HGH: Your Secret Weapon in the Battle Against Aging
You might remember something about this from high school health class: Your pituitary gland releases a cocktail of hormones. This includes human growth hormone, or HGH. And while HGH plays a big part in puberty and growth when you’re younger, it also remains part of your hormonal makeup all through your life. In fact, some of your more obvious signs of aging—from increased body fat to fine lines, decreased energy, and even changes in sleep—have been associated with the ebb and flow of HGH in your body.
If you weren’t paying attention in 10th grade health, we can help: Stick with us while we give you a crash course on HGH and why we think it might be your secret weapon in the battle against aging.
What Is HGH and What Does It Do?
Human growth hormone is created and secreted by the pituitary gland, which sits deep within the brain. When you’re young, it creates the building blocks for muscle and bone growth. It peaks during puberty, and then through your twenties HGH production remains pretty constant, continuing to contribute to everything from efficient fat usage to cognitive function. But, according to the National Library of Medicine’s National Center for Biotechnology Information, after your 30s your HGH production begins to nosedive to the tune of a 15% decline each decade.
Human growth hormone is equally important for both men and women. When functioning well, HGH is associated with things like:
- Stimulating lean muscle growth, so your gym sessions make more of a difference in your body composition
- Maintaining healthy blood flow
- Stimulating collagen production (hello, firm and youthful skin!)
- Strengthening the underlying substructure of the skin’s critical architecture
- Utilizing fat storage more efficiently
You can start to see why a drastic reduction in your HGH production may have such detrimental effects. Increased body fat, low energy, poor sleep, fine lines, and reduced skin elasticity –they could all be signs that your HGH levels aren’t what they used to be.
How Do I Encourage HGH Production?
You can’t stop your body from producing less HGH over time – it’s a part of aging. Still, while your body might not be producing as much human growth hormone as it did when you were in your twenties, there are things you can do to help give your natural HGH production a boost.
The secret to understanding HGH is knowing your body doesn’t secrete a steady flow of the hormone, but releases it in short bursts after HGH-friendly events or behaviors. Therefore, if you want to encourage your body to make more HGH (and enjoy all the benefits of more youthful HGH levels), you’ll need to support those quick spikes in production via your daily habits. Here are some things that can help.
Healthy Sleep Habits
Most of your body’s HGH production happens when you’re asleep: up to 75 percent! Sleep is one of the most effective ways to support your body and mind, especially when it comes to HGH. If you struggle to get restful sleep, try doing an analysis of some of your habits to see what could be disrupting a healthy sleep cycle. Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep per night, limit caffeine intake after noon, and switch off your electronics an hour before bed to see if those changes results in better shuteye.
Lower Refined Sugar Intake
Research shows that insulin spikes can inhibit the release of human growth hormone. And because foods that are high in refined sugar (think soda, baked goods, and overdoing it on the pasta) can cause those spikes in insulin, choosing complex carbs and foods high in protein and fiber can help support HGH levels.
Try Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting has become quite popular, and one of its benefits is improving glucose metabolism. Like we just talked about, glucose (sugar) can cause insulin spikes. Improving your body’s ability to metabolize sugar can help prevent insulin spikes, which can in turn help support HGH production.
Take Supplements
Skipping out on high sugar helps, but your diet might still need a boost to get your HGH to more optimal levels. SeroVital contains a patented Renewal Complex, which is backed by 4 clinical trials and shown to boost your body’s own production of HGH to more youthful levels. Plus, the Renewal Complex has been shown to support deeper, more restorative sleep.*
SeroVital ADVANCED also contains the Renewal Complex, along with clinically validated ingredients shown to reduce wrinkles, improve skin elasticity and hydration, encourage weight loss, suppress appetite, and boost energy.*
Daily High-Intensity Activities
If you want a quick burst of HGH production, physical activity gives your brain the go-ahead. Exercise, particularly high intensity interval training (HIIT), is a proven way to train your brain to produce HGH. The calculation for reaping the benefits of HIIT for HGH is 10 minutes of exercise in your “lactate threshold,” or 65-85% of your maximum heart rate. Not only will those 10 minutes of intense exercise stimulate HGH production, they may also support that production for up to 24 hours after your workout. Make a plan to hop on a spin bike, take a brisk walk around the block, or attend an aerobic dance class: Even a short workout can have long-lasting effects on your HGH.
Getting older can sometimes feel like an uphill battle, and when you try to focus on one challenge at a time, you find yourself losing ground. Human growth hormone is one of the best tools in your arsenal to tackle several issues at the same time. By taking care of your body and mind, you’ll support your HGH production and arm yourself with a secret weapon against some of the most obvious signs and symptoms of aging.