Human Growth Hormone (HGH)

HGH has beginning gaining increasing interest over the last few years from the benefits of ‘anti-aging’ to weight loss as well as the fears of increasing certain cancer factors.

One thing is for sure is that HGH is one of the key factors in maintaining our metabolism as we age.

HGH is produced in the pituitary gland and is the most abundant hormone produced in the pituitary, and it reaches its peak in the body during adolescence.  This makes sense since it helps to stimulate growth in the body, although there is an increasing amount of other evidence that the benefits of HGH does not stop with growth.

In adulthood, HGH is usually produced in short bursts during deep sleep which would lead us to believe that deficiencies in healthy sleep could lead to deficiencies in HGH production.

Benefits of HGH 

  • Critical for tissue repair, muscle growth, and healing
  • Critical for brain function, physical and mental health
  • Supports bone strength
  • Benefits enzyme production, blood sugar regulation, sexual function, energy and metabolism
  • Can help DNA cells to repair due to suffering free radical attack

Downside to HGH

HGH triggers IGF-1 (insulin growth factor). Increases in IGF-1 are correlated with the potential to stimulate cancer-cell growth, which have lead many health care practitioners to shy away from the injection form.

Natural Alternatives

Alpha GPC and Transtropin D (an amino acid blend) have both shown to increase endogenous growth hormone, and Transtropin D has actually shown to decrease IGF-1 which aside from decreasing the cancer growth factor might possible benefit with issues of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome.