Can HGH Really Increase Your Height?

There is a natural way to boost your height and become a little taller. The logic is simple, just find ways of improving the levels of growth hormone in the body. Growth hormone, just as the name suggests, is a hormone produced in the anterior pituitary gland to promote growth.

Among its numerous functions, it characteristically increases bone mineralization and also help in building muscle mass to improve height and stature. For this reasons, people from all walks of life have always tried using growth hormone to boost their height.

The production of growth hormone decreases with increasing age because the body finds no need producing something that you won’t necessarily need. So the somatotropic cells in the pituitary will just produce sufficient growth hormone to maintain normal metabolic processes and keep your muscle tone in check.

But why does this happen to adults only? What could be the reason behind it? Well, this is what I want to explain to you.

First questions first: 

Can HGH Increase Height in Adults?

The simplest answer to this question is, No.

Growth hormone cannot increase height in adults. To better understand the how and the why of this concept, let us first explore the normal physiology of growth and development.

The process of bone formation is the reason why people grow taller. Any defect in bone development will certainly lead to developmental anomalies such as dwarfism.

The scientific term for bone formation and development is osteogenesis. Ideally, the entire skeleton begins to form when the embryo is barely 8 weeks old through to twelve weeks inside the mother’s womb.

The process continues in childhood and adolescence. Physiologically, there are three major types cells that maintain a balance in bone development. One group of cells called osteoblasts actively form the bone matter by constant addition of minerals such as calcium.

On the other hand, another group of cells called osteoclasts actively destroys the bone matter. Essentially, there is a balance between bone formation and bone destruction to ensure that your bones are always “new”.

The third type of cell is perhaps the most important stimulator of growth. It is called the chondrocyte.

Chondrocytes are not really cells of the bone but are derived from a precursor of bones called cartilage. It is the cartilage that proliferates to form the bone and this process is mediated by chondrocytes.

Cartilage is found at the end of bones where growth usually occur. The bottom therefore is: bones cannot increase in length without cartilage.

Growth hormone only goes as far as activating IGF-1 to complete the process of stimulating growth at the growth plates located at the end of bones. Other hormones such as thyroid hormone, calcitonin and sex hormones also enhance bone formation. The major antagonist of bone formation is parathyroid hormone which increases the activity of osteoclast to destroy bone.

So,

Does Growth Hormone Affect Height?

Yes, growth hormone affects the height of an individual. Actually, it the major regulator of growth. Although growth does not take place in adulthood, the stimulatory effects of growth hormone on the activity of osteoblasts which form the bone substance are widely appreciated by athletes and body builders who supplement growth hormone to make them stronger.

This activity is made possible because there are two mechanisms of bone growth. Interstitial and appositional growth.

Interstitial growth is the proliferation of chondrocytes of the cartilage at the growth plates of the bone. This type of growth is responsible for increase in height as the bone lengthens from its ends.

Appositional growth on the other hand refers to the increase in thickness and diameter of bone. It does not contribute to height development. In adult hood when the gain of height is not possible, the effects of growth hormone supplementation follows the route of appositional growth hence the reason why bodybuilders have stronger and thicker bones.

But why is it not possible for adults to increase in height?

Can HGH make you taller?

 In November of 2008, a study which had begun in 1988 was completed. The study subjects were 151 abnormally short children. They were selected for the study, not necessarily because they were deficient in growth hormone but because they were abnormally short.

The team who took on this study were Swedish researchers who were led by the professor of pediatrics at the University of Gothenburg, Kerstin AlbertssonWikland, MD, PHD. The children entered the study in 1988 and were to be followed for a period of 20 years.

This is how it was done,

The children were either assigned no treatment or two different dosages of growth hormone. The growth hormone dosages were administered for a period of 6 years. The lower dose was set at 33 micrograms per kilogram of body weight and the higher dose was set at twice the amount – 66 micrograms per kilogram body weight.

Despite the successful treatment of growth anomalies and short stature in children, endocrinologists also that growth hormone can increase height by some inches within a few months or years. But, it can also cause premature onset of puberty which rapidly causes fusion of growth plates. In the end, the overall growth period shall have been shortened thus limiting the final height of an individual.

Here is why HGH for height doesn’t work for adults

 The growth plates at the end of bones do not remain patent during the entire life of an individual. At some point in life, the growth plates close in a process called ossification.

What age do growth plates close?

On a general scale, the growth plate of women can close as early as age 12 to 14 years while that of men may close at age 14 to 16 years. These averages are quite low due to the large disparity in growth plate closure among individual.

However, experts currently hold to the fact that no growth continues after the age of 21 years. Therefore, irrespective of any other factors influencing growth, all growth plates should have closed by the age of 21.

The closing of growth plates is associated with a reduction in the proliferative ability of chondrocytes and the amount of cartilage ate the end of bones. And as we had stated earlier in this text, your bones cannot literally increase in size if you lack cartilage and chondrocytes at the end of bones.

Growth hormone for height doesn’t work once the growth plates have closed and that is why it cannot be used to increase the height of a person once he or she has reached adulthood.

You may still have the opportunity to increase your height – if only your growth plates have not closed completely. The good news about this is that you can do it naturally and at your own convenience. Read on and find out how to increase growth hormone for height. 

How Can I Release HGH Naturally for Height?

It is very convenient to increase the body levels of human growth hormone. This is because the hormone is produced naturally in the body. What you have to do is to find a way of stimulating its synthesis and release.

Interestingly, this can be done simply by adhering to certain principles of diet and lifestyle.  Here is a list of what to do when you want to increase HGH naturally for height.

1. Start by losing your body fat

Although HGH help in lowering the total amount of fats in the body, having so much fat stored in your adipose tissue can actually reduce the synthesis and secretion of HGH. This study particularly found out that people who had three times the amount of belly fat compared to those individuals in their control group had less than half the usual amount of HGH.

Interestingly, high amount of body fat is more likely to impair HGH synthesis and secretion in men than in women. Additional, those who are obese have low levels of IGF-1. These factors contributed to by excess body fat significantly reduces the ability of growth hormone to boost your height.

2. Reduce your daily sugar intake

Research has shown that an increase in the amount of insulin potentially lowers the production of growth hormone.

Food that contain sugar and refined carbs are known to raise the levels of insulin the most. As a result, if you ration or eliminate excess sugar form your diet, then you will lower the levels of insulin in your blood which consequently encourages the synthesis and release of growth hormone.

According to this study, normal individual have about 3 to 4 times more growth hormone in their system than those with poor control of insulin such as in diabetes.

Since what you eat profoundly affect your health and your hormone levels, it is important to maintain a healthy and balanced diet.

3. Don’t eat too much just before you go to bed

Human growth hormone is naturally produced in the body at night. And ideally, meals on a general scale increase the production of insulin.

This is the reason why most experts will warn you against eating meals just before you go to bed. If you find it hard to abide by this method, insulin levels usually decrease about 3 to 4 hours after meals. So you should consider eating averagely 3 to 4 hours before bedtime.

4. Exercise intensively

Most trainers and gym instructors will tell you that exercise is one of the most effective ways of increasing growth hormone naturally. What is the science behind it?

Intense exercise creates a physiologic need for a lot of energy supply to the muscle for repair and growth. This energy can be mobilized form either of the three sources of energy: carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

This metabolic role of increasing the amount of energy is actively controlled by growth hormone. As a result, the body will naturally produce large amount of growth hormone in response to intense exercise to increase metabolic activities in the muscle.

5. Optimize your duration of sleep

HGH is mostly produced during sleep. As a result, enjoying adequate amount of sleeping time ensures that your HGH levels are optimized as well.

Studies now reveal that getting enough sleep is one of the sure ways of increasing the amounts of growth hormone on the long term.

If you are having trouble catching some sleep, you can try out melatonin supplements. They are helpful initiators of sleep in people with insomnia. You can also minimize on your caffeine intake especially at night.

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6. Try HGH supplements

The market for HGH supplementation is always at all-time high. Since the business is very lucrative and the profits are large, you should be wary of counterfeit HGH supplement products that may not yield any results.

Conclusion

 HGH for height is very effective only when it is used to treat developmental anomalies in children. There are no significant results when used in adulthood. However, HGH supplements can be used for other benefits other than increase in height – such as in bodybuilding and alleviating symptoms of old age.

References

1. Hunter WM, Friend JA, Strong JA. The diurnal pattern of plasma growth hormone concentration in adults. J Endocrinol. 1966 Feb;34(2):139–146.
2. Schalch DS. The influence of physical stress and exercise on growth hormone and insulin secretion in man. J Lab Clin Med. 1967 Feb;69(2):256–269.
3. Roth J, Glick SM, Yalow RS, Berson SA. Secretion of human growth hormone: physiologic and experimental modification. 1963 Jul; 12:577–579.
4. Jacoby JH, Smith E, Sassin JF, Greenstein M, Weitzman ED. Altered growth of hormone secretory pattern following prolonged sleep deprivation in the rhesus monkey. 1975;18(1):9–15.