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Human Growth Hormone
is a hormone produced by the anterior pituitary gland in
the brain. Human Growth Hormone promotes tissue repair,
cell regeneration in the bones, muscles and vital organs,
and supports the immune system in combating infection and
disease. As the body's cells die off, HGH acts as a
“trigger” to ensure that replacement cells are healthy and
readily available. As we age, our HGH levels decline,
causing our cell replacement levels to reduce to a
fraction of the levels of our youth. The exact reason why
the pituitary gland’s production falls so rapidly remains
a mystery. By the age of forty nearly everyone is
deficient in HGH, and at eighty the body’s production has
usually diminished by 90-95%. Many of the diseases and
symptoms associated with aging can be traced to declining
levels of HGH being produced by the body.
Your body’s natural HGH is a complex
hormone composed of 191 amino acids. The first true
synthetic human growth hormone, (called Somatotropin) was
first produced in 1986 by the Eli Lily Corporation. In
1990 a ground-breaking (and oft-cited) study was published
by Dr Rudman in the New England Journal of Medicine. Using
a controlled double-blind six month study, Dr. Rudman
discovered that, between two groups of men with identical
diets and exercise program, the study group given
injectable HGH had an 8.8% increase in lean muscle mass,
and a 14.4% decrease in body fat over the other group! The
test group also reported improvements in sleep, energy
levels, and skin and muscle tone. While this was a truly
amazing discovery under strict scientific scrutiny, the
high cost, pain, and risk of injections prevented Human
Growth Hormone from becoming widely accepted in the United
States. Attempts to produce an oral form of Somatotropin
did not work; it was incredibly costly to produce, the
liver broke down Somatotropin ingested into the stomach,
and the HGH molecule was too large to be absorbed through
the lining of the mouth.
True synthetic injectable hormone remains available
today by prescription, but its price ($1000-$1500 per daily
injection) puts it well outside the pocketbooks of most
people. The HGH supplements more commonly available today
without a prescription fall into one of two categories,
releasers and secretagogues.
Releasers are the least expensive HGH products
available today. Releasers provide the building blocks of
the 191 amino acid human growth hormone, predominately
L-group amino acids such as L-valine and L-arginine. While
these are components of true HGH, they are several
chemical conversion steps away from actually being HGH.
Just as a pile of wood and nails is not the same as house,
releasers are not the same as true human growth hormone.
The other main HGH supplements are
secretagogues. Secretagogues contain minute amounts of
human growth hormone substance (usually measured in
nanograms, or hundredths of a gram). Secretagogues are a
form of homeopathic medicine. Homeopathic medicine
promotes the use of tiny amounts of a natural body
chemical taken to stimulate the body to produce more.
Absorbing small amounts of a synthetic hormone can cause
the pituitary gland to secrete more of its own natural
human growth hormone into the blood$stream. Secretagogues
can contain actual human growth hormone and still be
available without a prescription, but only if they do so
in very small amounts. Any supplement that claims to have
any significant amount of true human growth hormone and is
available without a prescription is either misleading you
about the true nature of their product, or is in direct
violation of federal law. |
