC public comment.

The formal comment Limitless filed with the FDA on 2026-05-15, ahead of the July 23–24 Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee vote. A physician's case to include BPC-157, TB-500, and MOTS-c on the 503A bulks list — with per-lot CoA, stability data, and written informed-consent conditions attached. Full filed text on the page, signed Joshua Hare, DO. Patient-facing landing →
2026 · 9 min readRead →
Peptides · GH-Axis · Body Composition

Why tesamorelin is the GH-axis lead at Limitless in 2026.

An FDA-approved GHRH analog with a robust visceral-fat signal, an increasingly clean muscle-area / muscle-density signal, and an emerging cognitive endpoint. Sermorelin sits as alternative. Ipamorelin is conditional on the partner-pharmacy formulary. CJC-1295 is not on the menu — and here is exactly why. The evidence anchor for our May 2026 GH-axis substitution.
2026 · 7 min readRead →
Peptides · Metabolic · Longevity

MOTS-c — the mitochondrial peptide, and what its evidence supports.

A 16-amino-acid peptide encoded inside mitochondrial DNA. The mechanism is biochemically settled — AICAR accumulation, AMPK activation, PGC-1α–driven mitochondrial biogenesis. The March 2026 muscle paper confirms the chain is load-bearing in vivo. The human efficacy trials still do not exist. Why MOTS-c sits in the Limitless standing stack inside that uncertainty, what we tell every patient, and how the July 23 PCAC vote could shift it.
2026 · 6 min readRead →
Peptides · Regulatory

The July 23–24 PCAC meeting — what is actually on the table.

Seven peptides on the agenda — four on day one (BPC-157, KPV, TB-500, MOTS-c), three on day two (DSIP, Epitalon, Semax) — plus a second PCAC meeting already scheduled for early 2027. A public comment window that closes July 22, 2026 (comments by July 9 reach the committee before the vote). What each possible vote — include, exclude, or table — would mean for a Limitless patient, why CJC-1295 is not on this docket, and how to weigh in before the vote, not after.
2026 · 7 min readRead →
Peptides · GI Inflammation

KPV — strong preclinical signal, missing human trials.

A three-amino-acid α-MSH fragment with a clean PepT1-mediated mechanism, two decades of consistent murine colitis data, and not a single completed human RCT. Why Limitless is watching but not prescribing — and exactly which conditions would have to be met after the July 23 PCAC vote for that posture to change.
2026 · 5 min readRead →
Metabolic · Regulatory

GLP-1 compounding status — 503A vs. 503B in 2026.

The FDA's April 30, 2026 proposal to exclude semaglutide, tirzepatide, and liraglutide from the 503B bulks list. What it changes for 503B outsourcing facilities, what it does not change for 503A patient-specific compounding, and the three lanes a Limitless patient sees today — including why retatrutide is not one of them.
2026 · 6 min readRead →
Peptides · Evidence

Peptides — what's real, what's risky, what we prescribe.

A physician's response to the 2026 "peptide craze" skepticism — CNN, Eric Topol's Substack, the STAT and The Conversation pieces, the Frontiers in Aging January review. The skeptics are right that marketing has outrun the trials. They are not right that the molecules don't work. Both can be true at once — and the physician's job is to live in that gap honestly. Three evidence tiers, six prescribing rules, and what we deliberately do not prescribe.
2026 · 7 min readRead →
Hormones · Longevity

The TRAVERSE trial — why we are comfortable optimizing testosterone.

5,246 hypogonadal men, mean 33 months on therapy, no signal of MACE, no excess prostate cancer, a small atrial-fibrillation signal worth screening for. The randomized trial that finally settles the cardiovascular safety question — and how it shapes the Limitless approach to hormone optimization.
2026 · 6 min readRead →
Peptides · Metabolic

Tesamorelin — what the 2026 meta-analysis actually shows.

A pooled five-trial meta-analysis published in 2026 reports a mean −27.7 cm² reduction in visceral adipose tissue and a +1.42 kg increase in lean body mass on standard 2 mg dosing. The signal is consistent across HIV and non-HIV populations, holds up on modern INSTI regimens, and is now coupled to an emerging cognitive endpoint. Here is what the data supports — and what it does not.
2026 · 4 min readRead →
Peptides · Regulatory

BPC-157 at the FDA — the case the agency is actually evaluating.

BPC-157 returns to the PCAC on July 23, 2026, this time formally evaluated for inclusion on the 503A bulks list. The animal data is voluminous and consistent. The human data is thin but improving. Here is what the dossier in front of the committee actually contains, what the credible mechanisms are, and how Limitless prescribes BPC-157 inside that uncertainty.
2026 · 5 min readRead →
Longevity · Metabolic

NAD+ — what the clinical evidence actually supports.

The mitochondrial biology is solid. The precursor RCTs (NR, NMN) raise NAD+ and move metabolic markers in expected directions. The IV pharmacokinetic data is unambiguous. The longevity-endpoint trials in humans do not exist. Here is the honest map of what NAD+ does and does not do — and how the Limitless 5×750 mg IV load plus SubQ maintenance protocol is structured around what the data actually supports.
2026 · 6 min readRead →
Longevity · Cognitive · Endothelial

Daily tadalafil — the endothelial mechanism.

The mechanistic deep-dive companion to the five-systems brief — how PDE5 inhibition with a 17.5-hour half-life molecule sustains cGMP tone downstream of endothelial nitric oxide, what flow-mediated dilation actually measures, and why the surrogate-to-outcome translation matters. Read the five-systems overview first if you haven't.
2026 · 5 min readRead →
How we read the literature

Evidence over enthusiasm.

Every Limitless protocol has a paper trail. We do not prescribe based on podcasts, influencer claims, or animal data alone. We read the primary literature, weigh effect sizes against meaningful clinical endpoints, and disclose uncertainty honestly to patients. This library is a public version of that process — not because every patient will read it, but because the practice of writing it makes our protocols better.

If you find a study we should be reading, send it. We update.