Suzanne Somers on Hormone Replacement Therapy

Dec. 4, 2006 — -- It's 8 a.m., and Suzanne Somers is already at work.

She's getting ready to tape a commercial for the FaceMaster, one of 1,000 -- yes, 1,000 -- products she sells on her Web site, Suzanne.com.

But first she has carved out 20 minutes to talk with ABCNEWS.com about her new book, "Ageless," her 16th. It's selling very well, thank you.

"I think middle age is incredible," she said.

"I love being 60. And I'm not just saying that," she said, knowing how promotional it sounded. "I love it because I'm hormonally in balance."

The "H" word -- hormone -- is on its way to redefining Suzanne Somers.

For decades, she has been best known as the woman who played the dumbest blond in America on the sitcom "Three's Company." Never mind that she went on to prove how smart she was, making a fortune selling Thighmasters, diet books, make-up, jewelry and food as a superstar on the Home Shopping Network.

Now she is ground zero in the widening debate over the safety and effectiveness of "bio-identical hormones." Somers says these estrogen-replacement cocktails, made from soy and yam extract into serums, patches and creams designed to relieve the symptoms of menopausal distress are "the juice of youth."

"Without hormones there is no quality of life," she declares. She says because she has replaced the hormones she's lost in the aging process with ones that are biologically identical, "my skin looks better, my body is more toned. … I sleep 8 or 9 hours a night, my weight is not an issue, I'm in an upbeat mood almost all the time, my libido is good."

What middle-aged menopausal woman wouldn't want to feel the same way?

But the medical establishment is warning women not to be seduced into believing in this Fountain of Youth. "No evidence exists that bioidentical hormones are safer than conventional hormones," warns the Mayo Clinic. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says most of the bioidentical products on the market "have not undergone rigorous testing for safety and efficacy, and issues regarding purity, potency, and quality are a concern."