Peptides are short chains of amino acids — the building blocks that make up all proteins. What makes them different from proteins is their size.
Smaller chains mean faster absorption, more targeted signaling, and the ability to carry specific biological messages that larger molecules simply can't. Your body produces thousands of distinct peptides. They regulate hunger and satiety.
They coordinate immune responses. They signal cells to repair, replicate, or stand down. They maintain the gut lining that determines what your body absorbs and what it keeps out.
Glutathione — the body's most important intracellular antioxidant — is itself a peptide. Just three amino acids: glycine, cysteine, and glutamate. That specific structure is exactly what allows it to operate inside cells, where most antioxidants can't reach and where oxidative stress does its most significant damage.
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