And you may be right.
Personally I used to believe finasteride side-effects were caused only by lowered DHT but I was told that the worst side-effects (libido issues, gyno) people have are due to increased Estradiol from 5AR inhibition, and the usual mild ones like watery semen are due to the lowered...
"The gene for making the 5-alpha reductase (type 1) enzyme was significantly inhibited by R-equol, but not S-equol."
https://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/threads/equol-a-natural-dht-binder-and-the-primary-ingredient-in-brotzu.113209/#post-1645762
I think some people have a negative attitude because when you have no expectations you prevent yourself from being let down again.
These people have been hurt way too deep by the Histogens and the Brotzus of the world.
Never again...
Recently @whatevr bought and tried Equol and got better hair results than he ever had. Plus other anecdotes from Italian forums who made custom Brotzu lotions.
So the lotion itself seems to work, the only issue is Fidia...