@ojayto's peptide therapy claims need serious scrutiny

What did @ojayto actually say?

@ojayto pitched a two-peptide stack for getting "lean and shredded before summer." The first peptide, which the transcript renders as "red a true tide" through voice recognition artifacts, is almost certainly retatrutide, a triple agonist GLP-1/GIP/glucagon receptor drug. The second is Melanotan II (MT-II), described as something that will "make it extremely easy to achieve and maintain a dark tan." The framing is straightforward: appetite suppression plus tanning, packaged as a simple pre-summer protocol. No caveats, no mention of regulation, no safety context whatsoever.

That framing is the core problem here. These are not interchangeable wellness supplements. One is an investigational pharmaceutical still in clinical trials. The other is a synthetic peptide with a documented history of serious adverse events. Treating them like stacking creatine and protein powder is, to put it plainly, irresponsible.

Does the science back this up?

Partly, but not in the way the video implies. Retatrutide does produce substantial fat loss in trials, and MT-II does affect melanin production. The mechanisms are real. The problem is the gap between "this compound does X in a controlled study" and "you should inject this at home before summer."

Retatrutide is a triple receptor agonist targeting GLP-1, GIP, and glucagon receptors simultaneously. A Phase 2 trial published by Jastreboff et al. (2023, New England Journal of Medicine) found participants lost up to 24.2% of body weight over 48 weeks, which is genuinely impressive. The appetite suppression mechanism is well-supported. However, retatrutide has not completed Phase 3 trials and has no FDA approval. Compounded versions floating around gray-market peptide suppliers are not the same compound studied in that trial, and anyone claiming otherwise is guessing.

MT-II activates melanocortin receptors, particularly MC1R, which does drive melanogenesis. Dorr et al. (1996, Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology) confirmed tanning effects in early human trials. But those same trials flagged spontaneous erections, nausea, and facial flushing as common side effects. Later research linked unregulated MC1R agonism to atypical mole changes, raising real questions about melanoma risk.

What did they get wrong (or right)?

Credit where it is due: the core mechanisms @ojayto describes are not fabricated. Retatrutide does "reduce your appetite" and does make fat loss easier in clinical populations. MT-II does affect melanin. These are not invented claims. The problem is everything surrounding them.

Calling this stack something you "should take" with no regulatory context is where the video goes off the rails. Retatrutide is not approved for human use outside clinical trials. MT-II has never received FDA approval and was explicitly withdrawn from further development by its original manufacturer, Palatin Technologies, partly due to the side effect profile. The European Medicines Agency has flagged unlicensed MT-II products multiple times.

The phrase "extremely easy" appears twice in a short clip. Fat loss and tanning are not made "extremely easy" by any compound. Retatrutide's 24% weight loss figure came from patients in supervised trials with regular monitoring. The video presents a clinical outcome as a casual lifestyle hack, which misrepresents the risk-benefit picture entirely.

What should you actually know?

Both compounds in this stack carry regulatory and safety concerns that were completely absent from the video. That absence matters.

Retatrutide is not legally available as a compounded peptide in the United States following FDA guidance updates in 2024 that placed semaglutide-class and related GLP-1 compounds under stricter compounding restrictions. Any product sold as retatrutide outside a clinical trial exists in a legally and analytically uncertain space. You do not know what you are injecting.

MT-II has a well-documented adverse event profile. The FDA has issued multiple import alerts on MT-II nasal sprays and injectable products. A case series by Lim et al. (2009, Clinical and Experimental Dermatology) documented rapid darkening of existing melanocytic nevi in users, which is a pattern clinicians take seriously given melanoma risk implications. Using MT-II specifically to accelerate tanning, as the video suggests, is exactly the use case researchers have flagged as concerning.

• Retatrutide is still investigational. Phase 3 data is not fully published as of mid-2025.
• MT-II has no approved human use anywhere in the world.
• Gray-market peptide products are not subject to manufacturing quality controls.
• Anyone pursuing either compound should be doing so under physician supervision with documented informed consent, not based on a 30-second TikTok clip.