7 Evidence-Based Ways to Boost Human Growth Hormone

The pituitary gland produces human growth hormone (HGH). It is one of the essential hormones in the human body.

Human growth hormone can be called growth hormone. This is because it plays a vital role in body composition, growth, metabolism, and cell repair (1, 2).

Human growth hormone boosts muscle strength, growth, and performance during exercise and facilitates recovery from disease and injury (3, 4, 5).

A person deficient in human growth hormone may have a decreased quality of life, a high risk of disease, and gain plenty of fat (6).

A person must have optimal growth hormone levels during injury recovery, athletic training, and weight loss (7, 8, 9, 10).

Studies have shown that a person’s lifestyle choices and diet can affect the levels of HGH in the body (11, 12).

This article will discuss seven evidence-based ways to boost your growth hormone levels.

Photo By Vitalii Vodolazskyi

Natural ways to boost your growth hormone levels

Let’s discuss seven ways to boost your human growth hormone levels. I’m not a fan of taking synthetic growth hormones. However, there are excellent natural ways to increase your growth hormone levels.

Get plenty of sleep

Most of the human growth hormone is released during sleep. And they’re released in pulses. These HGH pulses are based on the circadian rhythm. Your circadian rhythm is your body’s internal clock.

Giant HGH pulses are released just before midnight. Smaller pulses are emitted in the early morning (13, 14).

Some studies have shown that inadequate sleep or poor sleep quality can reduce the amount of HGH produced by your body (15).

Photo by Isabella and Zsa Fischer on Unsplash

Studies have also proven that getting enough deep sleep will boost the long-term production of HGH (14, 15).

Here are some tips to improve the quality of your sleep:

· Avoid taking caffeine late in the day

· Ensure that your bedroom temperature is set at a comfortable level

· Avoid exposure to blue light in the evening. Electronic devices and modern light bulbs produce large amounts of blue light and may disrupt your circadian rhythm if you are exposed to them in the evening.

Do intense exercise

High-intensity exercise is one of the most effective ways to raise your HGH levels. However, the amount of HGH will depend on the intensity, the type of exercise, genetic traits, and food intake during the workout (16, 17, 18, 19).

You can do intervals, repeated sprints, circuits, or weight training to shoot your HGH levels and enhance fat loss (19, 20, 21).

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Keep your blood sugar at low levels

An insulin surge is associated with low HGH levels. Sugar and refined carbs raise insulin levels, so reducing carb intake may optimize your growth hormone levels (22, 23).

A study published in Diabetologia found that human growth hormones in healthy people were 3–4 times higher than those with impaired carb tolerance, diabetes, and impaired insulin function (24).

Taking sugar in excess triggers obesity and weight gain, affecting human growth hormone levels.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t take occasional sweet treats. On the contrary, you can have them occasionally. However, ensure that your diet is balanced, as your meals can influence your hormones, body composition, and health.

Include proteins in your diet

Amino acids like glutamine and arginine have been associated with human growth hormone release. According to a 2020 study, supplementing amino acids significantly increases HGH levels in healthy adults.

Try intermittent fasting

Studies have shown that intermittent fasting increases HGH levels drastically. For example, a study found an over 300% increase in HGH levels after a three-day fast. A week into the fast, HGH levels had increased by over 1,250% (25).

Other studies have found similar effects, with HGH levels doubling or tripling after 2–3 days of fasting (26, 27, 28).

But here’s something important that you must know. Continuous fasting is unsustainable in the long term. A better approach to this is intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting limits food intake to brief periods.

There are many methods of intermittent fasting. A common approach is a 16-hour fast with an 8-hour eating window. Another kind of intermittent fasting involves eating between 500 to 600 calories for two days each week (29, 30).

Intermittent fasting optimizes HGH levels by helping you drop body fat (31, 32, 33, 34) and keeping your insulin levels for the more significant part of the day. Recall that your pancreas releases insulin when you eat. In addition, studies suggest that insulin spikes disrupt the natural production of growth hormones (35, 36).

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Add niacin to your diet

Niacin is vitamin B3. Niacin has the potential to increase growth hormone. It has a direct stimulating effect on growth hormone secretion. A study found that intravenous administration of 500mg of niacin caused a dramatic rise in growth hormone production.

Get plenty of vitamin D from the sun

Exposure to the sun helps in vitamin D production, and there’s no cost. Vitamin D, in turn, stimulates the production of growth hormones.

What decreases growth hormone?

Factors that can contribute to a decrease in growth hormone levels include:

· Cortisol (stress)

· Age

· Alcohol

· Liver damage

· Obesity

· A low thyroid

· Hyperinsulinemia

· A high sugar or high carb diet

Takeaway

Like other vital hormones in the body, such as estrogen and testosterone, it is essential to have optimal growth hormone levels.

Human growth hormone helps with cell repair, body metabolism, and other essential functions.

By following the tips outlined above, you can give your HGH levels a boost.

Disclaimer: Dr. Berner does not diagnose, treat, or prevent any medical diseases or conditions; instead, he analyzes and corrects the structure of his patients with Foundational Correction to improve their overall quality of life. He works with their physicians, who regulate their medications. This blog post is not designed to provide medical advice, professional diagnosis, opinion, treatment, or services to you or any other individual. The information provided in this post or through linkages to other sites is not a substitute for medical or professional care. You should not use the information in place of a visit, consultation, or the advice of your physician or another healthcare provider. Foundation Chiropractic and Dr. Brett Berner are not liable or responsible for any advice, the course of treatment, diagnosis, or any other information, services, or product you obtain through this article or others.