Insulin pathway: How HGH and Insulin are related and how Chromium and choline supplements can help?

6). Insulin and blood sugar pathway


Insulin is a powerful, direct inhibitor of HGH secretion from the pituitary gland.

Now we’ll talk about one of the most crucial, efficient and interesting pathways to produce more HGH naturally.

Unfortunately mishandling of or not understanding this mechanism is one of the reasons people fail to increase their hGH levels even if they use a HGH supplement.

Enough scientific evidence exists that low blood sugar, and thereby low insulin stimulates the hypothalamus to produce and release hormones that increase “human growth hormone” manufacture and discharge in the pituitary gland.


This is the body’s mechanism of ensuring survival, because HGH provides energy and prevents muscle loss to occur, so during times of “low calories or low energy”, HGH does the job.

And vice-versa too.

So, high insulin (caused due to high glucose levels in blood) means less HGH.

We talked about IGF-1 earlier. IGF-1 (Insulin-like Growth Factor 1) is basically exactly that; it’s a hormone that has comparable attributes to insulin and outcomes on the body (it even adheres to the exact same receptors) as insulin, however it is created under totally reverse conditions.

Whereas the hormone insulin is secreted by the pancreas as a result of elevated blood glucose levels, IGF-1 is produced by the liver in times of low blood sugar. We learnt earlier that the effects of HGH and IGF-1 are basically the same, in fact HGH gets converted to IGF-1 in the liver.

The interesting thing here is low blood glucose levels increase both HGH and IGF-1.

Increased blood levels of cortisol, glucose and even HGH itself reduce production and secretion of HGH by signaling the pituitary to stop producing any more HGH.

HGH is launched into your circulatory system at fairly regular intervals (between 3-5 hours) and the quantity produced and launched into your system from the pituitary gland is predominantly based mostly on the factors outlined above.

It’s safe to assume, having said that, that for many people, a large part of growth hormone secretion occurs while asleep.

However, a good HGH supplement will have ingredients that will make use of this “insulin” based pathway or mechanism.

Here are four crucial ways by which HGH enhancement can be done:-

1). Minimizing insulin or glucose levels during sleep

Strategize intelligently your last meal of the day very carefully.


You need to minimize the insulin while you sleep and this will have an effect on maximizing growth hormone during sleep.

Many ancient cultures and scriptures consistently focus on the advice that there should be a gap of at least 3 hours or so between your last meal and your sleep.

This makes sense from the HGH perspective, because while you’re sleeping, you’d be having minimal levels of insulin because blood glucose would begin transporting across the body and its levels will decrease.

Your last meal of the day is the most crucial for sustaining a powerful GH/IGF-1 axis. A high-protein, low-carbohydrate snack before going to bed assists HGH production via two ways.

First, it contributes greatly to minimize insulin release and makes it possible for maximum endogenous GH secretion.

Second, necessary essential and conditionally essential amino acids present in protein will help the endogenous HGH release.

2). Minimizing insulin and Maximizing the effectiveness of Glucose transfer in the body during daytime

Let’s talk about what breakfast you should be consuming while taking hGH supplements.

If you are a bodybuilder and work out in the morning, then eat breakfast according to your needs.

If you are NOT a bodybuilder and only interested in anti aging benefits, I recommend you consume low carbs, healthy fats and moderate amount of protein in breakfast.

Why I recommend this? Because by maintaining the carbs (and thus insulin) low, consuming a healthy dose of fat and a moderate amount of protein, you are going to turn on necessary protein synthesis, mobilize fat, encourage ketogenesis and again take full advantage of growth hormone release throughout the morning and afternoon.


You’ll actually be making use of your body fat as energy to sustain or develop muscle. No matter what glucose the human brain would need for whatever purpose, it’s going to have it because of endogenous production in the liver.

If you are taking a HGH supplement that contains L-glutamine, glutamine from it can be transformed into glucose to help you bring glucose levels back in balance. So, overall your outside “carbs” requirement will decrease, thereby controlling your insulin.

Glutamine plays a crucial function in the control of blood glucose, or blood sugar. When amounts of glucose are low, for example in hypoglycemia, your system transforms glutamine in the liver and kidneys into glucose to help you bring glucose levels back in balance.

It’s now extensively recorded that under suitable conditions, glutamine is important for cell proliferation, that it can act as a respiratory system fuel and that it can enhance the function of stimulated immune cells.

Therefore, in essence, you’ll be making use of your body fat as energy. This strategy will also promote weight loss while being on HGH supplements.

Another way you can enhance HGH production is by enhancing effectiveness of glucose transfer in consuming supplements that help to control blood glucose levels during day like Chromium.


The University of Maryland Medical Center describes that even though a chromium deficiency is rare, up to 90 percent of men and women in the United States have persistently ‘abnormal’ amounts of chromium, particularly individuals who participate in physically demanding exercise, older people, women that are pregnant and those that take in large amounts of sugar.


Chromium functions by assisting the hormone insulin in its functions of controlling blood glucose levels. If you don’t have enough insulin or if your body is resistant against it’s effects, you can consume a good amount of food but still will not be able to utilize it as energy.

This is actually the mechanics powering “diabetes”, which is known by medical experts as an inability to produce or use insulin.

Selective focus on the word "diabetes". Many more word photos in my portfolio...
Selective focus on the word “diabetes”. Many more word photos in my portfolio…

According to the Linus Pauling Institute, people who have a chromium deficiency generally have reduced glucose metabolism and a heightened insulin need.

So, their body is making too much “insulin” and this is triggering their pituitary gland to produce less “HGH”.

With adequate chromium supplementation, their capability to use insulin increases.

So, chromium will help you minimize insulin levels during the day and better glucose transport in the body and also provide energy.

Audrey H. Ensminger describes in “The Food and Nutrition Encyclopedia” that the GTF form of chromium is the type that delivers the most beneficial use and overall performance in your body, in comparison with other kinds of chromium. She contributes her research on it that carbohydrate diets cause exhaustion of GTF chromium.

Links to Chromium studies

So, L-Glutamine and Chromium are MUST have ingredients in a HGH supplement.

3). Learning to tolerate hunger, occasional fasting and causing “Ghrelin” to do its work

Learning to tolerate hunger is a tip that I’ll give to people interested in anti aging and not bodybuilding. However, if you are using an hGH supplement for bodybuilding, you can use intermittent fasting at times to give a good rejuvenating kickstart to your pituitary to secrete more HGH.

Let’s understand Ghrelin and how it’s connected to HGH and hunger.

Ghrelin hormone is a brain-gut peptide bodily hormone with two primary physical actions: growth hormone secretagogue action and food consumption inducer (causing hunger,in other words).

Ghrelin is made in the stomach and sets off a signal to the brain to encourage consuming food intake.

Ghrelin is a lot more than a simple growth hormone secretagogue. Ghrelin has other pursuits which includes stimulation of other pituitary hormones secretion, modulation of food intake and management of energy metabolism, monitoring gastric and pancreatic and even cardiovascular functions.

It’s also connected with sleep functions of the body and immune system. It decreases after you have eaten a meal.

So, basically Ghrelin directly causes hunger and HGH release at the same time. It causes HGH release by binding itself onto GHSR (a region of the brain) which in turn triggers the pituitary to release more HGH.

To state that human hunger is a complex phenomenon is a vast understatement. The detailed explanation of it would demand a number of articles or even an entire book.

Medical studies constantly unearths several interacting and overlapping hormones (such as leptin, ghrelin, peptide YY, GLP-1 and others)

All these hormones send signals to the brain based on a variety of factors like blood glucose levels, or when someone is eating something and cumulatively , their combined effect produces a sensation called hunger.

However, for our purpose, we can enhance HGH in the body by helping ourselves “manipulate” the hunger mechanism.

You see when you are hungry and don’t eat food immediately, the ghrelin continues to send signals to the brain to constantly produce more HGH. This is again, a survival mechanism.


If we fast for one day, the ghrelin response is so profound that HGH increases dramatically by 200-300%.

If we eat but do not satiate ourselves fully, the ghrelin response is not eliminated completely and HGH enhancement continues to occur.

If we eat a fully satiating food or more, the ghrelin response is nullified, it no more triggers the brain to produce more HGH.

So, the ideal scenario will be when we don’t eat to full satisfaction, probably half of what is required and somehow “blunt” the hunger. This will not nullify the “ghrelin” response.

So, what blunts hunger?

While dietitians argue over whether carbohydrates or fats are more satiating to “hunger” short-term, the evidence is in fact abundantly crystal clear: protein beats both of them out.

Increasing volumes of studies have revealed that both acutely and in the long-term, greater protein intakes assist in blunting hunger.

Another way you can blunt hunger is by feeling energetic and improving glucose transport in the body. Again, these supplements will help in this regard-

  • L Glutamine
  • Chromium
  • Acetylcholine (Alpha GPC or Phosphatidylcholine) which has some mild appetite suppressing activity and also increase energy

Other facts and tips you need to know

i). One 2008 medical investigation that examined the result of fasting during the Muslim observance of Ramadan discovered it had a positive impact on body mass and other health and fitness markers in trained athletes.

Fasting works so well for weight loss because it brings about the secretion of human growth hormone (HGH), which is also a fat-burning hormone. It also plays a huge role in muscle mass building.

Going on a fast also boosts catecholamines, which will increase resting energy expenditure, reduce levels of insulin, and makes the stored fat burn as energy resource. Collectively, these and other factors will help you becoming an efficient fat-burning machine.

ii). Studies have also demonstrated that high quality protein from meat and whey has a good influence on blood sugar, muscle building, altering body composition, and sparing muscle while dropping fat.

Steer clear of grain carbs, however. “Carb loading” is a blunder, specifically for men and women engaged in intense strength training, as you will burn up carb fuel in a short time and then “hit the wall.”

It also holds true for many people who begin their day with muffins, bagels, or pancakes as an example.

This kind of breakfast usually ignites a vicious cycle of “hunger” and snacking on even more carbs.

And the more carb snacks you eat , the more insulin resistant you in turn become. Your body requires more insulin and thereby you produce less HGH.

iii). Try to normalize your insulin sensitivity, which is key for optimal health and wellness as insulin resistance (which is what you get whenever your insulin sensitivity plummets) is a major instrumental factor to almost all chronic disease, from diabetes to cardiovascular disease and even cancer malignancy.

iv). Eat More Lean Protein(low-fat fish, skinless chicken, even low-fat red meat),

v). Eat More Fiber

vi). Test out food alternatives – especially try to find carbs substitutes – to determine what makes you feel satisfied. As an example, a lot of people say that oat meal gets them really full, even while a boxed cereal like wheat flakes actually leaves them starving.

vii). Try to normalize ghrelin levels, also known as “the hunger hormone”

viii). Lower triglyceride levels

ix). Reduce inflammation and focus on lessening of free radical damage

x). Eat (At-Least) Moderate Amounts of Dietary Fat

xi). Exercise

A variation of IGF-1 called mechano-growth factor (MGF) is made in reaction to extreme exercise, like weight lifting or sprinting. MGF acts mainly upon skeletal muscle tissues to bind satellite nuclei into the muscle tissues (sarcomere).

xii). Try Portion control and glycemic-load control

xiii). Steer clear of high-glycemic-load carbohydrates. In order to avoid the harmful spikes in “insulin” levels that minimize endogenous HGH levels and raise your risk for type 2 diabetes, keep away from highly processed carbohydrates like refined white bread and sugary cereal.

Also try to avoid high-glycemic-load foods such as white rice, potato chips, cookies, soda, and commercially processed fruit juices (high in fructose and lacking fiber).

As an alternative, focus more on nutrient and fiber-rich whole fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes (beans).

The majority of individuals who go on “low-carbohydrate” diets make a complaint of low energy and give up simply because they consume inadequate calories.

A half-cup of rice is 300 calories, while a half-cup of spinach is 15 calories!

Vegetables are not calorically dense, so it is crucial that you include legumes in your HGH diet.

xiv). Drink lots and lots of water and try to drink unsweetened tea or coffee.

Finally remember, Cognitive psychologist Judith Beck gave some of the best advice on the phenomenon of hunger.

Girl examining empty bowl at table
Girl examining empty bowl at table

She said: “hunger is not an emergency.”


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