Human Growth Hormone: 13 Ways to Increase HGH Naturally

Human growth hormone (HGH) is an important hormone that assists with cell repair and metabolism. Ways to increase HGH naturally include taking arginine, reducing body fat, getting better quality sleep, and other strategies.

Human growth hormone (HGH) is an important hormone that assists with cell repair and metabolism. Those with low HGH levels are often at a greater risk of having certain diseases. For this reason, your HGH level is considered a good indicator of your overall health condition. 

Your lifestyle choices, diet, and body fat composition all have an effect on this hormone. This is one reason why you should eat and live healthily, as that could help to increase the HGH levels in your body.

Human growth hormone (HGH) — commonly called growth hormone — is a hormone produced by your pituitary gland, which is located at the base of your brain. HGH performs various important functions in the body like fueling childhood growth, regulating metabolism, and maintaining body composition.

Low HGH levels indicate poor quality of life and a higher possibility of gaining weight. On the other hand, optimal levels of HGH help with injury recovery, athletic performance, and weight loss. This is because growth hormone plays a key role in repair and recovery-related metabolic functions.

HGH is highly influenced by diet, lifestyle, and body fat composition, making it possible to boost human growth hormone levels using natural means.

These are some of the research-backed ways to boost human growth hormone levels naturally in your body:

Control your sugar intake. High insulin levels are known to lower the levels of growth hormone in the body. Since sugar and refined carbs — such as pasta, white rice, and white bread — have the highest chance of increasing your insulin levels, lowering their intake could have a big impact on your HGH levels.

Several studies show that people with insulin problems (like diabetes, improper insulin function, and reduced carbohydrate tolerance) have much lower human growth hormone levels compared to those without such medical conditions. However, you may eat sugary treats once in a while, since doing so won't have any long-term effects on your HGH levels. The important thing is to eat a healthy, balanced diet with the right amounts of all essential nutrients. 

Time your meals properly. Your body produces greater amounts of growth hormones at night. Insulin levels, meanwhile, rise rapidly immediately after a meal and take 2 to 3 hours to stabilize. Therefore, it's best to keep a minimum 2-hour gap between the last meal of your day and your bedtime. 

Some studies have also observed the negative effects of a high-protein or high-carb diet on HGH activity at night. However, more research is needed to confirm these findings. Nonetheless, you should still avoid having food right before going to sleep, as that would definitely spike your insulin levels and interfere with HGH production. 

Eat glutamine-rich food. Glutamine is a powerful amino acid that can cause a significant increase in HGH levels, even at small doses. Scientists have found that taking just a 2 mg dose of this amino acid could temporarily boost human growth hormone levels by as much as 78%.

If you wish to take a more natural route, you could add glutamine-rich foods to your diet. Such foods include spinach, meat, eggs, fish, and unsweetened yogurt.

Try intermittent fasting. Since fasting has an effect on your body's insulin levels and fat content, it also influences your HGH levels. Studies have found that fasting for 3 days could lead to a 300% increase in the level of growth hormone. After 7 days of fasting, HGH secretion can increase by 1250%. Scientists have found similar results in other studies, which showed that fasting for just 2 or 3 days could increase HGH levels by 2 or 3 times.

Since fasting continuously for many days is not considered to be sustainable, medical experts recommend fasting intermittently. This is a popular way of fasting in which people eat only for specific and short periods of time. For example, one approach requires fasting for 16 hours every day and eating in the remaining 8-hour window. For another approach, people eat just 500 to 600 calories 2 days a week.

Eat foods made with coconut oil. Besides its many health benefits, coconut oil is also known for its ability to cause an HGH surge within 30 to 90 minutes of consumption. This is why it's often recommended to have foods made with this oil for a rapid increase in HGH levels. 

It has been seen that the levels of growth hormone stay high for almost 4 hours after consuming coconut oil. Therefore, by having it once in the morning and then again in the late afternoon, you can maintain your HGH levels throughout the day. 

Take arginine supplements alone. You may have been told to take arginine supplements while exercising, but studies show that doing so has very little or no effect on your HGH levels. Rather, it's better to take these supplements on their own. 

However, before taking the supplements, confirm with your doctor or dietician what dose would actually benefit you. While small doses (6 to 10 grams) of arginine per day don't have any significant impact on HGH levels, high doses (15 to 20 grams) of arginine per day could boost human growth hormone levels by almost 60% at night. High doses, however, should only be taken following consultation with a doctor.

Reduce body fat. Scientists have found a strong link between high belly fat content and low HGH production. In one study, people saw a sharp increase in the levels of their growth hormone when they lost fat from their abdominal area. Another study showed that HGH levels were reduced by half in those who had 3 times the amount of abdominal fat compared to the control group.

Although both men and women see a rise in their growth hormone levels after losing some weight, this effect is stronger in men. This could be because it's more common for men to gain belly fat, which is considered the most harmful kind of stored fat. 

Improve your sleep quality. Your pituitary gland releases the maximum amount of growth hormone during your sleep. HGH levels rise and fall based on the pattern of your sleep cycle. For example, HGH production is commonly the highest before midnight and significantly lesser during the early morning. 

Studies have found that not getting proper sleep could be a big factor behind low growth hormone levels. This is why you have to always try to get a decent night of sleep to improve your HGH production in the long term. 

To improve your sleep quality, make sure you are not exposed to blue light before bedtime and that your room is at a comfortable temperature. 

Take melatonin supplements. Melatonin is an important hormone that plays a key role in helping you to fall asleep. This is why many take it in supplement forms to sleep better and for a longer duration. Doing so could also improve your hormone levels since studies have found that melatonin supplements have a direct effect on HGH production.

While melatonin supplements are generally considered to be safe and non-toxic, they have the potential to affect your brain chemistry, so you should always talk to your doctor before taking them, especially if you're pregnant. 

Have a sports drink while working out. Research shows that taking sports supplements boosts human growth hormone levels temporarily. Some studies have found that taking sports drinks towards the end of an exercise session could cause your HGH levels to rise for a short time. However, you may want to track the extra calories in the drink if you're trying to lose weight. 

Perform high-intensity exercises. Exercising is a great way to significantly increase your growth hormone levels. This increase, though, depends on many factors like your body's physiological traits, the amount of food eaten before a workout, as well as the type and intensity of the exercise. Research has found that among all forms of exercise, high-intensity exercises are most able to boost human growth hormone levels.

While different people exercise for different durations, it's best that your high-intensity workout lasts at least an hour. You could perform interval training, sprints, or weight training. All of these exercises will have a positive effect on your HGH levels.

Take GABA supplements. Gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) is an important neurotransmitter that sends signals around your brain and has a calming effect on your central nervous system. This is why many take its supplements to relax and improve their sleep quality, which, in turn, helps to temporarily increase HGH levels. 

Scientists have found that human growth hormone levels increase by 400% and 200% when GABA supplements are taken during rest and exercise, respectively.

Add ornithine to your diet. Ornithine is an amino acid that plays a vital role in protein synthesis and in increasing muscle mass. To boost your HGH levels, you could eat ornithine-rich food like fish, chicken, eggs, or beef. Research shows that taking ornithine supplements 30 minutes after your workout could also help to increase HGH production in your body.

It's possible to boost human growth hormone levels by improving your diet, exercise habits, and sleep quality, as well as by taking suitable amino acid supplements. However, you should talk to your doctor before making any drastic changes in your lifestyle or dietary habits. They may also be able to guide you regarding the correct use of supplements and warn you if those will clash with any existing medications. 

You should keep in mind that the natural methods of boosting HGH levels will work only if you're in a healthy condition. If you have a medical problem like growth hormone deficiency (GHD), you likely won't see any significant results even with these natural approaches. In such cases, it's best to receive proper treatment from your doctor.