Glossary

A compound that stops testosterone from converting into estrogen.

Blunter than a SERM, it lowers estrogen everywhere. Crashing your E2 to zero feels worse than high E2; joints and libido will file complaints.

Sterile water with 0.9% benzyl alcohol, which keeps bacteria from growing in a multi-dose vial.

Not the same as plain sterile water. The benzyl alcohol is what lets a reconstituted vial live in your fridge for weeks instead of days. Cheap, boring, non-negotiable.

Ultra-short peptides (2–4 amino acids), mostly from Russian research, claimed to normalize the function of specific organs.

Epitalon and Pinealon are the famous ones. The Russian literature is large and old; the Western replication is thin. Interesting, cheap, and unproven, so know what you're buying.

A single vial containing more than one compound.

Convenient, but you can't titrate the parts independently, and price-per-mg comparisons stop meaning anything. I list blends where they're stocked but never rank them against single-compound pricing.

A lab report showing what's actually in the vial and at what purity.

The single most important thing a vendor can show you. "Third-party" means an independent lab, not the vendor grading its own homework. No COA, no order. That rule will save you more than any coupon code.

My honesty chip, how much human data actually backs a compound, from "top pick" to "guinea pig."

"Top pick" and "most data" mean real human evidence. "Weak data" means animal work or tiny trials. "Guinea pig" means you are the trial. It's a claim about receipts, not whether something works.

A gut hormone pathway that controls appetite and blood sugar, the mechanism behind semaglutide and its successors.

GLP-1 receptor agonists are the reason the weight-loss category exists in its current form. The newer compounds stack extra receptors on top (GIP, glucagon) for bigger effects.

How long it takes your body to clear half of a dose. It decides how often you inject.

A 6-day half-life means weekly dosing (retatrutide). A 10-minute half-life means the compound barely exists in you (unmodified GHRH). When a vendor sells you a "long-acting" version, this is the number that changed.

An injection into muscle tissue, absorbed faster than subcutaneous.

A few compounds prefer it, most don't need it. Bigger needle, slightly more technique.

A compound taken to improve some aspect of cognition, whether focus, memory, processing, or mood.

The evidence quality in this category runs from "approved drug in Russia" to "one rat study and a dream." The tier chips exist for exactly this reason.

Post-cycle therapy, restarting your natural hormone production after suppressing it.

If a compound suppresses testosterone (steroids, most SARMs), you either plan the recovery or you inherit the crash. The Hormones & PCT category covers the tools.

A short chain of amino acids, a fragment of a protein that acts as a signal in the body.

Insulin is a peptide. So is BPC-157. The category covers everything from FDA-approved drugs to things that have only ever been injected into rats and forum posters.

Mixing a freeze-dried peptide powder with bacteriostatic water so you can actually dose it.

Peptides ship as lyophilized (freeze-dried) powder because they're fragile in solution. You add bacteriostatic water, swirl gently, never shake, and the math on how much water you add decides how many units you draw per dose. My calculator does that math for you.

A compound sold "for laboratory use only," meaning no approval, no manufacturing oversight, no dosing guidance.

The label is a legal posture, not a safety category. Everything on this site that isn't an approved pharmaceutical is one. It's why COAs and vendor vetting are most of the game.

A compound that tells your body to release more of its own hormone, here usually growth hormone.

The whole Muscle & GH column is secretagogues: GHRH analogs (CJC-1295, sermorelin) and ghrelin mimetics (ipamorelin, MK-677). Gentler than injecting HGH itself, with pulses that mimic natural release.

A compound that blocks estrogen in some tissues and mimics it in others, the classic PCT and gyno tools.

Tamoxifen and raloxifene are the two that matter here. They're why "estrogen blocker" is usually the wrong mental model. Selective is the operative word.

An injection into the fat layer just under the skin, the default route for most peptides.

Insulin syringe, pinch of belly or thigh fat, done. Slower absorption and easier than intramuscular, which is why nearly every peptide protocol assumes it.

Starting at a low dose and stepping up slowly, letting your body adapt before the next increase.

The GLP-1 trials titrated for a reason, since the side effects are dose-gated. Skipping the ramp is the most common self-inflicted misery in this niche.