Human Growth Hormone: A Modern-Day Fountain of Youth?

Explorer Ponce de Leon’s search for the mythical fountain of youth in the sixteenth century set off a quest for youthfulness that continues quite intensely today. Nowadays, the fountain is more likely to be a syringe filled with an anti-aging compound called human growth hormone (hGH). Produced by the pituitary gland at the base of your brain, hGH controls the growth spurts that occur during childhood. It is secreted throughout your lifetime, but tapers off dramatically in your thirties.

Anti-aging advocates theorize that supplementing with a synthetic version of hGH can restore the hormone to youthful levels and thus make you look and feel younger. Currently, hGH supplementation is the hottest anti- aging trend around, and many people – including some of the rich and famous – are injecting the hormone in hopes of turning back the age clock.

Does hGH Deliver on its Anti-Aging Promise?

In the 1990s, a few small studies of older men and women found that hGH increased muscle and burned fat. (You lose muscle and gain fat as you age.) Other research suggests that hGH may slow age-related bone loss. These findings, however, do not prove that hGH necessarily reverses or slows the aging process.

Writing in a 2000 issue of Geriatrics, a group of scientists had this to say: "Hormones such as DHEA, human growth hormone, and testosterone tend to decline with aging, but the therapeutic value of replacing them to normal physiologic levels has not been substantiated by controlled clinical trials." Translation: Many of the assertions for hGH supplementation go beyond research and are nothing more than hype. Unsubstantiated claims include that hGH can boost immunity, restore energy, increase sex drive, and prevent disease.

Physicians at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, caution that the only people who should be supplementing with hGH are those with a medically verified defect in normal hGH production. A major reason for this warning has to do with the side effects of taking hGH. Those side effects include fluid retention (which increases the risk of high blood pressure and heart failure), progressive overgrowth of body issues, arthritis, and diabetes. Also noteworthy: a year’s worth of hGH can cost more than $10,000.

Boost hGH Naturally

Fortunately, there are some non-medical ways to naturally boost your body’s own secretion of hGH, particularly if you’re an exerciser who works out with weights. Research shows that consuming a mixed carbohydrate/protein supplement immediately after weight training triggers the release of hGH and other hormones that are conducive to muscle growth.

A case in point: At the University of Texas in Austin, nine male strength trainers were given water (which served as the control), a carbohydrate supplement, a protein supplement, or a carbohydrate/protein supplement. The subjects took their designated supplement immediately after working out and again two hours later. Right after exercise and throughout the next eight hours, the researchers drew blood samples to determine the levels of various muscle-building hormones in the blood, including insulin, testosterone, and human growth hormone.

The most significant finding was that the carbohydrate/protein supplement sparked the greatest elevations in insulin and growth hormone. Clearly, protein works hand in hand with post-exercise carbohydrates to create a hormonal environment that’s highly conducive to muscle rowth. Muscle helps your body burn fat more efficiently too. Being leaner and more fit helps you look and feel younger.

Other ways you can naturally stimulate hGH release include eating a higher protein diet, avoiding stress, and getting adequate sleep (maximal hGH release occurs during deep sleep).

Is Anti-Aging Therapy Compatible with Christianity?

If you’re considering some sort of anti-aging therapy, perhaps you’ve asked yourself: Can Christians defend a desire to look and feel younger? The answer to that question lies squarely in Scripture, says Christian counselor and mental health therapist Judith Schwambach, Ph.D. "Interestingly, much of the Bible was written not to a culture that worshiped youth, but to one that revered the aged. Job asked, ‘Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?’ (Job 12:12).

"So ironically, when both the Old and New Testaments were written, there was cultural pressure to look older than you actually were – exactly the opposite of today’s cultural pressure to look younger." Schwambach feels that the strongest biblical support for anti-aging strategies is found not in cosmetic reasons, but in the desire to achieve optimum health. She points to 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 as proof: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."

"It seems in keeping with Scripture, therefore, to conclude that any anti-aging strategy that harms your body for the sake of mere appearance is wrong," Schwambach explains. "Conversely, an anti-aging strategy that genuinely improves your health is desirable and good."

Finally, she offers this advice for consideration: "People who are obsessed with looking younger are often plagued by self-doubt and fear they have little to offer apart from their appearance. Most well-adjusted people don’t mind looking their age. They’re comfortable with who they are."

This article is courtesy of Christian Single.

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