Health and fitness UGC: what you can and cannot say

Health, fitness and wellness is one of the busiest UGC categories and the most tightly controlled. Two sets of rules apply at once. The law, mainly the FTC Act as the FTC applies it to health advertising. And the ad policies of each platform, which are often stricter than the law and are enforced by ad rejection. This page summarizes both. It is not legal advice.

The FTC standard for health claims

In December 2022 FTC staff published the Health Products Compliance Guidance, replacing its 1998 guide for dietary supplements and widening the scope to health-related products generally. It draws on more than 200 FTC cases. It is guidance, not a binding rule, but it sets out how the FTC reads the law.

The core points for creators:

• Health benefit and safety claims generally need "competent and reliable scientific evidence", which for health benefits generally means randomized, controlled human clinical testing.
• Animal and lab studies alone are not enough. Neither are personal experiences.
• Anecdotal consumer experiences are "never sufficient to substantiate claims about the effects of a health product".
• A testimonial being honest does not make its implied claim supported. If your video implies the product will do for viewers what it did for you, the advertiser needs evidence for that.
• Testimonials showing results better than typical users can expect are likely deceptive, and a "results not typical" line does not fix it. The ad needs to say what typical results are.

The FTC's influencer guide puts the same point simply: you cannot make claims that would require proof the advertiser does not have, such as scientific proof that a product treats a health condition.

What that means in practice

The difference is between describing what you do and what you saw, and promising what the product will do for someone else. The first is your story. The second is a claim that needs evidence.

Weight loss claims

Weight loss gets special attention from regulators and platforms alike. Under the FTC's Endorsement Guides, if you say you lost 20 pounds in two months and the advertiser cannot show that is what people generally achieve, the ad must make clear what the generally expected results are.

The platforms go further:

• Meta. Ads for dietary, health, weight loss or weight gain products must target people 18 or older. They cannot show a close-up "pinching fat" on a body area, cannot claim results come solely from wearable products, and cannot make exaggerated promises of specific results in a set time without qualification. They may show people using the product and its effects, and must indicate the time needed for noticeable results.
• TikTok. Its weight management policy says ads must not include exaggerated or harmful weight loss or muscle gain claims, must not frame weight loss as easy or guaranteed or as working without diet or exercise, and must not encourage disordered eating. Weight loss and muscle gain claims are restricted to users 18 and over. Ads cannot shame people about their bodies, suggest an ideal body type, or claim a certain appearance leads to success, happiness or popularity.

Before and after images

Before and after content is where most health UGC gets rejected. TikTok's healthcare policy does not allow before and after comparisons for over-the-counter medicines, medical devices and food supplements in the markets that list the rule, and treats them as restricted in aesthetic treatment ads. Meta's health and wellness standards allow before and after transformations for general cosmetic products and procedures aimed at adults, and do not list weight loss among the cases where they are permitted. If a brief asks for a weight loss before and after, ask the brand how it plans to run it and on which platform.

A safer pattern for tracking apps is to show the data, not the body: a chart of training volume, a week of logged meals, a sleep trend.

Prescription drugs

Paid ads for prescription drugs are tightly restricted on both platforms.

• Meta lets prescription drug ads run only from advertisers that are actively certified with LegitScript (manufacturers can use Meta's own review instead) and have Meta's authorization, only in the US, Canada and New Zealand, and only to people 18 or older. Online pharmacies and telehealth providers must show they are licensed where they target. Ads need a disclaimer about consulting a licensed health professional. Educational content and general promotion of telehealth services do not need that authorization.
• TikTok lists prescription medicine as not allowed in nearly every market it covers, with narrow exceptions in Canada and New Zealand.

For a creator, the practical rule is simple. Do not make content recommending, dosing or showing where to get any prescription drug or other compound, whatever you take yourself. If you are on a prescribed medicine and the content is about tracking your routine around it, keep the drug out of the claims and the advice out of the script.

Age, body image and sensitive targeting

Both Meta and TikTok restrict weight loss and many health ads to adults. TikTok also bars content suggesting body appearance determines confidence or self-esteem. Meta bars statements of inferiority about physical appearance in cosmetic ads. Write scripts that talk about habits and data, not about what is wrong with someone's body.

Disclose, as always

None of this replaces the basic disclosure rules. If you are paid or given product, say so in the video, on screen and out loud. The FTC disclosure guide has the detail.

How Peptide AI applies this

Peptide AI's creator content is about the app as a logbook: logging doses, meals, workouts and labs, and reading your own data on one timeline. It never promotes or recommends any peptide or compound, never gives dosing advice, never discusses where to get anything, and makes no medical claims. That keeps creator content inside the rules above. Read creating for Peptide AI for the full ground rules, and if they suit you, apply to create for Peptide AI.