Human growth hormone is one of the most anabolic hormones known to a man. It’s one of the most used steroids among athletes, because of its vast range of benefits on muscle growth and fat burn.
Many people don’t understand that growth hormone levels can easily be increased naturally, without the use of injections, doctors, side-effects, or any other negative effects that come when using steroids.
That’s why today I have compiled you a list of 20 natural ways to increase growth hormone levels to build muscle and shed fat like never before!
1. Carb Back Loading
Carb back Loading is an eating style specially tailored to be as anabolic as possible. It was invented by a physicist called John Kiefer, after 20 years of research around human metabolism and hormonal functions.
If you really want to get the all around anabolic diet that will skyrocket your growth hormone and testosterone levels then Carb Back Loading will be your number #1 option.
2. Laughter
In a study conducted back in 1989 researchers found out that men who had been shown 60 minutes of comedy film received a nice 87% increase in growth hormone levels.
3. Detox
Detox process is all about cleaning your liver to help it function properly, this helps to increase growth hormone levels also, because before your body can utilize the growth hormone in any way it has to go trough your liver where it converts into IGF-1 (insulin like growth factor) and is then ready to be used by your body.
Liver that is not functioning properly will lead to lower levels of growth hormone, as you probably can figure out bu yourself.
To really flush out all the chemicals and stuff from your body, consider supplementation with spirulina.
4. Supplement with mucuna pruriens
Mucuna Pruriens is one hell of an amazing testosterone and dopamine booster, however recent studies show that this testosterone booster is also very potential growth hormone booster.
Mucuna pruriens boosts growth hormone levels because it contains high levels of L-Dopa, a precursor of dopamine which has been scientifically proven to help your pituiary gland release more human growth hormone.
5. Lose weight
In general, men with high levels of body fat tend to have high levels of insulin also. This excess insulin will suppress your growth hormone production significantly.
So if you are looking to increase growth hormone levels naturally, lose that spare tire!
6. Strength training
Strength training as you might guess, increases growth hormone levels significantly.
The same pattern works with both, testosterone and growth hormone, intense exercise combined with high volume.
In a recent study the researchers found out that the good old squat increased testosterone and growth hormone levels more than any other movement.
7. Fasting
Many people in general believe that you have to eat more to grow.
However in a study conducted at the University of Virginia, researchers saw that after 24 hours of fasting growth hormone levels increased 2000% from the baseline!
Yes, that is correct 2000% increase in growth hormone from 24 hour fast.
I’ll link that study at the bottom of this post, if you want to check it out.
8. Glutamine
Researchers at the Louisiana State College of Medicine gave their subjects 2 grams of L-Glutamine dissolved in a cola drink.
After 90 minutes of consuming the glutamine-cola, human growth hormone levels were significantly increased among the test group.
This is the glutamine brand that I currently use – Optimum Nutrition Glutamine Powder
9. L-arginine
L-Argine has been shown to increase growth hormone levels in a handful of studies.
In one study the researchers gave their subjects a mixture of L-arginine and L-leucine, supprisingly their growth hormone levels increased by 700%.
This Arginine & Citrulline combo is my favorite.
10. Avoid sugar
Eating sugar will always lead to insulin spikes. Insulin spikes will then lead to suppressed levels of both, testosterone and growth hormone.
Adding on top all of the other negative effects sugar has on hormones, it wouldn’t be too bad to leave it out of your diet completely.
11. Vitamin D
Activated vitamin D3 is actually not a vitamin at all. It’s a steroid hormone that actually regulates up to 1,000 human genes.
In the university of Genove in Italy, researchers suggested that vitamin D is highly related to muscle growth, and later on it became clear that vitamin D plays a key role in multiple processes which help your growth hormone levels to increase.
Add the fact that vitamin D is also good for boosting your testosterone levels and many other bodily functions, and you have a great reason to start supplementing with D.
12. Eat Stop Eat
Eat Stop Eat is by far the best intermittent fasting pattern around.
Invented by nutritionist called Brad Pilon, this revolutionary eating style is backed up by over 200 peer reviewed studies.
The best part of this diet is the fact that it increases growth hormone levels significantly, by involving a lot of those 24 hour fasts which improved growth hormone levels by 2000% as mentioned above.
Read my Eat Stop Eat review here.
13. Melatonin
Melatonin is a hormone in the brain that is called the “sleep hormone” or “night hormone”, as it improves sleep quality drastically
Recently one study found out that Melatonin supplemetation
before bedtime increased growth hormone levels by 157%.
One way to naturally increase your melatonin production during the night is to sleep in a completely dark room. By this I mean completely dark, as it has been studied that even a single led light in a microvawe oven or similar is able to interfere with the pineal glands ability to produce melatonin troughout the night.
14. Sleep more
Most of your growth hormone will be secreted during the REM stages of your sleep, and a dozen of studies state that the longer you sleep, the more growth hormone you will produce.
You can improve your sleep quality by supplementing with melatonin or doing things that naturally increase melatonin production, like sleeping in a completely dark room as mentioned above.
15. HIIT
Along with fasting, High Interval Intensity Training (HIIT) has also been proven to increase growth hormone production drastically.
The key here is to maximize your heart rate with short intense bursts of exercise which leads to a significant boost in HGH levels.
Another factor in HIIT that boosts HGH levels is the activation of the “super-fast muscle fibres”. These fibres upon activation will trigger a huge release of testosterone and growth hormone to the bloodstream.
16. L-Leucine
L-Leucine was very effective in a study where the researchers combined it with L-arginine, with a huge 700% increase in growth hormone levels those two amino acids might be the best natural growth hormone boosters discovered so far.
Also it has been shown in dozens of studies, that L-Leucine improves protein syhtesis, helps with weight loss, and helps to build lean muscle mass, all of which are very clear signs of increased HGH levels.
I use this pure L-leucine powder myself.
17. L-Ornithine
Japanese reseacrhers found out that 8 grams of L-ornithine before workout, consumed by a man who weights 80 kilograms, will lead to a 300% increase in HGH production.
However this is a very conflicting evidence. A recent study in Finland noted no significant differences in growth hormone levels after they gave their subjects 2 grams of L-Ornithine prior workout.
Then there’s this Polish study where the researchers gave their subjects 10 grams of L-Ornithine before a weight lifting session. The results were – “significant growth hormone increase in all of the subjects”.
So the evidence seems to be very conflicting indeed.
18. Supplement with fenugreek
Fenugreek is great for boosting testosterone levels, but did you know that recent research shows that it’s also able to increases growth hormone levels significantly, states a study done in Korea.
I use this powdered form of Fenugreek to make tinctures.
19. Creatine
Creatine is one of the most respected and studied supplement from the bodybuilding world, dozens of studies show that it increases growth hormone levels significantly, and that’s one of the reasons why creatine works so well for muscle building.
Everyone who has done their research in the field of bodybuilding supplements know that most of the new hip products tend to fail in the following few years after the “discovery”.
Creatine on the other hand is one of those supplements that has year after year lived up to the hype.
20. GaBa
GaBA or Gamma-Butyric acid, is a neurotransmitter that’s found primarily in the human brain. The human body derives GaBa from glutamine.
GaBa has been shown in studies to increase growth hormone levels post training. The increase was quite significant, as the subjects HGH levels actually quadrupled.
However, GABA isn’t that effective if not taken in mega doses. The acids in human gut break the molecules down effectively before they reach their destination, which is the brain.
If I would supplement with GABA (which I’ll most likely try soon) I’d probably make some sort of tincture out of it, which then would bypass the whole gastrointestial system by absorbing the GaBa straight in to the blood stream.
Conclusion
Here ends the list of 20 ways to naturally increase growth hormone levels. Hopefully it gave you some helpful insights about natural ways to tweak your HGH production.
As you can see by reading the list, Growth hormone levels are quite easy to manipulate, so if you ever were thinking about going into a HGH treatment to receive injections. Think again.
Thank you for reading and remember to share!
[Neuroendocrine and stress hormone changes during mirthful laughter.
The Effect of l-Dopa on Plasma Growth Hormone, Insulin, and Thyroxine
Impact of abdominal visceral fat, growth hormone, fitness, and insulin on lipids and lipoproteins in older adults.
The exercise-induced growth hormone response in athletes.
Increase HGH levels by 2000% in 24 hours.
Increased plasma bicarbonate and growth hormone after an oral glutamine load
Plasma Growth Hormone after Arginine Infusion — Clinical Experiences
Elevated insulin levels contribute to the reduced growth hormone (GH) response to GH-releasing hormone in obese subjects.
Effects of a single dose of Melatonin on the growth hormone/IGF-1 axis in young males
Growth Hormone Secretion During Sleep
Compatibility of high-intensity strength and endurance training on hormonal and skeletal muscle adaptations
A study of growth hormone release in man after oral administration of amino acids.
The effect of L-ornithine hydrochloride ingestion on human growth hormone secretion after strength training
Rat growth-hormone release stimulators from fenugreek seeds.
Acute creatine loading enhances human growth hormone secretion.
Growth hormone isoform responses to GABA ingestion at rest and after exercise.]
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