Walk into any bar, gym, or coffee shop in New York City right now and you are likely to encounter a very specific type of introduction. According to content creator Threadguy, it goes something like this: someone extends a hand, makes eye contact, and before exchanging pleasantries, announces which peptides they are currently cycling.
“Every person you meet in New York City introduces themselves with what peptides they’re taking. It is unreal,” he said in a recent video. “This didn’t happen in LA. This didn’t happen in Virginia. This did not happen anywhere else that I live. You meet somebody and they introduce themselves with their stack.”
He did not mince words about how he views the trend: “It is genuinely societal psychosis that has happened amongst like 25-year-old males that don’t want to talk about anything else.”
The comparison he reached for was pointed. “It’s the new pronouns. It’s the new vegan. You meet somebody and they’re like, hey, nice to meet you. I’m on RETA and BCP.”
He described knowing exactly how to break the ice with a certain type of young man in any New York City bar: just ask if he is taking peptides. He also noted that Equinox, the upscale gym chain, reportedly posted a sign in the men’s locker room reading, “This isn’t a pharmacy. Please don’t sell peptides in here.”
For Threadguy personally, his own regimen stays minimal. “I just go raw. I live my life raw. I don’t take any peptides. I drink a matcha with a little almond milk. And I take Advil when I have a headache. And that’s it.”
The peptide conversation has migrated well beyond gym culture and into celebrity circles. Rapper Iggy Azalea has openly discussed her use of peptides and other ster**ds,.
During a broadcast with content creator N3on, Azalea confirmed she takes both creatine and peptides, but was quick to clarify that she does not approach it casually.
“I take creatine and I take peptides. But I don’t just randomly take peptides,” she said. “I have a place that I go to that takes my blood work every three months and then says anything you’re deficient in and then decides what things I will take and then I take them.”
N3on summarized the approach plainly: “Rich people stuff.” Azalea agreed without hesitation.
Azalea has also been candid about using human growth hormone, framing her use in terms of replacement rather than enhancement.
She said, “I take it every day, but it’s in a really low dose and my doctor prescribed it for me. Your body produces less of it as you get older, and so the amount that I take, it’s not like adding extra. It’s just like making up for what my body wouldn’t make anymore.”
