Pregnenolone is often called the master hormone because it can be converted to any other steroidal hormone, including DHEA, progesterone, the estrogens (estrone, estradiol, estriol) testosterone, the corticosteroids, and aldosterone. Their direct precursor to DHEA, it is thought to enhance DHEA's activity and can be taken together with it. Because pregnenolone is also the direct precursor to the progesterone pathway, it is thought to be more balancing than DHEA taken alone.

DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone) has been touted for its potential use as an anti-aging hormone. The most abundant hormone in the body, it functions as a precursor for the production of more than 50 other hormones. Found at peak levels around age 25, its production declines steadily, often by 80-90% by age 70.