Tikvah
Editors’ Pick

April 17, 2026

The Biochemicals Getting Yiddish-Sounding Names

Followers of a questionable health fad are taking MENTSH injections.

Those partaking in the bizarre health trend of injecting themselves with peptides—inchoate proteins—may have noticed something odd about their names, which include SHLP, SHMOOSE, and MENTSH. Soon they might try such newly discovered compounds as NOSH and PUTZ. These names were generated by a University of Southern California laboratory doing groundbreaking on the subject, run by Pinchas Cohen (who, needless to say, does not approve of the fad). Asaf Elia Shalev reports:

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