Should I be concerned about raising my growth hormone levels?

Posted January 2nd, 2007 at 4:00 PM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: Nutrition, Supplements

As you age, blood levels of growth hormone drop. A 1990 study from the University of Wisconsin showed that taking growth hormone enlarges muscles. Since then equal numbers of studies support and refute that growth hormone increases muscles and decreases fat. But over-the-counter growth hormone releasers do not contain ANY growth hormone.

The advertised products are amino acids, the building blocks of protein, the same as the protein you get in your food. Eating anything raises your blood level of growth hormone temporarily, and protein raises it a little bit more than fats or carbohydrates. So any food can be sold as a growth hormone releaser without lying, but food sources of protein are a lot less expensive than the pills.

Several studies have shown that vigorous exercise also raises growth hormone levels temporarily. We have no dependable tests for aging. The commonly used tests to measure aging actually measure fitness. At this time, the best recommendation we have for reducing the effects of aging and improving your performance on all medical tests of aging is to start and maintain a regular exercise program.

This post is written by Dr. Gabe Mirkin, M.D.. Dr. Mirkin is board certified in Sports Medicine and has practiced for over 40 years. He has completed more than 40 marathons and was a talk show host of a nationally-syndicated radio program for about 25 years. For more articles by Dr. Mirkin, please check out: www.DrMirkin.com

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