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Evidence-rated reference Updated August 2026
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Pepteyes .com

Peptides for muscle growth, ranked by evidence

Growth hormone secretagogues dominate the conversation here, and they do raise growth hormone. Whether that produces muscle a person can use — rather than water, a higher IGF-1 reading and a worse fasting glucose — is the question the evidence mostly does not answer.

Compounds people use for this
14
Approved for any indication
2
Preliminary evidence or none
9
Best-evidenced
Somatropin (recombinant hGH)

A rank is a statement about evidence, not advice. Position here is calculated from the published evidence rating, regulatory standing and documented risks on each monograph. It says nothing about whether a compound is appropriate for you, and several of the best-evidenced entries are prescription medicines that carry serious warnings. Nothing on this page is a recommendation, and no page on this site states a dose.

Nearly everything in this table is prohibited in tested sport, including several compounds marketed as recovery aids.

Ranked by the same evidence score used across the site, restricted to the compounds people actually take for this. A compound near the bottom is not necessarily useless — it is untested, which is a different and more common situation. Every row links to a monograph that says exactly what was studied and in whom.

# Compound Status Evidenceout of 100 Riskout of 100 Gaprisk − evidence Why it sits here
1 Somatropin (recombinant hGH): 191 amino acids (from the sequence record), disulfide bridge · Growth Hormone Axis · evidence 5 of 5 Somatropin (recombinant hGH) Growth Hormone Axis · rhGH FDA Approved 93 63 -30 FDA Approved. 3 benefit claims on strong human evidence. 6 serious or common risks.
2 Tesamorelin: 44 amino acids (from the sequence record), fatty-acid chain · Growth Hormone Axis · evidence 5 of 5 Tesamorelin Growth Hormone Axis · Egrifta FDA Approved 89 42 -47 FDA Approved. 1 benefit claim on strong human evidence. 1 serious or common risk.
3 GHRP-2: 6 amino acids (from the sequence record) · Growth Hormone Axis · evidence 3 of 5 GHRP-2 Growth Hormone Axis · Pralmorelin Limited Approval 54 47 -7 Limited Approval. 1 benefit claim on strong human evidence. 2 serious or common risks.
3 Sermorelin: 29 amino acids (from the sequence record) · Growth Hormone Axis · evidence 3 of 5 Sermorelin Growth Hormone Axis · GHRH (1-29) Limited Approval 54 43 -11 Limited Approval. 1 benefit claim on strong human evidence. 1 serious or common risk.
5 MK-677 (Ibutamoren): peptidomimetic / small molecule · Growth Hormone Axis · evidence 3 of 5 MK-677 (Ibutamoren) Growth Hormone Axis · Ibutamoren Not a Peptide 49 77 +28 Not a Peptide. 2 benefit claims on strong human evidence. 4 serious or common risks.
6 CJC-1295: 30 amino acids (from the sequence record) · Growth Hormone Axis · evidence 2 of 5 CJC-1295 Growth Hormone Axis · Modified GRF (1-29) Research Use Only 30 91 +61 Research Use Only. No benefit claim on strong human evidence. 5 serious or common risks.
6 GHRP-6: 6 amino acids (from the sequence record) · Growth Hormone Axis · evidence 2 of 5 GHRP-6 Growth Hormone Axis · Growth Hormone Releasing Hexapeptide Research Use Only 30 69 +39 Research Use Only. No benefit claim on strong human evidence. 2 serious or common risks.
6 Hexarelin: 6 amino acids (from the sequence record) · Growth Hormone Axis · evidence 2 of 5 Hexarelin Growth Hormone Axis · Examorelin Research Use Only 30 76 +46 Research Use Only. No benefit claim on strong human evidence. 3 serious or common risks.
6 Ipamorelin: 5 amino acids (from the sequence record) · Growth Hormone Axis · evidence 2 of 5 Ipamorelin Growth Hormone Axis · NNC 26-0161 Research Use Only 30 91 +61 Research Use Only. No benefit claim on strong human evidence. 3 serious or common risks.
10 5-Amino-1MQ: structure not stated · Metabolic & Weight · evidence 1 of 5 5-Amino-1MQ Metabolic & Weight · 5-amino-1-methylquinolinium Not a Peptide 15 89 +74 Not a Peptide. No benefit claim on strong human evidence. 4 serious or common risks.
10 BPC-157: 15 amino acids (from the sequence record) · Healing & Tissue Repair · evidence 1 of 5 BPC-157 Healing & Tissue Repair · Body Protection Compound 157 Research Use Only 15 97 +82 Research Use Only. No benefit claim on strong human evidence. 7 serious or common risks.
10 Follistatin-344: 315 amino acids (from the sequence record), disulfide bridge · Bone, Muscle & Other · evidence 1 of 5 Follistatin-344 Bone, Muscle & Other · FST-344 Research Use Only 15 89 +74 Research Use Only. No benefit claim on strong human evidence. 4 serious or common risks.
10 GDF-11: 218 amino acids (from the sequence record), disulfide bridge · Longevity & Mitochondrial · evidence 1 of 5 GDF-11 Longevity & Mitochondrial · Growth Differentiation Factor 11 Research Use Only 15 89 +74 Research Use Only. No benefit claim on strong human evidence. 6 serious or common risks.
10 IGF-1 LR3: 83 amino acids (from the sequence record), disulfide bridge · Growth Hormone Axis · evidence 1 of 5 IGF-1 LR3 Growth Hormone Axis · Long R3 IGF-1 Research Use Only 15 95 +80 Research Use Only. No benefit claim on strong human evidence. 4 serious or common risks.
How this ranking is built
Evidence rating15 points each, up to 75 The published 1-5 rating, multiplied by fifteen. This is most of the score, because it is the thing the whole site is built to assess.
Regulatory standingFDA Approved 12 · Limited Approval 7 · In Clinical Trials 4 · Cosmetic Ingredient 2 Approval by a major regulator means an agency has reviewed the trial data and agreed. Approval elsewhere, or an active registered trial, counts for less. A research-use-only label counts for nothing.
Well-supported benefit claims2 points each, up to 10 Two points for each benefit on the monograph carried by strong human evidence, up to five of them. A long list of weakly-supported claims adds nothing here.
Hard clinical endpointsup to 3 Three points where a well-supported claim rests on something that happened to a patient — a death, a fracture, a heart attack, a transplant, a remission — rather than on a number that moved in a blood test. This is the site's published tie-breaker between two drugs that both have strong trials.

Membership is computed from each monograph's category, tags and benefit claims rather than chosen by hand, so a compound added to the library appears here on its own. The score is the site-wide evidence score, not a score for this goal specifically — a compound approved for something else does not get credit here for that approval beyond its regulatory standing. Read the evidence scale for what the tiers mean.

The other things people ask about

Fat lossWhich peptides actually have human evidence for weight loss? 19 compounds ranked Injury and healingWhich peptides have human evidence for healing tendons, gut or wounds? 14 compounds ranked Skin and hairWhich peptides have human evidence for skin ageing or hair loss? 11 compounds ranked Focus and moodWhich nootropic peptides have human evidence behind them? 9 compounds ranked Motivation and driveWhich peptides have human evidence for motivation, drive or anhedonia? 5 compounds ranked LongevityWhich longevity peptides have human evidence, and what did it measure? 11 compounds ranked SleepWhich peptides have human evidence for improving sleep? 5 compounds ranked Immune and inflammationWhich immune peptides have human evidence behind them? 5 compounds ranked

See also the whole library ranked by evidence and by documented risk.