20. The Truth About Growth Hormone Weight Loss Methods and Warnings of Serious Side Effects
Growth hormone weight loss method
Recently, many clinics, beauty salons, and slimming centers have begun to widely use growth hormone for weight loss and wrinkle removal, attracting many wealthy women and celebrities. However, we cannot help but feel worried about this trend, mainly because the results of current research on the cosmetic effects of growth hormone in various countries are unclear, and excessive secretion of human growth hormone can cause gigantism. Therefore, additional injections of growth hormone will inevitably cause significant side effects, ultimately resulting in a double loss.
What is growth hormone? Why is it becoming popular to inject growth hormone for weight loss? What is the relationship between growth hormone and weight loss? Let's clear up these confusions and give everyone a correct understanding.
growth hormone secretion
Human growth hormone (HGH) is secreted by the anterior pituitary gland in the brain. After secretion, HGH immediately enters the bloodstream, travels to the liver, is absorbed, and is converted into different growth hormones to perform various biochemical functions. HGH secretion follows a circadian rhythm. Generally, secretion is highest between 11 PM and 1 AM, but other factors can also stimulate secretion, such as exercise, stress, emotions, excitement, hunger, and even dieting. Furthermore, the amount of HGH secreted decreases with age, typically decreasing by 14% every 10 years from age 21 to 31. Therefore, by age 60, the amount of HGH in the body is only half that of a young person; by age 80, it is only one-fifth of what it was in youth.
The relationship between growth hormone and the human body
The development and growth of every organ in the body requires HGH and various growth hormones, and the secretion of each hormone must be normal for the human body's organs to develop normally.
The amazing effects of growth hormone
We all know that growth hormone was originally intended to help children with insufficient growth hormone secretion grow taller and bigger. However, with the research and application of growth hormone, people have also discovered that growth hormone has several amazing effects on the human body:
◎Burning fat is a natural weight loss method that doesn't require dieting. Growth hormone can convert fat into energy, accelerating the fat-burning process.
◎Increase the amount of lean muscle in muscles.
◎It can enhance the body's immune system.
It can eliminate wrinkles and promote hair regrowth.
◎It can prevent heart disease and stroke, and lower blood pressure.
◎Promotes the growth of cardiomyocytes.
◎It enhances and restores memory and helps with sleep.
◎Enhances sexual ability and promotes libido.
◎ It can directly stimulate and promote the growth of new bone.
Growth hormone can regenerate almost every organ in the body, including the brain, heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys. These organs gradually decline with age, but growth hormone can regenerate them.
Because of the above-mentioned effects of growth hormone on the human body, modern medicine has begun to use growth hormone extensively in various treatments. However, the use of growth hormone can produce some side effects, which is something that cannot be ignored. Therefore, the abuse of growth hormone should be avoided.
The relationship between growth hormone and weight loss
"Burn fat, a natural weight loss method without dieting." What an enticing advertising slogan! It is precisely because of the allure of beauty that many women who pursue a slim figure have joined the ranks of those using growth hormones for weight loss.
Research has found that injecting growth hormone can indeed redistribute body fat, converting excess fat into fatty acids, and also increase mucopolysaccharides in subcutaneous elastic tissue, making the skin firmer and more elastic.
Why does growth hormone have a weight-loss effect? The main reason is that fat cells have so-called "growth hormone receptors." When growth hormone binds to these receptors, it triggers a series of enzymatic reactions within the cell that break down fat, a process known as "lipolysis."
On the other hand, growth hormone also increases energy levels, thus actually increasing the chances of burning calories. Furthermore, while insulin promotes fat production, growth hormone inhibits insulin; therefore, without growth hormone to suppress insulin, fat cells would expand without restraint.
In addition to theoretical research finding that growth hormone can redistribute body fat, two medical studies have also found that growth hormone, when combined with dietary control, can accelerate weight loss. Although these two studies lasted 6 weeks and 11 weeks respectively, the weight loss rate when growth hormone was combined with dietary control was indeed 25% faster than that of dietary control alone. In the 11-week study, patients who received growth hormone lost 14-15 kilograms, while maintaining healthy and elastic muscles.
The relationship between obesity, growth hormone, insulin and fat
To understand the relationship between growth hormone and weight loss in more detail, we can look at the following simple relationship.
Growth hormone has the function of breaking down and burning fat and increasing muscle mass, while insulin's main function is to synthesize and increase fat. Generally speaking, when we are young, the secretion of growth hormone and insulin are roughly equal, so it is not easy for the body to accumulate fat and become obese. However, after middle age, the secretion of growth hormone in the body will drop significantly, while insulin will remain at the same level. Under these circumstances, the body will begin to accumulate fat and become overweight. In addition, if you eat too many sweets, it will increase insulin secretion, thus increasing the chance of obesity. Therefore, after understanding the relationship between obesity, growth hormone, insulin, and fat, we can summarize the following simple and easy-to-understand conclusions:
Growth hormone secretion and insulin secretion change, while fat mass remains unchanged.
Growth hormone secretion decreases, insulin secretion decreases, and fat mass decreases.
Growth hormone secretion and insulin secretion increase fat mass. As we age, growth hormone secretion decreases.
Growth hormone secretion < insulin secretion → increased fat mass. Eating too many sweets will increase insulin secretion.
Based on this theoretical achievement of medical research, the beauty industry began to widely use growth hormone in weight loss and slimming treatments. This quickly generated a widespread and enthusiastic response, with many women regarding it as a secret weapon for maintaining youth and beauty, completely disregarding the potentially serious side effects. Long-term injections of growth hormone may increase the risk of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease; people should not sacrifice their health for beauty.
Side effects of growth hormone injections
◎All reports have found no side effects from using normal doses of growth hormone. Some side effects discovered so far are caused by using excessively high doses; for example, some professional bodybuilders abuse the dosage to 6000 times the normal level, which can lead to problems such as wrist pain or increased breast fat.
◎Because growth hormone has an antagonistic effect on insulin, some reports have found that blood sugar levels rise after using growth hormone; in addition, growth hormone can also cause water retention in the body, so extra injections of growth hormone can easily lead to heart disease and diabetes.
◎ Injecting large doses (three or four times or more) of growth hormone can cause mild edema and wrist joint pain.
◎Regarding cancer. Growth hormone not only promotes muscle growth but also benefits all parts of the body. Small cancer cells that might otherwise remain dormant can be stimulated to grow after growth hormone injections, significantly increasing the risk of cancer. Studies abroad have also found that adults with growth hormone deficiency who receive long-term growth hormone injections have a higher risk of developing colorectal cancer. In Japan, there have even been cases of leukemia caused by additional growth hormone injections.
◎Pregnant or breastfeeding women should absolutely not use growth hormone.
Besides the side effects of growth hormone injections that we must be aware of, the cost is also considerable. One unit of growth hormone costs approximately 200 yuan. If we were to inject growth hormone for weight loss, we would need 0.4 units per kilogram of body weight. For an adult weighing 60 kilograms, the cost of one injection would be around 4,800 yuan, and the annual cost would be nearly one million yuan. Even if we could afford it, using weight loss methods with unclear effectiveness and significant side effects would likely result in not achieving a slim figure but instead damaging our health.
We all know that the most natural way to lose weight is to start with yourself. The human body needs the presence of growth hormone to break down and burn existing fat tissue, leaving us energetic and refreshed. Therefore, as we age and the secretion of growth hormone decreases, we need to be more moderate in our diet, avoiding excessive sweets. Sugar triggers insulin secretion, which counteracts the breakdown of fat tissue by growth hormone, leading to obesity. By paying attention to these points and adding appropriate exercise, we can live a slim and healthy life. Why waste money and become a sucker?