Stop Settling for Normal: Hormone Optimization and Metabolic Health

About Stop Settling for Normal: Hormone Optimization and Metabolic Health

You were told your labs are normal. You still feel exhausted, foggy, and older than you should. Stop Settling for Normal is about that gap, and what the evidence says you can do to close it. For men and women who want optimal health, not just normal labs: energy, sleep, mood, strength, metabolism. Each episode tests one piece of medical dogma against the research, from the WHI study that scared a generation off hormones to testosterone, thyroid, insulin resistance and regenerative medicine. Hosted by Luke Swift, DNP, of Within You Therapeutics. Educational content only, not medical advice.

Publisher

Within You Health

Category

health & fitness

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

4 Sept 2025

Latest episode

9 Nov 2026

Latest episodes

42 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   9 Nov 2026

   Do Hormones Cause Cancer? Five Questions That Take Apart Any Headline (Ep. 18, Pt. 1)

   Do hormones cause cancer? The fear traces to one day in July 2002, when the Women's Health Initiative stopped one arm early: Premarin, a horse estrogen, with MPA, a copycat progestin. Neither arm of that trial gave estradiol or progesterone, and the same program's trial of Premarin alone ended up with fewer breast cancers and fewer breast cancer deaths than placebo. Five questions that take apart any cancer headline. Where the fear came from. Estradiol and the breast, trial by trial. Why the breast signal follows the copycat progestin, not progesterone. Testosterone as the breast's brake. And the drivers you can actually act on: body fat, insulin, alcohol and light at night. Part two, Wednesday: family history and BRCA, the breast cancer survivor, tamoxifen and the aromatase inhibitors, the prostate, every other cancer, and who benefits from keeping patients off hormones. All research, opinions and clinical judgment are my own. This is education, not individualized medical advice. CHAPTERS 00:00 Cold open: do hormones cause cancer? 04:28 Five questions for any cancer headline 11:59 Where the fear came from 24:57 Estradiol and the breast 33:10 Progesterone vs progestins 46:12 Testosterone, the brake 51:04 If not hormones, the real drivers 56:44 Close: part one SOURCES Adair & Herrmann 1946, Ann Surg, 123, 1023-35 Agrawal et al. 2024, J Sex Med, 21, 414-419 Anderson et al. 2012, Lancet Oncol, 13, 476-86 Brinton & Felix 2014, J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol, 142, 83-9 Chlebowski et al. 2010, JAMA, 304, 1684-92 Chlebowski et al. 2020, JAMA, 324, 369-380 Chlebowski et al. 2024, Breast Cancer Res Treat, 206, 177-184 Coelingh Bennink et al. 2017, Maturitas, 95, 11-23 Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer 2019, Lancet, 394, 1159-1168 Cordina-Duverger et al. 2013, PLoS One, 8, e78016 Crandall et al. 2018, Menopause, 25, 11-20 de Lignières et al. 2002, Climacteric, 5, 332-40 Dimitrakakis et al. 2004, Menopause, 11, 531-5 Donovitz & Cotten 2021, Eur J Breast Health, 17, 150-156 Ellis et al. 2009, JAMA, 302, 774-80 Fels 1944, J Clin Endocrinol, 4, 121-125 Fournier et al. 2008, Breast Cancer Res Treat, 107, 103-11 Fournier et al. 2014, Breast Cancer Res Treat, 145, 535-43 (via Stute et al. 2018) Fournier et al. 2014, Am J Epidemiol, 180, 508-17 Frandsen et al. 2024, Breast Cancer Res Treat, 208, 535-542 Glaser & Dimitrakakis 2013, Maturitas, 76, 342-9 Glaser et al. 2019, BMC Cancer, 19, 1271 Haddow et al. 1944, Br Med J, 2, 393-8 Hipolito Rodrigues & Gompel 2021, Women Health, 61, 3-14 Hodis & Mack 2008, Menopause Manag, 17, 27-32 Hodis & Sarrel 2018, Climacteric, 21, 521-528 Hofling et al. 2007, Menopause, 14, 183-90 Ingle et al. 1981, N Engl J Med, 304, 16-21 Janssen 2021, Int J Mol Sci, 22 Lalitkumar et al. 2023, Int J Mol Sci, 24 Lauby-Secretan et al. 2016, N Engl J Med, 375, 794-8 Li et al. 2017, Oncotarget, 8, 39896-39921 Lobo et al. 2018, Obstet Gynecol, 132, 161-170 Manson et al. 2013, JAMA, 310, 1353-68 Manson et al. 2017, JAMA, 318, 927-938 Meaidi et al. 2024, BMJ Med, 3, e000753 Mikkola et al. 2016, Menopause, 23, 1199-1203 Million Women Study Collaborators 2003, Lancet, 362, 419-27 Mirkin 2018, Climacteric, 21, 346-354 Montz et al. 2002, Am J Obstet Gynecol, 186, 651-7 Murkes et al. 2012, Gynecol Endocrinol, 28 Suppl 2, 12-5 Peethambaram et al. 1999, Breast Cancer Res Treat, 54, 117-22 Santen et al. 2013, Horm Cancer, 4, 195-207 Schernhammer & Hankinson 2005, J Natl Cancer Inst, 97, 1084-7 Schernhammer et al. 2008, J Natl Cancer Inst, 100, 898-905 Schierbeck et al. 2012, BMJ, 345, e6409 Smith-Warner et al. 1998, JAMA, 279, 535-40 Stute et al. 2018, Climacteric, 21, 111-122 Tamimi et al. 2006, Arch Intern Med, 166, 1483-9 U.S. Food and Drug Administration 2025, Drug Safety Communication Vinogradova et al. 2020, BMJ, 371, m3873 Viscoli et al. 2001, N Engl J Med, 345, 1243-9 Writing Group for the Women's Health Initiative Investigators 2002, JAMA, 288, 321-33 Book a consultation: withinyou.health/links

2. 

   4 Nov 2026

   Testosterone Was a 1940s Breast Cancer Treatment: Doses and Routes for Women (Ep. 17, Pt. 2)

   Doctors were using testosterone to treat advanced breast cancer back in the 1940s. In a 2019 study that followed about 1,270 women on testosterone for up to ten years, invasive breast cancer turned up at 165 per 100,000 women a year, against 271 expected for women their age. And in a 2007 randomized, double-blind trial in postmenopausal women on estradiol plus a progestin, dividing breast cells climbed from about 1% to about 6% on a placebo patch, while on testosterone they went from 1.6% to 2%. Testosterone held it flat. Testosterone and the breast: the tissue, the trials, survivors and family history. Why she can't get it, which has very little to do with the FDA. How she gets it: the routes, the actual starting doses, where her level needs to land, and what to watch. The women who get missed: PMOS (formerly PCOS), chronic fatigue, premature ovarian insufficiency, and early and surgical menopause. Then the questions and labs that make you your own advocate. All research, opinions and clinical judgment are my own. This is education, not individualized medical advice. CHAPTERS 00:00 Cold open: part two 02:21 Testosterone and the breast 10:52 Why she can't get it 18:23 How she gets it: routes and doses 26:04 PMOS 27:09 Chronic fatigue 31:22 POI, early and surgical menopause 36:34 Become your own advocate 40:10 Close SOURCES Agrawal 2024, J Sex Med Banaszewska 2007, J Clin Endocrinol Metab Berrino 2005, Int J Cancer Cassar 2016, Hum Reprod Davis 2008, N Engl J Med Davis 2015, Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol Davis 2019, J Clin Endocrinol Metab Davison 2005, J Clin Endocrinol Metab Dichtel 2020, Am J Psychiatry Dimitrakakis 2003, Menopause Eigeliene 2012, J Clin Endocrinol Metab Fogle 2007, J Clin Endocrinol Metab Glaser 2013, Maturitas Glaser 2014, Menopause Glaser 2019, BMC Cancer Glaser 2021, Androgens Clin Res Ther Goldstat 2003, Menopause Gurrala 2023, Ann Plast Surg Hofling 2007, Menopause Huang 2014, J Clin Endocrinol Metab Huang 2014, Menopause Islam 2019, Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol Jankowski 2019, Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) Kaunitz 2021, JAMA Labrie 2003, Endocr Rev Laughlin 2000, J Clin Endocrinol Metab Mehta 2021, Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) Miller 2006, J Clin Endocrinol Metab Montero Bernaldez 2026, Cureus Ooi 1998, Clin Biochem Popat 2014, J Clin Endocrinol Metab Rech 2016, Eur J Endocrinol Rock 2008, Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev Shifren 2000, N Engl J Med Slomski 2020, JAMA Tomaselli 2005, American Medical News Traish 2022, Androgens Clin Res Ther U.S. Food and Drug Administration 2004, Federal Register Wierman 2014, J Clin Endocrinol Metab Writing Group for the Women's Health Initiative Investigators 2002, JAMA Zimmerman 2014, Hum Reprod Update Book a consultation: withinyou.health/links

3. 

   2 Nov 2026

   Only Good for Libido? The Truth About Testosterone for Women (Ep. 17, Pt. 1)

   Is testosterone only good for libido? A 2019 global consensus says its only evidence-based use in women is low desire after menopause. Yet in a 2010 trial in older women with heart failure, the women on a testosterone patch improved their six-minute walk by about 97 meters, against about 36 on placebo, and in a 2014 trial the highest dose built almost four pounds of lean mass. The 2014 endocrinology guideline describes those trials in its own text, then recommends against testosterone for her heart, her bones and her well-being. What testosterone actually is in a woman's body, her most abundant biologically active hormone. Then the five dogmas, one at a time: it doesn't crash at menopause, there's no such thing as deficiency and a blood test tells you nothing, it's only good for libido, it won't protect your brain, and it won't help your weight. A detour into the pill and the other prescriptions that quietly drain it. Then the fear gauntlet: the beard, the voice, "it turns into estrogen," the heart, the clots and the rage. Part two, Wednesday: testosterone and the breast, why she can't get it, how she gets it with the actual starting doses, the women who get missed (PMOS, chronic fatigue, early and surgical menopause), and how to be your own advocate. All research, opinions and clinical judgment are my own. This is education, not individualized medical advice. CHAPTERS 00:00 Cold open: only good for libido? 04:10 Her most abundant hormone 07:50 Dogma 1: it doesn't crash at menopause 11:52 The pill and the drugs that take it 17:39 Dogma 2: no such thing as deficiency 24:00 Dogma 3: only good for libido 30:11 Dogma 4: it won't protect your brain 34:52 Dogma 5: it won't help your weight 38:03 The fear gauntlet 48:39 Close: part one SOURCES Agrawal 2024, J Sex Med Banaszewska 2007, J Clin Endocrinol Metab Banaszewska 2011, J Clin Endocrinol Metab Basson 2007, Lancet Davis 1995, Maturitas Davis 2006, Menopause Davis 2008, N Engl J Med Davis 2014, Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) Davis 2015, Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol Davis 2019, J Clin Endocrinol Metab Davison 2005, J Clin Endocrinol Metab Dichtel 2020, Am J Psychiatry Eisenegger 2010, Nature Elbers 1997, J Clin Endocrinol Metab Elraiyah 2014, J Clin Endocrinol Metab Escobar-Morreale 2018, Nat Rev Endocrinol Finkelstein 2013, N Engl J Med Fogle 2007, J Clin Endocrinol Metab Geniole 2020, Horm Behav Glaser 2011, Maturitas Glaser 2013, Maturitas Glaser 2013, Maturitas Glaser 2021, Androgens Clin Res Ther Goldstat 2003, Menopause Hak 2007, Maturitas Huang 2014, Menopause Huang 2014, J Clin Endocrinol Metab Huang 2015, J Endocrinol Invest Iellamo 2010, J Am Coll Cardiol Islam 2019, Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol Islam 2022, Lancet Healthy Longev Kocoska-Maras 2011, Fertil Steril Labrie 2003, Endocr Rev Laughlin 2000, J Clin Endocrinol Metab Lincoff 2023, N Engl J Med Miller 2006, J Clin Endocrinol Metab Nestler 1991, J Clin Endocrinol Metab Olsen 2025, N Engl J Med Ooi 1998, Clin Biochem Puurunen 2013, J Clin Endocrinol Metab Raval 2011, Cochrane Database Syst Rev Rocca 2007, Neurology Saad 2025, Am J Med Sci Shah 2006, Menopause Sharma 2023, Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) Sherwin 1985, Psychoneuroendocrinology Sherwin 1988, Psychoneuroendocrinology Shifren 2000, N Engl J Med Shufelt 2010, J Clin Endocrinol Metab Sievers 2010, Eur J Endocrinol Tienforti 2024, Transgend Health Traish 2007, J Sex Med (via Traish 2022) Traish 2022, Androgens Clin Res Ther Viana 2026, Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) Wierckx 2014, J Sex Med Wierman 2006, J Clin Endocrinol Metab (via Traish 2022) Wierman 2014, J Clin Endocrinol Metab Zimmerman 2014, Hum Reprod Update Book a consultation: withinyou.health/links

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