In a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, PED expert Derek from More Plates More Dates shed light on a critical misunderstanding that has affected women’s hormone replacement therapy for decades.
According to Derek, the initial studies that created widespread fear about HRT were fundamentally flawed because they used horse-derived estrogens rather than bioidentical human hormones.
Derek explained that in the 1990s, the Women’s Health Initiative conducted studies to assess the safety of hormone replacement therapy. However, the “HRT” being tested wasn’t actually human bioidentical estrogen at all.
“It was like equine horse piss derived estrogens,” Derek stated bluntly. The synthetic compounds used were not bioidentical to what women’s bodies naturally produce, yet the results were presented as representative of standard hormone replacement therapy.
The study results showed a relative risk increase in breast cancer incidents among roughly one in a thousand women. The media subsequently ran with headlines proclaiming a 26% increase in breast cancer risk, causing mass hysteria and panic. This led to the FDA placing aggressive blackbox warnings on hormone therapy products, the most severe warning category indicating the highest risk of lethal side effects.
Derek emphasized the fundamental problem with this approach: “To try and say this horse piss derived estrogen formula and the synthetic progestin we applied to these women is the equivalent of you having been on what you would otherwise produce as a young, healthy, vibrant woman from a bioidentical estradiol and progesterone perspective—simply not accurate.”
For years following these studies, hormone replacement therapy was viewed as dangerous except in the most extreme cases where quality of life deterioration was so significant it justified the perceived risks. Women were told HRT would cause clotting issues, cancer, and numerous other serious health problems.
Derek stated: “But that’s like essentially the comparison that they made and you know presented it as such. And the result was a relative risk increase of breast cancer incidents, I believe, to the tune of like one of a thousand women.”
The irony, Derek pointed out, is that modern literature consistently shows the cardioprotective effects, neuroprotective effects, and bone support benefits of proper hormone replacement. Women who don’t take bioidentical hormones after menopause are essentially giving themselves a worse quality of life and deteriorating their health. Unlike men, who can maintain some residual hormone activity into old age, women experience a cliff drop when hormone production ceases.
In a significant development, Derek noted that just last month, the FDA removed most of the blackbox warnings from women’s HRT products—a validation of what many in the optimization community have been saying for years. The initial narratives about hormone replacement therapy, much like early misconceptions about testosterone and prostate cancer in men, became stuck in the public consciousness despite being based on flawed science.
Derek’s message is clear: the demonization of women’s HRT was based on studies using the wrong compounds, and countless women have suffered diminished quality of life as a result. With bioidentical hormones and proper medical oversight, hormone replacement therapy can be safe and profoundly beneficial for women navigating menopause and beyond.