Various internal and external factors can influence how much human growth hormone (HGH) you naturally produce, including age, genetics, and diet.  In terms of diet, certain nutrients are crucial for keeping the pituitary gland healthy so it can produce optimal amounts of HGH.  Yet, eating a healthy diet isn’t enough to get your HGH levels up.  Researchers have found that HGH production depends on the type of food and when you eat it.  The HGH diet is based on these findings.

The HGH and Insulin Connection

When you eat carbohydrates, your body releases the hormone insulin.  Insulin is in charge of breaking down foods into glucose (sugar), which is used as energy for your body.  Insulin is usually only discussed in terms of diabetes, a condition in which the body becomes resistant or deficient in insulin and cannot regulate blood sugar levels well anymore.  However, insulin also has many other functions in the body.

Researchers now realize that there is a direct link between growth hormone and insulin.  Simply put, the two hormones have an antagonist relationship.  When one is present in the blood, the levels of the other hormone will drop.  If your insulin levels are constantly high, then you will produce less HGH and have the side effects associated with low HGH levels, like weight gain, fatigue, and aging.

Keeping Insulin Low to Boost HGH Production

The HGH diet is based on the idea of keeping insulin levels low so your pituitary will produce HGH.  All carbohydrates will cause insulin to be released.  However, some carbohydrates cause much more insulin to be released than others.  The Glycemic Index was developed in the 1980s as a way of measuring how quickly insulin surges into the bloodstream after eating a certain food.  By eating foods with a low glycemic index, you can keep insulin levels steadily low so your body produces more HGH naturally.

 

Classification	Glycemic Index Range	Examples
Low	Less than 55	Most fruits and vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts
Medium	56-69	Whole wheat products, baked potatoes, basmati rice
High	70+	White bread, white rice, and many breakfast cereals

Low glycemic foods also help prevent weight loss because insulin spikes are associated with fat storage.  When you eat a carbohydrate which causes insulin spikes, the carb will get rapidly turned into energy.  Unless you use that energy right away, it will get stored as fat. Studies directly link high insulin levels with the formation of fat cells.  Another problem with insulin spikes is that, after a brief surge, blood sugar levels crash.  When your blood sugar levels are low, you begin to feel hungry again for foods which will give you fast energy.  This creates a cycle of eating high-glycemic foods, storing fat, and overeating.  The only time that high-glycemic foods are really needed is right after a workout.

A problem with a lot of diets today is that they focus on calorie and fat content.  As you can see from examples of high-glycemic foods, many of them are low-fat and low-calorie.  Yet, these will ultimately make weight loss more difficult because they prevent HGH production, cause fat formation, and result in hunger cravings.

Not Just What You Eat, But When You Eat It

The HGH diet is not just about eating low-glycemic foods.  It is also important to time your meals accordingly to make sure that insulin levels are not interfering with HGH production.  The body produces the most HGH during sleep, particularly in the first hour of sleep.  By eating a meal before going to bed, you are causing insulin to be released.  This will interfere with the HGH production.  It is best to avoid eating completely for 2 hours before going to bed.  If you must have a late-night snack, then it should consist of lean proteins and no carbs.

If you are going to take an HGH supplement or HGH releaser, you will get the best results from taking it right before going to bed (though ideally you should also be taking it throughout the day too).  The HGH supplement will give your body the support it needs so you maximize your HGH output during the peak production hours.