Facts &
Myths

Clearing up the confusion

Kind, honest answers about obesity medicine and hormone therapy

There’s so much health information out there, and much of it is shared with good intentions. If you’ve been curious about a treatment you saw online or heard about from a friend, you’re not wrong for asking. This page explains what the research shows today, where questions remain, and how to make choices that are right for you.

Obesity Medicine: Facts & Myths

Myth: Obesity is about willpower.

Fact: Obesity is a chronic disease shaped by genetics, hormones, the brain, sleep, stress, medications, and our environment. The American Medical Association recognized it as a disease in 2013. Willpower alone can’t override the biology of hunger and fullness. Learn how hunger hormones work.

Myth: Taking medication is “cheating” or the “easy way out.”

Fact: Anti-obesity medications treat the biology behind hunger, fullness, and weight regulation, the same way blood pressure medication treats hypertension. They work best alongside nutrition, activity, sleep, and behavior support, and they still take real effort.

Myth: Once you reach your goal weight, you can stop the medication.

Fact: Obesity is a long-term condition. In a follow-up of the STEP 1 trial, people who stopped semaglutide regained about two-thirds of the weight they had lost within a year. That doesn’t mean failure. It means the treatment was working. We plan for the long term together, including dose changes or tapering when it makes sense.

Myth: GLP-1 medications just make you lose muscle.

Fact: Some muscle is lost with any kind of weight loss, including dieting. Eating enough protein and doing strength training help protect muscle, and we track your muscle and body fat with InBody scans so we can adjust your plan.

Myth: These medications are only about the number on the scale.

Fact: In the large SELECT trial, semaglutide lowered the risk of heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death by 20% in people with heart disease and overweight or obesity. Many people also see improvements in blood sugar, blood pressure, sleep apnea, and joint pain.

Myth: BMI tells the whole story.

Fact: BMI is a quick screening tool, not a full picture. We also look at waist size, body composition, your health history, and how weight affects your daily life.

Hormone Therapy: Facts & Myths

Myth: Hormone therapy is dangerous for everyone.

Fact: For most healthy women under 60, or within 10 years of their last period, the benefits of hormone therapy outweigh the risks. In 2026, the FDA removed boxed warnings about heart disease, breast cancer, and dementia from several hormone therapy products. Risks depend on your age, health history, and the type and dose of hormones. Read more about hormone therapy and safety.

Myth: “Bioidentical” means custom-made at a compounding pharmacy.

Fact: “Bioidentical” simply means a hormone has the same structure as the one your body makes. Many FDA-approved hormones are bioidentical, including estradiol patches, gels, and pills and micronized progesterone. These are tested for purity, consistent dosing, and safety, and they’re often covered by insurance.

A Closer Look: Compounded “Bioidentical” Hormones, Pellets, and Saliva Testing

How we got here. In 2002, early results from the Women’s Health Initiative made headlines, and many women stopped hormone therapy out of fear. Understandably, people looked for something that felt safer and more natural. Custom-compounded “bioidentical” hormones, often guided by saliva tests and sometimes given as pellets placed under the skin, were marketed as the answer. Celebrity books in the mid-2000s brought them into the mainstream. The idea is appealing: hormones that are “natural,” made just for you, and adjusted to your own levels.

What the research shows today. In 2020, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine reviewed the evidence and found there is not enough research to support compounded bioidentical hormone therapy, and that claims of better safety or effectiveness aren’t backed by well-designed studies.

• Compounded hormones aren’t FDA-approved and haven’t been tested in large clinical trials. The amount of hormone can vary from batch to batch, and they usually don’t come with the safety information that FDA-approved products include. Some reports suggest a higher risk of uterine (endometrial) cancer when there isn’t enough progesterone to protect the uterus.

• Pellets are placed under the skin and release hormones over several months. They can push estrogen and testosterone well above normal levels, and if side effects happen, the pellet can’t easily be removed or the dose turned down. The National Academies recommended that pellets be reviewed for the FDA’s “difficult to compound” list.

• Saliva testing sounds precise, but hormone levels in saliva change throughout the day and don’t reliably match levels in the blood. No studies show that saliva levels can guide treatment or explain symptoms. The International Menopause Society has said saliva hormone measurement is not clinically useful.

Why The Menopause Society isn’t on board, in plain English. It isn’t about loyalty to drug companies or dismissing how people feel. It’s that no one can promise these products are safe and effective until they’ve been studied the way FDA-approved hormones have. The Menopause Society recommends FDA-approved hormones for most people and reserves compounding for specific situations, such as an allergy to an ingredient or a dose or form that isn’t otherwise available.

What further research could tell us. The National Academies called for well-designed trials of commonly used compounded hormones, better tracking of side effects, and more oversight of quality and dosing. If future studies show that certain compounded products or pellets are safe and work well, that would be wonderful, and it would give women more good options. We’d welcome being able to say so with confidence.

What we offer instead. Truly individualized care doesn’t require custom-compounded hormones. We use FDA-approved, body-identical hormones and adjust the type, dose, and form, such as patches, gels, sprays, pills, or vaginal options, based on how you feel, your symptoms, and your health history.

Spotting Money Grabs in Health & Wellness

If you’ve spent money on a program that didn’t deliver, you’re not alone, and it isn’t your fault. Some health and wellness businesses use sales tactics that are designed to get a quick yes. Be cautious if you notice:

• Pressure to sign up or pay on your first visit, or “today only” pricing

• Long contracts or large prepaid packages that are hard to cancel

• Big panels of saliva, urine, or “hormone balancing” tests that lead to products sold by the same clinic

• Promises of fast fat loss, “anti-aging,” or a cure for everything

• Supplements or add-ons you’re told you need to buy from them

• Claims that only they offer the secret, or that other clinicians are hiding the truth

Our No-Pressure Promise

• There’s no pressure to sign up at your first conversation. Take the time you need.

• Membership is month to month with no long-term contract. We simply ask for 30 days’ notice if you decide to cancel.

• No initial consult fee and no prepaid packages.

• We use your insurance for labs and medications whenever we can, and help you find the lowest price when we can’t.

• If we don’t think you need a treatment, or that we’re the right fit, we’ll tell you.

See our simple, transparent pricing, or bring your questions to a visit. There’s no such thing as a silly question.