THE VANGUARD BLOG
Physician-curated deep dives into the science of men's health optimization.
Monograph
Skeletal muscle is increasingly recognized in the longevity literature as a metabolic and endocrine organ — a glucose disposal sink, an endocrine signaling source (myokines), a reserve for the metabolic challenges of acute illness and recovery, and…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Red yeast rice is rice fermented with the mold Monascus purpureus. The fermentation produces a family of natural-product polyketides called monacolins, the most clinically relevant of which is monacolin K. Monacolin K is identical in chemical…
29 May 2026
Monograph
The racetam family is the original modern nootropic drug class. Piracetam was synthesized by Corneliu Giurgea in 1964 in Belgium; the term "nootropic" itself was coined by Giurgea to describe what he believed piracetam to be. The class shares a…
29 May 2026
Monograph
The U.S. Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day. That number was set decades ago based on short-term nitrogen-balance studies in young sedentary adults, and it represents the minimum required…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Prolonged water-only or near-water-only fasting — typically 3, 5, or 7 days — has emerged from a niche longevity practice into a recurring feature of the men's optimization conversation. The mechanistic case is interesting: prolonged fasting drives…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Polynucleotides (PN) are short fragments of DNA, typically extracted from the gonadal tissue of Pacific salmon, processed to produce a defined molecular-weight range of nucleotide chains. The most-recognized branded product is Rejuran…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Minoxidil is a potassium channel opener originally developed as an antihypertensive in the 1970s. The hair-growth side effect was noticed quickly; topical minoxidil was approved for androgenetic alopecia in 1988 and became the dominant…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Noopept (N-phenylacetyl-L-prolylglycine ethyl ester) is a synthetic dipeptide developed in Russia in the mid-1990s at the Institute of Pharmacology of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. It was developed as a more potent analogue of piracetam —…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Microdosing is the practice of taking sub-perceptual doses of a classical psychedelic — most commonly psilocybin (roughly 0.1–0.5 g of dried Psilocybe cubensis, or about 1–3 mg of pure psilocybin) or LSD (approximately 5–20 mcg) — every few days,…
29 May 2026
Monograph
The Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) and its successor AREDS2 are among the most rigorously conducted nutritional intervention trials in modern medicine. Funded by the National Eye Institute and conducted over more than two decades, the trials…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Methylene blue (methylthioninium chloride) is a phenothiazine dye first synthesized in 1876 and used clinically for over a century — as a treatment for methemoglobinemia (FDA-approved indication), as a urinary tract analgesic, and as a surgical dye…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Doxepin is a tricyclic antidepressant that has been on the U.S. market since 1969. At antidepressant doses (75–300 mg/day), it has the classic tricyclic side-effect profile — anticholinergic dry mouth, constipation, urinary retention, orthostatic…
29 May 2026
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