Reasons to Use Human Growth Hormone

Human growth hormone (HGH) is a complex hormone made of 190 amino acids that naturally occur in the body. It is secreted by the pituitary gland located deep inside the brain. HGH is the catalyst for childhood growth and the maintenance of organs and tissue.

Expert Insight

• As a child grows, HGH plays an indispensable role in the body's development. Height, tissue and organ development, and growth are generated by the hormone secretion. The production of HGH begins to decrease around the age of 21 and continues to diminish as a person ages. A belief that increasing the hormone in the body can ward off the effects of aging has people investigating the benefits of this hormone.

  The Mayo Clinic states, "It isn't clear if human growth hormone may provide other benefits to healthy adults." However, synthetic HGH is beneficial to people deficient in the hormone. For people with a deficiency, studies indicate HGH does increase muscle mass, decrease body fat, increase bone density and increase exercise capacity. For people suffering with AIDS or HIV, the hormone helps decrease muscle wasting.

Benefits

• Holistic health care practitioners believe that by increasing HGH levels many of these age-related conditions can be drastically reduced. This belief is substantiated by a study conducted by Dr. Daniel Rudman published in "The New England Journal of Medicine" in 1990.

  Dr. Rudman studied 21 men, aged 61 to 80. He injected 12 of the men with HGH, and the study revealed an aging reversal of 10 to 20 years, specifically, increased lean muscle mass and decreased adipose mass. The report can be viewed at myhealthspan.com.

Aging Considerations

• A deficiency in HGH is called somatopause and is attributed to aging. Symptoms of somatopause include decreased energy, sleep pattern abnormalities, memory problems, loss of lean muscle, increased fat, bone density loss, decreased libido and slow healing. Other conditions related to aging such as wrinkling, osteoporosis and gray hair are also believed to be associated with declining HGH levels.

Diet

• People interested in increasing HGH naturally should look at dietary changes. Three amino acids help to increase HGH levels--L-Lysine, L-Ornithine and L-Arginine occur in many foods. L-Lysine-rich foods include poultry, pork and red meat and nuts, eggs, cheese, spirulina, fenugreek seeds and soybeans. L-Ornithine can be obtained from eggs, dairy, fish and meat. L-Arginine-rich foods are nuts, raisins, whole wheat products, chocolate, popcorn, sesame and sunflower seeds, and fermented foods.

  Although all of these foods provide the amino acid building blocks of HGH, they have small quantities. Watermelon is exceptional in that it has a high percentage of ornithine and citrulline, the building block of arginine. Consuming 1,560 grams of watermelon juice a day increases arginine up to 22 percent and ornithine by up to 18 percent.

Considerations

• Aside from increasing HGH via the diet, there are three methods to deliver HGH to the body. Pills, sprays and injections all have proponents and opponents debating the method of delivery. Consumers should study each method and decide a viable way to obtain HGH.

  Opponents of HGH pills believe that amino acids are too fragile to withstand this form of delivery. The absorption of sprays through the lining of the tongue and mouth are debated. Injections of HGH are generally believed to be a good delivery form of the synthetic version of the HGH hormone. However, injections require a prescription and the cost is prohibitive, sometimes as much as $3,000 a month.

  Whatever method used, HGH could be the key to extended youth and vitality into old age.