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| [Im Cr Sage Ross] |
I'm going to be sort of frank and blunt in this essay because this is an opinion I really want to make clear to people. A lot of my trans guy friends are getting into a particular method of transition and are becoming nearly evangelical about it. It's a method to increase the amount of testosterone an FTM man's body makes without injecting testosterone. It's called "Natural TransitioningTM" and involves essentially using the same techniques and supplements bodybuilders use.
So why do people use NT? It has essentially been advertised as something for trans men who have medical problems preventing them from taking testosterone, but honestly there are few people who actually use it for that reason because for as massive an undertaking hormone therapy may be, it doesn't have all that many contraindications that wouldn't also contraindicate NT. People do it to avoid therapy, because they believe it is safer, because they can't afford some part of the medical process, some even because they are either vegans or natural health junkies. If you are in these categories, I'd advise you to take this to note.
Reliability
First, to answer the major burning question: It is possible to raise your testosterone naturally through diet, exercise, and supplements under the right conditions. When I gave up veganism and went on a largely meat-centered diet, for example, my testosterone raised enough for me to grow a little scruff on my chin and a lot of hair on my stomach. The problem? My mom is also furry. The only reason I didn't have it before was because the particular way I did veganism held that development back. Otherwise, that's just how I am genetically.
Tristan Skye, the one who developed this program, has his own facial hair and a deep voice, so people assume that the same thing is going to happen to them. The reality is that you are not Tristan Skye. You are probably not going to get voice deepening or facial hair growth with that program. The most you are likely going to get? Muscle growth, and for that you literally just need the exercise and a non-stupid diet.
A while ago when I was feeling desperate from my inability to get T fast, I looked into NT which involved looking at a lot of YouTube videos. I'm not going to post any to I guess protect the people who post these, but other than Tristan himself they all look like any other pre- or non-T trans man. I'm sure they probably feel better somehow or they wouldn't continue putting themselves through that, but if you want real results then this is not what you are looking for, you are looking for testosterone. Or, if you really don't want testosterone (and I'm not saying you should want it), then adopt a good diet, do strength exercise, and get some voice lessons.
"Naturalness"
The second most popular reason for getting into NT is that it is more natural. "I just would rather do things the natural way!" It's something that unfortunately kind of grips our community because a lot of us are leftists, and leftists can occasionally be, well, hippies. Probably one of the same reasons so many of us are vegans.
The problem is that NT is not even close to natural. You're not going to walk around the wilderness picking bodybuilding supplements off the trees. And Tristan Skye knows this. He calls it Natural Transitioning because it's supposed to increase the amount of testosterone your body naturally makes, not because the supplements are natural.
Quite frankly, he's using the exact same reasoning as every other product on the market calling itself "natural." This deceitful use of the word preys on people who want to be more green, more natural, etc. but who maybe don't have the thought process to understand how meaningless it is, as well as people who do have the thought process but who subconsciously lose it for some reason (a category which probably includes all of us at least some of the time).
So we're going to do a quick common sense experiment here. On one hand we have an injection, containing synthesized testosterone, which becomes bioidentical in the bloodstream. On the other hand we have a set of pills which are also synthesized in a lab, contain a lot of fillers, and might not even have what they say they have. Neither of them is particularly natural, but which is more natural? Seriously. Think about that before you say that naturalness is your reason.
Safety and Ethics
Just think about this for a second. We have an Internet community with lots and lots of pre-T trans men, many of whom are, like I mentioned above, looking for ways to bypass that whole annoying having-to-actually-talk-to-a-professional thing. Some have been at this for years, like I was, some are total newbies. And now there's this book that tells them they don't need testosterone injections to transition. Hell, they can even look as good as this guy, and he totally passes. It's all right there, and you can buy it all at GNC without a prescription.
It doesn't matter that it says right at the beginning to talk to a doctor first. You can talk all you want about how people need to take responsibility into their own hands, but the fact of the matter is these people are promoting a cocktail of supplements of dubious safety in the hands of a very vulnerable population, and a large chunk of that vulnerable population is not going to talk to their doctor about whether or not it is safe for them to take a bunch of bodybuilding supplements to masculinize themselves. They're not going to get bloodwork done to see if it's safe or if it's working. They're going to go out, buy them, and try them. There are people who have had to go to the hospital because they were taking tribulus. You know who I keep seeing ask about tribulus? Teenagers. And mixing so many supplements in general can harm your liver. Testosterone can, too, but again, keep in mind that getting testosterone the legal medical way means you're having this sort of thing checked out regularly.
Which is why it bothers me even more that the main reasons people try this out are medical. The natural thing... OK, I know some of you are going to hate me for this, but I can deal with that because I am an ex-vegan and my past self can empathize with that sort of thought process because it takes a really warped world perspective to think Gardenburger is more natural than a cheeseburger. The medical reasons, though, almost make me sad.
Medical reason number one is, of course, that people don't want to talk to medical professionals, parents, therapists about transition plans. It's already terrible that people become desperate enough to think this way and it says volumes about the failings of transgender care, but that doesn't make it safe.
The second reason? People think it's healthier and that it won't shock their system. Does T shock your system? Of course it does. It's a very profound treatment that causes very profound changes and rather fast. You know what else does that? Puberty. It's supposed to be a shock. Seriously, it's OK.
Finally, a word on contraindications. That was originally the reason I saw for the promotion of this program... some people medically can't go on testosterone. The thing is, how many contraindications are there for T? Aside from already existing liver problems, pregnancy, really really bad numbers on certain aspects of the bloodwork... and those are contraindications for this, too, so why it's better for that is beyond me. I don't know if it's just to give it some legitimacy or what. If you really have some contraindication that prevents T and not NT, then sure, go ahead and try it. But do you really?
