HGH or Human growth hormone, is an endogenous hormone (secreted by human pituitary gland) and is responsible for growth and development in children. The secretion of growth hormone is highest in childhood years and decline as the person ages. In the absence of growth hormone, children may not reach their normal genetic height. Researchers and scientists attribute aging signs to partial decline in the serum levels of growth hormone and currently research is underway to slow down the aging process with supplemental growth hormone formulations.

How to Increase HGH Naturally

Secretion of human growth hormone is not uniform in all individuals and even in same individuals at different points of life or during the course of the day. Growth hormone secretion can be enhanced naturally in younger children and adolescents to achieve growth spurt. Here are a few natural tips:

1. Sleep Properly and Restfully

In a normal individual, most of the human growth hormone is produced during deep stages of sleep. Research suggests that the quality and duration of sleep plays a very important role in the growth and development due to alterations in the production of growth hormone. An average of 7 to 9 hours of quality uninterrupted sleep helps in naturally increasing your hormone secretion. Although time of the day doesn’t matter but night-sleep is more helpful because of higher melatonin secretion (due to dark). You can improve your sleep quality by using methods below.

• Adjust the temperature of your room before going to bed.
• Limit your soda, caffeine and water intake before bedtime.
• If you have trouble sleeping, you can also get benefitted from aromatherapy, sound therapy and massage therapy.

2. Stop Eating Before Bedtime

Healthcare providers advice to avoid consumption of heavy meals 2 to 3 hours before bedtime. This is important for a number of reasons besides a higher risk of obesity and impaired digestion. This includes an impaired insulin response and resulting impairments in the secretion of human growth hormone. Serological testing indicates that the secretion of human growth hormone decreases when the insulin levels are high in the body.

3. Fast Intermittently

As discussed previously, higher insulin levels in the serum eventually decreases the serum production of human growth hormone. For best results, intermittent fasting is suggested not only for a better blood sugar profile and optimal digestion, but also for the higher release of human growth hormone. The duration of intermittent fasting greatly varies, but generally a fast of 12 t0 18 hours per day is generally considered sufficient thrice in a week for health benefits and to increase human growth hormone production.

4. Practice Intense Workouts

Exercise or physical activity causes stretch of muscles, ligaments and tendons that is directly associated with an increase in the production and release of human growth hormone. The higher the intensity of exercise, higher will be the secretion of hormone. Examples of some intense work-outs include pull-ups, push- ups, weight lifting, compound exercises, sledgehammer exercises, biking, cardio-training and other forms of work-outs.

Ideally, the best time for your intense body work-outs is morning (when you have sufficiently low levels of insulin because of an over-night fast).

5. Lose Weight

It is recommended to maintain your total body weight under tight control (according to your body mass index). Morbid obesity is a leading cause of disturbed sleep and related disorders like sleep apnea and snoring due to laxity of respiratory muscles. Additionally, obesity is directly associated with partial insulin resistance due to down-regulation of insulin receptors. Make sure to choose healthy weight loss strategies and limit your intake of high sugar foods to decrease the risk of insulin resistance.

6. Produce More L-Dopa

L- Dopa is the precursor chemical for dopamine that is associated with sleep as well as high growth hormone secretion from pituitary gland. There are a number of healthy methods that can help you in increasing your L- Dopa levels and in turn HGH levels.

• You can consume over- the-counter herbal supplements like Mucuna pruriens that naturally increase L- Dopa concentration.
• Consider increasing your intake of certain foods like fava beans and velvet.
• You can also consume foods that are high in L-Phenylalanine or L-Tyrosine like high quality proteins (beef, poultry and sea-foods).
• Increasing the supplemental intake of other essential amino-acids like L-Phenylalanine or L-Tyrosine is also known to improve L- Dopa levels.

7. Cleanse Your Liver

Liver is the primary and most important organ for detoxification of bodily wastes. If you have poor dietary habits, you are very likely to have an unhealthy liver (that may not produce any disease symptoms but it may stop your liver from performing to its full extent). In order to achieve the benefits of human growth hormone, it is very important to cleanse your liver. This can be achieved by limiting the intake of processed, toxic foods and eliminating alcohol and exogenous drugs from your diet.

Research suggests that all the HGH produced by the pituitary gland is taken up by liver and metabolized to produce IGF-1 (or insulin like growth factors) that is responsible for anti- aging, protein building, growth and development functions of HGH.

8. Laugh More

Being happy is another way of increasing your human growth hormone levels (by suppressing the release of stress hormones). Indulge yourself in positive and fun activities like watching movies and having fun with friends. Researchers from Loma Linda University proved that the serum concentration of HGH increases 87% after watching a fun/ comedy movie.

9. Maintain Healthy Diet

For health benefits and high growth hormone secretion, researchers suggest consuming a diet that has low glycemic index like brown rice, wheat pasta, sweet potato, apples and pears. High glycemic foods like sugary beverages, bakery items are not only a leading cause of obesity but also decrease the release of HGH.

10. Consume Nutritional Supplements

You can also get benefitted from the nutritional supplements like:

• Melatonin has proven efficacy in increasing HGH levels by 157% of consumed in a dose of 0.5 mg to 5mg before bedtime.
• GABA can be consumed in a dose up to 3 g before bedtime and has been associated with a steady increase of up to 200%.
• Glutamine is yet another essential amino- acid that can be consumed in a dose up to 10g after a workout session or before bedtime.
• GPC (also known as Alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine) is consumed in a dose of 600 mg after workout or exercise to stimulate the release of HGH.