Peptides have become increasingly popular in the Sarasota area for more than just weight loss and anti-aging. The process uses short chains of amino acids to restore and speed up certain biological processes, such as tissue repair and collagen production. Many clinicians and doctors warn against using unregulated substances bought on the market, but a wide variety of locations in the Sarasota area offer peptide treatments in a safe and approved manner.
One such place is Wellness Realm, a functional medicine clinic specializing in peptide therapy. The clinic’s trained nurses all came from traditional medicine backgrounds, but now focus on finding the root cause of illness. That search led them to peptide therapy. “What fascinated us about them is their ability to shapeshift and act as signaling molecules in the body to help support healing, recovery, metabolism, immune function and overall resilience,” Meka Schurr, Wellness Realm’s wellness specialist, explains. “We really saw it as another tool that we could use to help bridge that gap between feeling unwell and truly thriving.”
Schurr highlights that peptide therapy is incredibly effective for improving sleep, inflammation, and nervous system regulation. “Many peptides work to encourage the body's own natural process rather than forcing a specific outcome,” she says. “I have seen people's inflammatory markers come down tremendously—when you reduce inflammation, neurotransmitters can make connections faster and hormones can respond properly.” However, rather than prescribing the same treatment to every patient, Wellness Realm clinicians are careful to find the peptides that their clients really need. They start with a comprehensive intake process, with questionnaires, consultations and sometimes testing. Then, they find the best treatment to reach the patient’s goals.
“There’s no one-size-fits-all,” Schurr emphasizes. “We really look at every person as an individual.” She says that most clients come in for weight loss, motivated by trends they have seen on social media, but Schurr also works with patients focused on muscle restoration, injury recovery and anti-aging.
However, she stresses that patients have to watch their nutrition, sleep and most importantly, their chronic stress, along with their peptide treatment plan. “Peptides are not a quick fix,” Schurr says. “It's a powerful tool, but they work best when they're paired with a larger health strategy.” She explains that many people spend their lives operating in an environment of constant pressure, creating harmful stress responses in the body. Peptides can be incredibly effective at regulating these responses, but “it is just an added helper,” Schurr explains.
At Reveal Vitality, Drs. Victoria Andarcia and Angela Jordan both use peptides in their treatment plans. “I had my own telehealth business and what I found interesting was the healing potential,” Andarcia explains. “Peptides enhance processes that our bodies are already doing.” Andarcia specializes in women’s hormone health—an area where peptides can be used to increase hormone production and rebalance hormones. “Kisspeptin helps with hormone production, so that is a good peptide for both men and women,” Andarcia says. She also highlights how peptides like GHK-Cu can help improve hair and skin.
Dr. Angela Jordan emphasizes that peptides can be used for much more, though. “I have a Lyme disease and cancer population,” she explains. “I use BPC-157 and NAD mostly to help with cognition and mitochondrial fatigue.” Both Jordan and Andarcia stress that deciding on a treatment plan is a meticulous process. “I introduce peptides after I already have all their testing back,” Jordan says. “I identify which symptoms stand out and then pick the peptides from there.” Andarcia has a similar process. “Sometimes, a woman will come to me and say, ‘My hair is falling out, my skin does not look the way I want it to look and I'm really tired,’ so I'll order testing to see why,” she explains.
Andarcia highlights that testing is important when selecting peptides because of certain contraindications or family histories. “There are some peptides that you can not use if you have a family history of certain cancers,” she says. Jordan and Andarcia agree that those interested in peptides should be careful where they get them from. “There are a lot of online places that are selling peptides that you may have to mix yourself or give yourself the proper dose,” Andarcia explains. “That can be pretty dangerous if you are not administering it correctly.”
Katherine Hermes, founder of SRQ Med Spa, has watched peptide therapy grow drastically over the last few years. Hermes has a long history with peptides, especially sermorelin—a peptide used to stimulate the production of growth hormones. She highlights that the way peptides work is different than traditional medicine. “Medicine comes in from the outside and overrides your body's natural systems,” she says.
Peptides, instead, tell the body’s systems to simply pay more attention to certain functions. “Your cells are like computers and something has to tell them to actually take action—that's what peptides do,” she explains. Some peptides can promote healing, while others can support focus, energy or hormone production. Hermes argues that the current peptide industry is like the “Wild West” with so many options, but she explains that clients have to be careful not to have unrealistic expectations. “Many clients think that if they try a peptide for a month, their problem should be solved,” she says. “Your red blood cells are replaced every 90 days, so you should try each peptide for 90 days.”
Aven Clinic’s Dr. Karolina Baker believes that peptides are part of a much larger healthcare puzzle. She started incorporating them in her practice to see how they would complement her integrative medicine approach.
“Integrative medicine uses different modalities that complement one another to improve outcomes and address health from multiple angles,” Baker explains. “Peptides offered a more targeted and effective way to support healing and optimize function through different mechanisms of action.”
When someone comes in, her first step is to identify what the patient wants to achieve. Baker works to understand the patient’s medical history, lifestyle habits, nutrition and stress levels. Then, she uses combinations of peptides that work together to address concerns. “For example, if a patient’s goal is weight loss, we may use a peptide that supports fat reduction while also adding peptides that help preserve or build muscle mass and improve mitochondrial function and energy production,” she says.
As peptide therapy becomes more popular, providers agree that health and wellness is becoming increasingly personalized. Peptides are not a miracle cure, but they are a step toward supporting the body’s natural ability to heal. SRQ wellnessrealmsrq.com, revealvitality.com, srqmedspa.com, avenclinic.com
