What is Human Growth Hormone?

EelBait asks: "I get a lot of spam selling Human Growth Hormone (HGH). Supposedly this stuff builds muscles, make one lose weight, enlarges various external organs and glands, etc., etc. Does anyone really know any good articles about this? Is it dangerous? The fact that it's being sold through spam is enough to give me pause, but I want to know if there are any legitimate uses for this stuff."

Comments

It's not supposed to be used by adults

[muon1183]

Human Growth Hormone is usually used to treat hormone deficiencies in children. My brother needs to take it by injection daily because he has a thyroid binding deficiency, but he's only 5 years old, and will probably stop taking it before he is 18. While it has been well studied on children, it's effects on adults are nowhere near as well studied. While some people believe it is something of a "fountain of youth," this has yet to be found to be true under any studies, and no long term safety tests have been run on adults. So, the conclusion is that you were right to be mighty suspicious of that spam you keep getting.

illegal

[austad]

Real HGH is illegal to sell as far as I know, it's considered a steroid since it's a hormone that is normally produced by the human body. Most likely, they are selling "homeopathic" HGH, which is simply herbs and chemicals (precursors) that supposedly stimulate the production of real HGH. Whether or not this actually works, I don't know. But I do remember reading something awhile back about some nasty side effects of supplementing HGH.

If you're looking to gain muscle with no work, there is nothing that will do this for you. There is no substitute for exercise. However, you can help the process along by getting enough protein (roughly .75 grams per pound of body weight, which means you'll have to supplement or eat a lot of tuna or chicken). Creatine also helps dramatically in some people, I gained over 40 pounds of muscle over a 6 month period after I started taking creatine. Creatine is naturally produced by your body at the rate of 1-2 grams per day. A normal dose of creatine is 5-10 grams. You would have to eat 50 pounds of raw red meat to get this much creatine from food. Previously, I could not gain any muscle without taking it, I tried for several months with almost no results from regular exercise.

There is also Androstendione. Andro stimulates the production of testosterone. Bodybuilders who take it ignore the instructions on the bottle and take about 3-4 times the recommended dosage. Andro *is* a steroid, but it's not illegal since it's not a hormone that occurs naturally in the human body. Although, this is only partially true, since Andro does occur in pregnant women and it was illegal briefly for about 6 months or so a few years ago. Apparently, it is legal again though since stores are selling it again. But, the same risks apply with Andro as with any other steroids, increased risk of prostate cancer, 'roid rage, acne, more body hair, and a host of other things, possibly even nut shrinkage. I took andro for about 2 months a few years ago before I knew really how it worked. Little things that annoyed me tended to make me fly off the handle, increased acne, etc... I stopped taking it. I wouldn't recommend taking it, the side effects are noticable and in my experience the benefits were not that great.

Creatine doesn't work for all people, but it had amazing results for me. Nutrition is probably 80% of it though. Make sure you get enough protein, vitamins, etc, and don't eat shitty food (fast food). If you want recommendations for brands, Kaizen Effervescent Creatine seems to have the best results, and you'll feel it after taking it for only a day. The effervescent creatine uses sodium bicarbonate to get more sodium into your bloodstream to make the creatine absorb better. Another common method of doing this is adding dextrose which spikes your insulin leve, but gives you a sugar crash. As for protein, IsoPure is probably the best protein on the market right now as it is 100% ion-exchange, and not a blend like everything else.

I know a couple of bodybuilders, and they all think the HGH stuff is a bunch of crap. You'll likely just be wasting your money on it.

HGH 'works' if you inject it

[WolfWithoutAClause]

HGH in adults helps build muscles. It's a hormone that is secreted during exercise (and about an hour after you fall asleep) that allows a certain set of proteins into the muscles, these proteins allow hypertrophy and muscle repair to proceed, but only if you've worked out in the last few days, otherwise it does nothing good for you.

Professional bodybuilders inject it along with steroids and insulin; and it makes you big and strong when used that way, in combination with exercise and eating lots and lots of food. Atleast it does unless the insulin or the steroids kill you first.

In overdose of HGH causes deformed joints, and atleast one bodybuilder ended up with leukemia that was promoted by his abuse of HGH.

People with naturally high levels of HGH die young by the way, so it's very probably not a fountain of youth, although it may make you feel stronger and better, but you will probably die earlier.

Oh yeah, there's a natural way to boost HGH levels. If you've had no protein or carbohydrates for about 5 hours (doesn't work otherwise), 3 grams of arginine on an empty stomach triggers its secretion after about 1/2 an hour. It lasts for about an hour in the body. If after 1/2 an hour you eat some food, it may be very slightly anabolic but minisculy so. That's probably what they are advertising. If so, it's best taken before breakfast. Oh yeah, and taken that way, it's hardly anabolic at all, and probably can still cause the deformed joints if you overdose.