Human Growth Hormone Injections and Weight Loss

The is evidence to support the use of human growth hormone injections (HGH) for weight loss and the management of obesity.

Several well-reviewed research studies have linked HGH injections with fat loss and muscle gain. There is a definite link between your level of HGH and your ability to metabolize or burn fat.

HGH is made and secreted by the pituitary gland. As the pituitary releases HGH, it helps convert the protein and fats in the foods you eat into energy for your cells. The conversion of fat into energy during this process is known as lipolysis or simply the burning of fat. HGH is an essential hormone for lipolysis.

People that have a growth hormone deficiency are far more likely to be obese because the less HGH you have available, the worse your body is at breaking down fat. So, instead of being converted into energy, it is stored as fat. In fact, one of the tell-tale signs of a growth hormone deficiency is being overweight, particularly having an excess amount of belly fat.

In addition to obesity, fat mass around your middle has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes. However, studies have found that HGH injections can help you to lose weight, manage obesity, and lower these risks.

There is a definite link between your HGH levels and your body mass or weight.

How HGH Works for Weight Loss

HGH can be effective for weight loss because of its impact on fat metabolism and the ability to build lean muscle. HGH is instrumental in your body’s ability to burn fat and more lean muscle even while at rest, further increases your metabolism and your ability to convert stored fat into energy.

The main way that HGH can help you to shed unwanted pounds, particularly around the middle, is that it improves lipolysis, which is your body’s ability to breakdown, stored triglycerides into free fatty acids — or more simply to “burn fat.”

In addition to enhancing your body’s ability to break down fats, HGH also helps you to take off weight by stimulating the release of more Insulin-like growth-factor-1 (IGF-1). People who are obese tend to suffer from “insulin resistance.”

When you have insulin resistance, insulin does not perform as efficiently, and therefore more sugars remain in your bloodstream, and more fat gets stored instead of converted to energy. IGF-1 stimulates fights insulin resistance by helping to move more glucose out of your bloodstream and into your cells. This will give you more energy, reduces your risk of diabetes, and help you to lose weight.

A recent study found that because of these mechanisms of action, HGH injections can prevent obesity. Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a genetic disorder that is characterized by poor muscle tone, failure to achieve growth milestones, and delayed development. Children with PWS also tend to be rather obese.

HGH injections are used to treat the stunted growth of children with PWS. This study found that in these children, HGH injections also helped to manage obesity. The study was published in the Endocrine Journal. The Japanese researchers followed several PWS patients that began HGH replacement therapy at around five years of age and were taken off of growth hormone therapy at around 18 years of age.

The researchers found that after a period of about six months after stopping growth hormone injections, the patient’s body mass index (BMI) increased by as much as nearly 40%.

The largest increases in fat were seen in the abdomen and internal organs, known as visceral adipose tissue, or VAT. "VAT accumulation is known to be more harmful and contribute more to obesity than fat that accumulates beneath the skin, or subcutaneous adipose tissue, or SAT," said the researchers.

The researchers also found that cessation of growth hormone therapy led to an increase in LDL (bad) cholesterol. High LDL cholesterol is a precursor to diabetes and obesity. Overall, the team concluded, “discontinuation of HGH therapy caused rapid increases in visceral adipose tissue and LDL cholesterol levels.”

The results of the research indicate that the continuation of growth hormone therapy could be beneficial in maintaining healthy body composition in children with GHD once they reach adulthood.

Can Growth Hormone Treatment Reduce Abdominal Visceral Fat?

While the study mentioned above was not conducted on overweight patients who did not have PWS, it clearly indicates how HGH can and does reduce abdominal visceral fat. The results of this study lend credence to the use of growth hormone therapy as a potential treatment for obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and/or any hormonal imbalance that leads to weight gain and muscle loss.

While growth hormone therapy is not currently approved by the FDA for weight loss, it is prescribed for patients with HIV to counteract the muscle loss typical of the disease. Furthermore, adults receiving growth hormone therapy as part of a hormone replacement program for peak performance and optimal aging have reported increased muscle mass, fat loss, and an overall improvement in body composition and energy.

How Is Growth Hormone Used to Manage Obesity?

Doctors and medical researchers know that obese individuals also almost always suffer from some degree of growth hormone deficiency.

HGH can help reduce the risk of obesity through its actions on two enzymes which are essential to lipolysis as well as and lipogenesis (storage and accumulation of fat). These enzymes are lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL).

Through its action on these two hormones, HGH reduces the uptake of free fatty acids by adipocytes (fat storage cells). HGH also stimulates the body to use free fatty acids (FFAs) and remove them from the bloodstream and convert glucose into energy through its effect on IGF-1.

How Effective is Growth Hormone for Weight Los and the Management of Obesity?

Currently, HGH is not being prescribed to patients specifically for weight loss. But if you are overweight and are exhibiting other symptoms of growth hormone deficiency and are prescribed growth hormone injections, you will lose weight and gain muscle mass.

The benefits of HGH for weight loss and reducing the risk of obesity and related syndromes have been well documented in various research studies. One of the earliest studies on the benefits of HGH – the landmark “Rudman Study” — found that the HGH can result in up to a 14% reduction of body fat with no additional exercising or dieting. Using a typical double-blind protocol, the study included men over 60 receiving three HGH injections per week.

The study found that there was a decrease of 14% in body fat and an increase of 8.8% muscle mass with no extra exercise, and there was also a slight increase in bone density.

Since then, many other studies have concluded that HGH is effective in reducing fat mass, especially visceral fat. A recent study on the effect of HGH therapy on weight loss found that for those in the study, "the range of loss in the first four weeks was between 9-17% of total body fat." That is significant weight loss within a noticeably short period of time of taking HGH injections.

While these studies indicate that HGH injections can be effective in improving fat metabolism even without any additional exercise or lifestyle changes, we know that for the best and quickest results, diet and exercise in combination with HGH therapy result in optimal weight loss and obesity management.

Research indicates that growth hormone injections can enhance your ability to lose weight and lower your risk of obesity.

Now that you know more about the links between HGH weight loss and obesity, why not take a minute to contact us and learn more about how testosterone replacement therapy can improve your quality of life.