A very dramatic finding to say the least!
In addition to fat loss and increases in muscles, several medical studies found that, subjects with higher levels of safe growth hormone also have more “healthy cells,” which defend against viruses and bad cells. For example, when subjects were given growth hormone, equivalent to the amount secreted in 24 hours (0.7 milligrams) the activity of their natural healthy cells increased by 80%.
Also, their lean body mass increased 3 pounds, and their fat mass decreased 5 lbs. All within just 2 weeks of receiving this small amount of additional growth hormone.
Growth Hormone is released from the pituitary gland located at the base of the brain in response to a number of complex conditions. We’ll just talk about those that relate to building muscle and burning fat.
Generally, about seven-tenths of a milligram of growth hormone is released naturally by the pituitary gland throughout a 24-hour period. About 50% of this amount is released within the first 4 hours of sleep. The remainder is released in response to a variety of stimuli such as...
1. Increased body temperature
2. Decreased blood glucose levels
3. Specific amino acid ingestion
4. Physical exercise
Although sleep is the major stimulator of growth hormone, physical exercise is next in line. In fact, growth hormones peak higher during exercise than during sleep. The amount of growth hormone released during exercise is influenced by several things...
1. Level of fitness
2. Exercise intensity
3. The amount of power output by the muscles
Another problem is, as we get older, less and less growth hormone is released. Growth hormone secretion begins to decline in the healthy adult population 20 and 30 years of age. This effect is attributed to aging alone and probably is the result of a defect in the releasing mechanisms that control growth hormone release rather than a defect in the manufacturing or storage of the hormone in the pituitary gland.
Recent studies conducted by Chalew Zadik and reported in the Journal of Clinical Endocrine Metabolism show that growth hormone (GH) peaks somewhere about age 20 and drops off sharply to age 40. From then, it’s almost zero. Yet when researchers examined 80-year-old cadavers, they found these 80-years-old pituitary glands to be full of growth hormone.
In other words, our body still manufactures ample amounts of growth hormone, but as we get older, we are unable to release as much into the bloodstream. Research has revealed that the daily release of growth hormone decreases steadily from adolescence until about 40 years of age, and eventually decreases to levels that are hard to detect by the time we reach 60 years of age.
It has also been demonstrated that non-exercising individuals who are 20% or more above their recommended body weight will have impaired growth hormone release. This effect is totally separate from that induced by aging alone. Fortunately, it has also been found that growth hormone release will return to normal when body weight returns to normal.
