If you’re a frequent reader here you might already know that growth hormone rises in correlation with testosterone (and vice versa). Therefore to increase your testosterone levels, one extremely smart move is to also increase your growth hormone levels simultaneously.
This can be done trough fasting, exercising, liver optimization, diet, and with certain supplements & herbs (which is the theme of this post).
However here’s the catch: The world of HGH (Human Growth Hormone) supplements is extremely biased. There’s even more snake oil salesmen in the field than there is among the sellers of natural testosterone boosters.
So the market is literally flooded with bodybuilding supplements and other flashy brands labeled as ‘MASS HGH SUPERDRONE 32200 MULTIRELEASE’. Which obviously are full of shit, like most of the bodybuilding supplements are.
This post however is not going to be one of those made by “sell out” bloggers promoting some flashy brands. The post that you’re reading will be about real and honest growth hormone enhancers, whether these be herbs, supplements, amino-acids, peptides, enzymes.
The article is meant to illustrate the ones that have actually some scientific non-biased study results to back up their claims.
So now that you get the point of this article, let me introduce you to the world of real HGH boosters:
Goji Berries
I don’t know how to really label these as they’re not really supplements and they’re far from “normal foods”. So For the sake of this article making some sense, let’s call them super berries.
These super berries are well known for their healing abilities, mainly because they’re just so full of antioxidants and other beneficial compounds.
In other words: Goji berries are just super nutritious berries with some nutritional compounds that we can’t find in conventional foods anymore (due to the fact that most conventional food is over processed junk).
The reason why I label Goji berries as a growth hormone booster, is simply because these berries are jam packed with L-Glutamine and L-Arginine (two amino acid’s linked to growth hormone secretion. Goji berries are also filled with compounds called sesquiterpenoids.
Here’s why those compounds help:
a) Those sesquitepernoids are plant pre-hormones that stimulate the pituiary gland to release more growth hormone into the body.
b) Both of those 2 amino-acids mentioned above are scientifically proven to increase HGH levels (sources sited later in this post).
I believe that Goji berries will have more powerful benefits on health, wellbeing and anti-aging than any other food, drug or supplement that I’ve seen in the last 40 years – Dr. Earl Mindell M.D
When purchasing Goji berries it’s important to get the highest possible quality, as they’re quite popular these days which means that there’s plenty of low quality Goji berries out there for cheap prices.
So obviously you should get some organic and fresh Goji berries, instead of some low quality shit that’s sprayed with HGH lowering pesticides and chemicals.
These Goji’s are the ones that I’m consuming myself, so far I have nothing to complain about them.
L-Glutamine
L-Glutamine is an amino-acid, one of those 20 that belong to the standard genetic code of humans.
It’s known to take part in multiple anabolic processes inside the human body, and to stimulate the protein synthesis inside muscles.
Glutamine’s growth hormone enhancing properties were first seen in this study conducted by researchers at the Louisiana State College of Medicine.
The researchers found out that only a small dose of 2g’s L-Glutamine was able to significantly increase the levels of circulating human growth hormone in healthy human subjects, mere 90 minutes after the oral adminstration.
The study was reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition back in 1995.
Some great old school bodybuilders like Vince Gironda and Steve Reeves were also using plenty of Glutamine back in the 40′s to boost muscle growth (I don’t know how they knew about the benefits back in the days).
This is the brand of glutamine powder that I have been using for years. So far I have nothing to complain about their product.
Mucuna Pruriens
Mucuna pruriens is an Indian velvet bean, most commonly referred as a herb.
It’s an amazing testosterone, dopamine and fertility booster, with well researched & cited clinical background.
However, Recent research has concluded that this Indian velvet bean might also have some growth hormone boosting benefits.
It’s all because of the active ingredient L-Dopa which has been shown to stimulate the production of a hormone/neurotransmitter dopamine (It’s a precursor for dopamine).
The boost in dopamine and testosterone that L-Dopa creates, will then stimulate growth hormone secretion in the pituiary gland.
(Here’s a study that illustrates the above)
That’s one of the reasons why Mucuna pruriens is one of my favorite supplements, or herbs. Whatever you want to call this bean.
For sometime now I have used this powder form of Mucuna. It has worked like a charm.
L-Arginine
L-Arginine is also an amino-acid, and much like glutamine, it belongs to the group of 20 amino-acids that belong to the human genetic code.
Science has shown to us in multiple clinical trials that arginine is a potent nitric oxide booster, meaning that it increases blood flow and promotes cardiovascular health.
The thing that many guys haven’t noticed is that L-Arginine may also be a potential growth hormone enhancer.
It acts by blocking the secretion of somatostatin, which is a growth hormone inhibitor. Futhermore it has also been noted to stimulate growth hormone secretion in the pituiary gland.
Here’s what science says:
This study found out that arginine significantly increases growth hormone secretion during exercise
This study explains the mechanism of action behind arginine’s growth hormone release
This study also found out that L-Arginine stimulates growth hormone secretion while resting and during exercise.
Arginine is probably the most used compound in all HGH supplements, the reason being that it has shown to be effective. So I’d say you’re far better of by purchasing some pure bulk arginine, instead of paying for the nice bottle and flashy colors with low quality product (this describes most of bodybuilding supplements).
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is one of the key vitamins in the health and reproduction of human body. However the thing is that it’s not a vitamin…
…It’s a steroid hormone that regulates thousands of bodily functions, which was mistakenly named as a vitamin.
Vitamin (hormone) D has been shown to increase testosterone levels quite nicely in a number of human trials. This alone should contribute to the fact that vitamin (hormone) D boosts HGH levels, as testosterone and growth hormone will rise in correlation.
However the increase in testosterone isn’t the only reason why vitamin D boosts growth hormone levels, as researchers all over the world have concluded that vitamin D (especially the ‘D3′) is involved in numerous different functions behind tissue growth and HGH secretion.
Here’s some clinical research:
This study found out that vitamin D increased growth hormone in healthy adults.
In a number of studies, growth hormone adminstaration has been shown to increase the amount of vitamin D in the human body. Researchers believe that the same applies backwards (vitamin D adminstration would increase growth hormone).
Without a doubt it’s obvious that vitamin D plays multiple roles in the growth of the human body, and in the secretion of multiple hormones (including growth hormone).
Ultimately the best way to get some vitamin D3 is by being out in the sun, or getting it from the natural sources (food), but for most of us this isn’t enough.
That’s why I supplement with this bio-active liquid vitamin D3 supplement once in a while.
Melatonin
Melatonin is a hormone often stated as the “night hormone” or the “sleep hormone”. Those names describe it very well, as melatonin does help with sleep quality.
However recent research has also shown that melatonin supplementation may increase growth hormone levels.
Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition reported back in 2007 that supplementation with 5 mg’s of melatonin in a single dose was able to increase serum growth hormone levels and IGF-1 levels significantly (source).
On average HGH levels did increase by a staggering 157% on average when compared to placebo.
I don’t usually supplement with melatonin, but once in a while I take it before bed to maximize sleep quality. This is the brand I recommend.
Fenugreek
Fenugreek seeds are a great and a scientifically proven way to increase natural testosterone levels.
That alone basically means that fenugreek also stimulates growth hormone (remember: growth hormone & testosterone will rise in correlation with each other).
However researchers have also found out that the steroidal saponins in fenugreek seeds may have some growth hormone enhancing benefits too, even without the aid of a boost in testosterone.
The Journal of Chemistry & Biodiversity reported in 2008 that newly found saponins extracted from fenugreek managed to create a staggering 12,5-17,5 fold increase in growth hormone secretion, mind you in rats however.
Further research in humans is needed to validate these claims, but as fenugreek has been shown to increase testosterone levels in human trials, that alone is a fact that makes fenugreek seeds a potential growth hormone enhancer in humans too.
Here’s a great choice for organic Fenugreek powder
Conclusion
The world of growth hormone enhancers and HGH supplements is full of biased marketing and snake oil salesmen.
If you’re thinking about boosting HGH levels with supplementation, then those compounds explained in this post are much better options than those flashy bottles at your local bodybuilding supplement stores.
PS: Click Here to Read My Review About The Acclaimed Testosterone I/O.
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