Best Peptides for Energy in 2026
For each peptide marketed for energy, this page reports the human studies behind it: who was enrolled, what was measured, what the paper found. Every citation was retrieved through NCBI E-utilities on 9 August 2026. Some rows come from people with a diagnosed hormone deficiency, some from healthy adults, and the MOTS-c study measured a peptide in the blood rather than giving it to anyone. The population column is where that shows.
1,961
Adults randomised in the STEP 1 semaglutide trial (PMID 33567185)
165
Adults in the growth hormone replacement trial (PMID 12570912)
22
Adults in the tesamorelin pilot trial (PMID 42382101)
The Studies
One row per study, not one per compound. Growth hormone is studied more than once here, so it takes several rows, because those papers asked different questions in different people. The endpoints differ too, from a questionnaire to an anaerobic-power test to a blood level, and each result belongs to its own instrument.
| Compound | Population (n) | What was measured | Result | Design | PMID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Growth hormone, somatropin | 165 adults with hypopituitarism and growth hormone deficiency | Health-related quality of life on the Nottingham Health Profile and the QoL-AGHDA questionnaire, plus body composition | The energy and emotional-reaction areas of the Nottingham Health Profile changed at 6 months; QoL-AGHDA improved in the treated group and not the placebo group; fat-free mass rose and fat mass fell | Double-blind randomised placebo-controlled, 6 months, then 6 open-label months | 12570912 |
| Growth hormone, low against standard dose | 18 hypopituitary adults with adult-onset growth hormone deficiency and a body mass index of 27 or above | QoL-AGHDA quality of life, lean body mass, bone density, muscle strength and lipids over 18 months | QoL-AGHDA improved on the fixed 0.1 mg per day arm; lean body mass and body water rose only on the standard titrated dose; bone density, lipids and muscle strength did not differ between arms | Open-label randomised, single centre, 18 months | 36240610 |
| Growth hormone status, measured not given | 13 adults with growth hormone deficiency against 13 age, sex and body-mass-index matched controls | Anaerobic power on the 30-second Wingate test, VO2max, stair-climb and chair-stand tests, QoL-AGHDA | Anaerobic power 5.8 against 7.1 watts per kg of lean mass (P below .05); stair-climb slower at 19.4 against 16.5 seconds (P below .01); QoL-AGHDA score higher, meaning worse, in the deficient group | Cross-sectional case-control study | 25695894 |
| Growth hormone status after brain injury | 44 adults 6 to 9 months after complicated mild, moderate or severe traumatic brain injury, of whom 8 were deficient or insufficient | Quality of life on the SF-36 Health Survey by growth hormone status | The deficient or insufficient group scored worse on the SF-36 energy and fatigue domain (P = .05) and on physical-health limitations (P = .02), with higher rates of a depression marker (P below .01) | Prospective observational cohort with growth hormone stimulation testing | 16774477 |
| Growth hormone status after bone marrow transplant | 18 adults with unexplained chronic fatigue after bone marrow transplantation in adulthood | Prevalence of severe growth hormone deficiency on the insulin hypoglycaemia test, against Fatigue Severity Scale and QoL-AGHDA scores | Severe growth hormone deficiency in 50 percent of the sample; a trend toward lower peak growth hormone alongside higher fatigue and QoL-AGHDA scores | Observational study, insulin hypoglycaemia test | 34003462 |
| Tesamorelin, a GHRH analogue | 22 adults whose baseline cognition ranged from normal to mild cognitive impairment | Body composition, fatigue, sleep, physical performance, glucose tolerance, cognition and brain imaging | Low-dose GHRH treatment was not linked with a significant change in the study measures; a machine-learning analysis flagged possible imaging differences the authors call exploratory | Double-blind placebo-controlled pilot trial, 10 weeks | 42382101 |
| MOTS-c, a mitochondrial-derived peptide, measured not given | 19 physically active men, 9 assigned to heat and 10 to a sham treatment during 2 weeks of calf immobilisation | Circulating and skeletal-muscle mitokine levels, muscle thickness and cross-sectional area | Repeated heat exposure raised circulating MOTS-c (P = .033) and lowered muscle FGF21 (P = .027); immobilisation reduced gastrocnemius thickness (P = .012) and cross-sectional area (P below .01) | Randomised controlled trial, heat against sham | 40674654 |
| Selank, added to an anxiolytic | 40 patients on selank plus phenazepam against 30 on phenazepam alone, with anxiety, hypochondriac and somatoform disorders | Anxiety on the Hamilton scale, side effects on the UKU scale including asthenia and sedation, quality of life on the SF-36 | The combined arm lowered phenazepam-related asthenia, sedation and attention effects and improved SF-36 quality of life against phenazepam alone | Comparative clinical study, add-on against monotherapy | 26356395 |
| Semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist | 1,961 adults with a body mass index of 30 or above, or 27 with a weight-related condition, without diabetes | Body weight and participant-reported physical functioning over 68 weeks | Weight fell 14.9 percent against 2.4 percent on placebo, an estimated difference of 12.4 points (95 percent CI 13.4 to 11.5, P below .001); self-reported physical functioning rose more than on placebo | Double-blind randomised placebo-controlled trial, 68 weeks | 33567185 |
Growth Hormone And GHRH
Several rows describe growth hormone, the peptide hormone itself, and tesamorelin, a synthetic version of the growth-hormone-releasing hormone that tells the pituitary to make it. Most of those rows enrolled people with a measured deficiency. The randomised replacement trial in 165 hypopituitary adults saw the energy area of the Nottingham Health Profile change and the QoL-AGHDA score improve in the treated group; the cross-sectional study found adults with growth hormone deficiency generated less anaerobic power on a Wingate test and rated their quality of life worse. The brain-injury and bone-marrow-transplant cohorts describe the same association from the fatigue side, in people who did not set out to test a drug. Read as a set, these are results about growth hormone deficiency as a diagnosis, which is a different thing from taking growth hormone while healthy. Background on these molecules sits on the HGH peptides guide, the comparison on the HGH versus peptides guide, and the wider hormone picture on the hormones guide.
The tesamorelin row is worth reading on its own terms. Its 22 participants were not selected for deficiency, their cognition ran from normal to mild impairment, and across body composition, fatigue, sleep and physical performance the pilot reported no significant change over 10 weeks. The authors describe the imaging signal their machine-learning model flagged as exploratory, which is their word for a lead that needs a larger trial before it means anything.
A Mitochondrial Peptide
MOTS-c is a short peptide encoded inside mitochondrial DNA, part of a group cells release under mitochondrial stress, which is why it reaches the energy conversation at all. The row here did not give it to anyone. In 19 physically active men undergoing two weeks of calf immobilisation, repeated heat exposure raised the level of MOTS-c circulating in the blood and lowered muscle FGF21, a pattern the authors compare to exercise. That is a measurement of the body making more of the peptide under a stressor, not a test of swallowing or injecting it, and the distinction is the whole point of reading the design column.
Weight Loss And Physical Functioning
Semaglutide is a GLP-1 receptor agonist, a peptide drug for weight and blood-sugar outcomes rather than an energy product, and STEP 1 is included because its 1,961 participants reported physical functioning as a secondary outcome. That score rose more on semaglutide than on placebo, alongside a 14.9 percent fall in body weight. The honest reading pairs the two: this is physical functioning in adults with obesity, moving with a large weight change, measured inside a supervised trial rather than a claim that a peptide adds energy on its own. What the drugs feel like day to day sits on the GLP-1 side effects guide, the molecule comparison on the tirzepatide versus semaglutide page, and body-composition peptides on the muscle growth and fat loss guide.
A Peptide Studied Against Asthenia
Selank is a synthetic peptide studied mainly in anxiety, where asthenia, a clinical word for weakness and low energy, shows up as a side effect of the sedative it was added to. In the comparative study here, adding selank to phenazepam lowered that phenazepam-related asthenia and sedation and improved SF-36 quality of life against phenazepam alone. So the energy signal is indirect: the peptide reduced a drug-induced drop in energy rather than lifting energy in a healthy person. Selank and its relatives are usually discussed as nootropics, and how this class sits against the wider category is covered on the SARMs versus peptides guide.
Doses As The Trials Used Them
The regimens the trials above used, each named with its paper:
Recombinant growth hormone at 0.125 rising to 0.250 IU per kg per week over six months (PMID 12570912). A fixed 0.1 mg per day of growth hormone against a standard titrated dose over eighteen months (PMID 36240610). Tesamorelin 1 mg daily by subcutaneous injection for ten weeks (PMID 42382101). Once-weekly subcutaneous semaglutide 2.4 mg for sixty-eight weeks (PMID 33567185).
Disclaimer: these are trial arms reported for comparison, not recommendations and not a titration schedule. Each was administered under medical supervision inside its trial, and each is a prescription decision made with a doctor.
How These Records Were Found
Each line states a query, an index and a date. A search result describes what a string matched in one database on one day, and nothing beyond that.
- growth hormone deficiency AND quality of life AND randomized controlled trial[pt] in PubMed on 9 August 2026 returned 52 records.
- tesamorelin AND fatigue in PubMed on 9 August 2026 returned 1 record, PMID 42382101.
- MOTS-c AND exercise AND (trial OR randomized) in PubMed on 9 August 2026 returned 5 records; PMID 40674654 measures circulating MOTS-c rather than administering it, so it describes the peptide as a marker, not a treatment.
- (NMN OR nicotinamide mononucleotide) AND (fatigue OR physical performance) AND randomized controlled trial[pt] in PubMed on 9 August 2026 returned 5 records. Nicotinamide mononucleotide is a nucleotide precursor rather than a peptide, so it sits outside the table above.
- (oral glutathione OR liposomal glutathione) AND randomized in PubMed on 9 August 2026 returned 751 records; the ones retrieved that day tracked glutathione as an antioxidant marker rather than testing it against an energy endpoint.
- carnitine AND fatigue AND cancer AND randomized controlled trial[pt] in PubMed on 9 August 2026 returned 12 records; the cachexia trial PMID 22198049 combined L-carnitine with three other agents, so a carnitine-specific effect cannot be read out of it, and carnitine is not a peptide.
- (selank OR semax) AND (asthenia OR fatigue) in PubMed on 9 August 2026 returned 3 records; the semax records retrieved that day, PMID 41479572 and PMID 40692165, were animal models.
- thymosin alpha 1 AND fatigue in PubMed on 9 August 2026 returned 3 records. A compound name bounds a search, so names, synonyms and MeSH entry terms were tried where known.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a single peptide this page names for energy?+
No, it does not rank them. It reports what each cited study enrolled, what it measured and what it found, so a quality-of-life change in 165 people with growth hormone deficiency and a blood-level reading in 19 active men can be told apart. Reading the population column first shows which numbers were measured in people with a diagnosis and which were measured in someone healthy.
Do these energy findings apply to a healthy person with normal hormones?+
Read the population column before assuming so. Most of the growth hormone and GHRH results above come from people with diagnosed growth hormone deficiency, hypopituitarism or a brain injury, and a result measured in a deficient patient is a result in that patient. A row here enrolled adults ranging from normal cognition to mild impairment rather than a deficiency, the tesamorelin pilot in 22 people (PMID 42382101), and it reported no significant change across its measures.
Where does NAD or NMN fit, since it is sold for energy?+
Nicotinamide mononucleotide is a nucleotide precursor, not a peptide, which is why it is not in the table. In a 28-day randomised trial of 30 overweight or older adults (PMID 36740954), MIB-626 raised blood NAD and lowered body weight, blood pressure and cholesterol, while muscle fatigability, aerobic capacity and stair-climbing power did not differ from placebo. The background sits on the how to increase NAD naturally and NAD benefits guides.
Can a GLP-1 drug such as semaglutide change how much energy someone reports?+
In STEP 1 (PMID 33567185), 1,961 adults with obesity on once-weekly semaglutide reported a larger rise in physical functioning than those on placebo, alongside a 14.9 percent fall in weight. That is patient-reported physical functioning in people with obesity, moving with the weight change, inside a supervised trial. Tolerability sits on the GLP-1 side effects guide and the molecule question on the tirzepatide versus semaglutide page.
What is a mitokine, and does the MOTS-c row mean taking it raises energy?+
MOTS-c is a peptide encoded inside mitochondrial DNA, one of a group called mitokines that cells release under mitochondrial stress. The immobilisation study (PMID 40674654) measured the level of MOTS-c in the blood rising after repeated heat exposure, similar to but not identical to exercise. It measured the peptide, it did not administer it, so it reports nothing about swallowing or injecting MOTS-c.
Why does growth hormone appear in several different rows?+
Because a row is a study, not a compound. Growth hormone appears as a randomised replacement trial in hypopituitarism, a cross-sectional anaerobic-power test, and cohorts after brain injury and bone marrow transplant. Each asked a different question in a different population with a different design, and collapsing them into one verdict would lose the population and the endpoint that made each number mean something.
Do these trials test energy directly?+
They test named instruments, not a single energy score. The rows above use the SF-36 energy and fatigue domain, the Nottingham Health Profile energy area, the QoL-AGHDA questionnaire, the 30-second Wingate anaerobic-power test and self-reported physical functioning. Each measures a specific thing, and the result belongs to that instrument in that population.
What should someone take to a doctor after reading this?+
The population and the endpoint, not the compound name. Growth hormone deficiency, hypopituitarism and obesity are diagnoses a clinician makes, and growth hormone and GLP-1 medicines are prescription decisions. Approved peptide medicines available locally sit on the therapeutic peptides guide, and what to check before buying anything sits on the COA verification guide.
Research And Sources
Every figure above comes from the record its PMID links to, retrieved through NCBI E-utilities on 9 August 2026. The NMN trial cited in the FAQ is PMID 36740954. Where a number was not in the abstract, the endpoint is reported qualitatively rather than reconstructed, and the population and design columns carry the caveats each result needs.
Related Reading
For education only, not medical advice. Every dose figure here is a trial figure reported for comparison, not a recommendation, and every regimen above was administered under medical supervision inside its trial. Growth hormone deficiency, hypopituitarism and obesity are diagnoses made by a clinician. Talk to a doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing anything.