Medically CitedIn This Article
HGH For Weight Loss
For people struggling with excess weight, online companies are offering products they claim that can do miracles as weight loss products.
Human growth hormone (HGH), which is naturally produced by the pituitary gland, is one such product. The origin of selling HGH as a weight loss solution stems from a study from 1990, published in the New England Journal of Medicine that showed positive results for weight loss in subjects given HGH injections. However, subsequent studies denounced the 1990s study research, claiming it was being misused. [1]
It is now possible to buy HGH injections online, which keeps people away from all the authorities.
Growth hormone production (GH production) is legal and is essential in the medical setting for people who have HGH deficiency, such as those suffering from dwarfism or Turner’s syndrome. [2]
Clinics, such as National HRT, offer legal HGH injections to those who are in need of such treatments. [3]
Read on to learn all about HGH and its role in weight loss.
What is HGH?
HGH is a protein hormone produced by the pituitary gland, a pea-sized gland located at the base of the brain. [4]
As the name suggests, HGH stimulates longitudinal growth in children and adolescence. In adults, HGH helps in maintaining healthy body composition, i.e. the ratio of muscle, body, and fat.
A deficit in HGH in childhood can cause developmental problems. The production of HGH naturally decreases with age and this can result in weight and health problems.
For people who have a deficit of this hormone, scientists have developed ways to compensate for this deficit.
At first, the hormone was extracted from cadaver tissues, but studies showed this caused in some cases to develop the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a degenerative disease of the brain. So, scientists needed to find new ways of providing patients with growth hormones and they did so thanks to the bacteria E. coli.
The hormone is produced in a laboratory setting by a complicated procedure involving E. coli bacteria.
The result is a biologically identical equivalent to HGH known as recombinant human growth hormone (RHGH).
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*All individuals are unique. Your results can and will vary.
HGH Injections: When and Why?
Clinics, such as National HRT will offer rhGH injections to patients in need. The clinic offers a wide range of hormone replacement therapies and HGH injections are one of them. Hormone replacement therapy helps with the replacement of muscle strength, the improvement of sexual ability, and the reduction of bone loss. The clinic will only provide HGH therapy to people who show a deficit in this hormone that is determined via some blood tests.
According to their staff, young and healthy adults who struggle with a few extra pounds are not candidates for this type of hormone injection therapy.
In fact, taking HGH injections when you already have optimal amounts of the Growth Hormone in your body can cause your pituitary to stop making GH by having a negative effect on your hypothalamus. [5]
Some of the undesirable bad side effects including:
- Joint pain
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Hypoglycemia
- Muscle damage
As far as research on the effects such injections has on obesity, studies claim its effects are insignificant.
Studies proved that obese adults had a deficiency of HGH in their body; this probably resulted in carbohydrates in their bodies being turned to fat instead of usable energy. [6]
HGH injections have improved muscle and bone mass in these subjects but no significant weight loss.
The effectiveness was low and scientists believe there are better and safer ways of losing weight.
Misuse of HGH
HGH products in the form of pills and powders are sold online despite the FDA’s disapproval. Other than that, the hormone in a pill or powder form will not do anything to your body because of HGH, being a protein, which is broken down in your stomach. This is why clinicians inject this hormone directly into your bloodstream. [7]
But some companies will offer illegal injections to people; these companies are putting people in danger.
Some Gyms and people working in sports use this hormone to improve muscle mass.
Physicians do not advise such practices because, although injecting HGH will increase lean mass, it won’t improve overall strength.
HGH injections are only safe and helpful if there is a deficiency of this hormone in your body that might be caused by pituitary gland diseases or aging.
Blood tests need to be taken to determine the level of this hormone in your body. Also, doctors have to assess your body organs as having an excess of this hormone can have a detrimental side effect on your health.
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*All individuals are unique. Your results can and will vary.
Final Verdict
To conclude, taking HGH products is not an effective way to lose weight . In fact, it can be risky and the results won’t be significant. You must be familiar with the role of this hormone in the metabolism of carbohydrates to know if it will help you with your weight issues.
If you are an older person, struggling with excess fat and poor muscle mass, doctors or clinics such as National HRT can determine if you are a candidate for HGH injections.
If you are a young person, then you already probably have sufficient amounts of this hormone in your body so you’ll have to look for other ways to lose weight.
Buying powder or weight loss pills in the form of HGH is a waste of time and money.
7 Sources
We review published medical research in respected scientific journals to arrive at our conclusions about a product or health topic. This ensures the highest standard of scientific accuracy.
[1] Effects of Human Growth Hormone in Men over 60 Years Old: New England Journal of Medicine[2] Rezaei M, Zarkesh-Esfahani SH. Optimization of production of recombinant human growth hormone in Escherichia coli. J Res Med Sci. 2012;17(7):681-685.
[3] National HRT: https://www.hgha.com/
[4] Brain Hormones: pituitary gland
[5] Rasmussen MH. Obesity, growth hormone and weight loss. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2010 Mar 25;316(2):147-53. doi: 10.1016/j.mce.2009.08.017. Epub 2009 Aug 31. PMID: 19723558.
[6] Gertner JM. Effects of growth hormone on body fat in adults. Horm Res. 1993;40(1-3):10-5. doi: 10.1159/000183761. PMID: 8300043. Format:
[7] FDA’s disapproval: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cms_ia/importalert_204.html
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