Hormonal
Growth hormone (GH) administration during caloric restriction preserves lean body mass (nitrogen retention) for approximately 5 weeks, after which the anabolic effect is lost despite continued GH treatment.
If you are using Growth Hormone to preserve muscle while dieting, expect it to work for about 5 weeks. After that, the muscle-saving benefit disappears even if you keep taking it. It does not accelerate fat loss, so the risk/cost ratio worsens over time. Do not rely on it for long-term body composition changes.
We conclude that GH promotes nitrogen retention and increases plasma IGF-I concentrations in obese subjects despite caloric restriction... Of major importance is the observation that after 5 weeks of therapy the anabolic effects were lost, but plasma IGF-I concentrations remained elevated.
Why this rating
Randomized controlled trial with a control group, though small sample size (n=20) and short duration limit generalizability.
Source
Treatment of Obese, Diet-Restricted Subjects with Growth Hormone for 11 Weeks: Effects on Anabolism, Lipolysis, and Body Composition*
David K. Snyder et al. · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · 1988
DOI 10.1210/jcem-67-1-54
More from this paper
- Growth hormone does not accelerate fat loss in obese subjects during caloric restriction, despite increasing free fatty acid (FFA) mobilization.Good
- Growth hormone causes fluid retention (edema) and weight gain in the first week of treatment, which resolves after treatment stops, resulting in no net difference in total weight loss compared to placebo.Good
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