The Optimization JournalEvidence-Based Health · Performance · Longevity
Topic

TRT & Hormones

Testosterone, hormone optimization, and the clinical research behind it.

TRT & Hormones

hCG on TRT, and the Other Hormones Worth Checking for Real Optimization

TRT restores one hormone. The men who actually feel their best on it are usually the ones whose thyroid, DHEA-S, and broader hormonal picture got checked too — not just testosterone in isolation.

5 min readJul 5, 2026
TRT & Hormones

TRT and the Myths That Took Decades to Correct: Cardiovascular Risk, Prostate Cancer, and What the Data Actually Shows

For years, doctors were taught testosterone therapy causes heart attacks and prostate cancer. The actual data increasingly shows the opposite: low testosterone is the risk factor, and correcting it may be protective.

5 min readJul 4, 2026
TRT & Hormones

Women's Hormone Replacement Therapy: Estrogen, Progesterone, and Testosterone — Delivery Methods, Who Benefits, and When

Women's HRT isn't one therapy — it's three hormones with three different jobs, three different delivery-method risk profiles, and a real age window where the benefit-to-risk ratio is best. Here's the complete picture.

7 min readJul 1, 2026
TRT & Hormones

Injections, Gels, Pellets, and Pills: Why Injectable Testosterone Remains the Gold Standard

Every TRT delivery method gets testosterone into your bloodstream — but they don't get there the same way, and that difference in route explains most of the real safety and reliability gaps between them.

6 min readJun 29, 2026
TRT & Hormones

High Estrogen in Men: Why the Number Alone Rarely Tells You Anything

A single estradiol number gets treated like a verdict — but research shows two men with wildly different levels can have identical symptoms, or none at all. Here's what actually matters, and what the evidence says about fixing real problems when they show up.

6 min readJun 18, 2026
TRT & Hormones

High Hematocrit and Hemoglobin: What's Actually Driving It, and What the Research Says About Fixing It

Elevated hematocrit is the most common lab flag on TRT — but hydration status, sleep apnea, and even the "fix" of donating blood all complicate the picture more than a single number suggests.

6 min readJun 15, 2026
TRT & Hormones

The Women's Health Initiative Got It Wrong — and Women Paid for It for Two Decades

In November 2025, the FDA finally removed the boxed warnings on hormone therapy it added after the 2002 WHI study. Here's what the WHI actually got wrong, and why it took 23 years to fix it.

5 min readJun 11, 2026
TRT & Hormones

Natural Ways to Support Testosterone: Sleep, Lifting, and Diet

Sleep, resistance training, and body composition all move testosterone more than most people expect — and none of that stops mattering once you start TRT. Here's the research, and why the fundamentals don't become optional just because you're on therapy.

4 min readMay 9, 2026
TRT & Hormones

Low T Symptoms: What the Research Says About Diagnosis

The 300 ng/dL cutoff for "normal" testosterone gets treated like a hard biological line. It isn't — and relying on total testosterone alone misses a real category of men. Here's what the guidelines actually say, and where they fall short.

4 min readMay 4, 2026
TRT & Hormones

Human Growth Hormone: From Pediatric Deficiency to Aging Adults — What the Research Actually Supports

HGH has one of the widest ranges of legitimate medical use of any hormone therapy — and one of the widest gaps between its approved uses and its anti-aging reputation. Here's what the research shows across children, AIDS patients, aging adults, and women specifically.

6 min readMay 1, 2026
TRT & Hormones

TRT and Fertility: What Men Should Know Before Starting

TRT suppresses natural sperm production in most men — but it doesn't have to end fertility. Here's what the research shows about hCG, FSH, and other options used to preserve or restore it.

5 min readApr 14, 2026