In this episode of Well Well Well we’re talking about peptides. If you’ve heard the word whispered around the gym, the group chat, or your “For You” page lately, you’re not alone.
We’re joined by Renae Fomiatti and Gemma Nourse from the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University. To be clear, they are sociologists, not medical doctors.
So this conversation should not be taken as medical advice, and we’re not here to sell you on them or scare you off them. This is a conversation about what peptides are, and why everyone’s suddenly talking about them.
We get into:
- what a peptide actually is,
- the gap between what’s prescription and what’s not,
- who’s using them and how they’re getting them,
- and what the risks are when products come with no quality control.
We’ll also dig into something bigger: why appearance has quietly folded into “health optimisation,” and what that means for our communities’ relationship with our bodies.
And to be upfront, we’re not talking about the exact legal status of possession, anything on dosing, and clinical specifics, since we simply don’t have a medical expert in the room for that.
If today’s conversation raises questions for you, raise them with your GP. That’s exactly what they’re for.
For more on Performance and Image Enhancing Drugs (PIEDs), head to thejuice.org.au.
Chapters
00:00 – Welcome and introducing our guests
04:00 – What actually is a peptide
06:30 – Prescription versus illicit access and retatrutide
10:30 – Body image and desirability in queer communities
14:30 – When appearance becomes health optimisation
18:00 – Wellness influencers and pop psychology crossover
22:30 – New digital health infrastructures beyond doctors
26:00 – Cheating accusations and shame around weight loss
30:00 – Unregulated products and online purchasing risks
34:00 – Harm reduction, GPs and trusted resources
All chapter timecodes are approximate.
Want more Well Well Well?
Check out our other JOY Podcasts for more on LGBTIQ+ health and wellbeing at joy.org.au/wellwellwell.
If there’s something you’d like us to explore on the show, send through ideas or questions at wellwellwell@joy.org.au
Find out more about LGBTIQ+ services and events in Victoria and South Australia at thorneharbour.org.
Produced by: Joel Parker, Jake Neville, Jack Crnjanin, Trinity Trinh