How To Treble Your Growth Hormone

by Mark McManus on March 21, 2012

There is a very very simple way to really BOOST your growth hormone levels first thing in the morning.

In fact, you are probably doing something similar to this already, but not quite in the right way.

What do you have to do?

Eat protein! So what’s the big deal?

Well according to a 2008 Dutch study [1], you can increase your growth hormone levels significantly more if you have ONLY protein i.e. no carbs or fat taken with it.

Subjects either had:

the placebo,
a meal (carbs, fat, protein)
or just protein

The researchers then measured the concentration of growth hormone in their blood.

The placebo and meal caused no change in growth hormone levels, but the protein-only group saw GH levels ROCKET after an hour and a half.

In fact, they produced 3 times as much growth hormone in the 5 hour period after breakfast!

So a whey shake first thing in the morning sounds ideal here. If you want to accelerate the digestion time, have it with water instead of milk.

My recommended protein? Impact Whey for all Europeans, and Optimum Nutrition Whey or Isopure Whey for American readers.

Protein-only foods like tuna or egg whites will do the trick too, albeit at a slower rate.

So get drinking those shakes!

Stay Motivated!

Mark

[1] Somatotropic responses to soy protein alone and as part of a meal (full pdf text)

{ 29 comments }

1 Ikram March 21, 2012 at 1:34 pm: So just have a protein shake for breakfast, do your work out, have another post shake and skip breakfast or have it later?
2 Jim March 21, 2012 at 1:35 pm: Which should I do…….since I have heard eating a meal first thing in the morning stops muscle catabolism that occurs from sleeping all night. Right now…I am doing a one scoop whey shake first thing in the morning…followed by a meal 30 minutes later.

This article might suggest that I just take the whey shake and then wait until lunch for a full and larger meal (since I would not be taking a breakfast meal).

What are your thoughts on which is better?
3 zipper March 21, 2012 at 1:36 pm: Well this is fantastic news Mark!! As I’ve always been moderate with my shake intake, this is awesome if its been truly tested this way. At 36 I need all the natural GH I can without looking towards injections too soon. .

Thanks allot for the update to this as I skip along and make my ON whey shake first thing in the AM.

-peace bro
4 joe March 21, 2012 at 1:55 pm: Mark you have one the best muscle sites ever! Your info is always great ,and well researched. I also must I bought your hormonal diet ebook and it was fantastic!(now if Icould just get myself to stick with it LOL) I had always beleived in the rebound effect of dieting and using it to your advantage is a great way to add some extra pounds of muscle especailly if you are at a sticking point. Keep up all the great work!
5 joe March 21, 2012 at 1:59 pm: Sorry for all the misspelling in my prior posts, I really need to start reading threw my post AND EDITING THEM befor pressing the reply button,(and I definately need more coffe!) TAKE CARE !
6 Chris Rivers March 21, 2012 at 2:05 pm: Cool research. Also, the study specifically tested *soy* protein and used *female* test subjects. I’m curious if there are similar tests using men and whey protein and if those two factors make a difference.
7 John A Davis March 21, 2012 at 2:17 pm: Wow and the study is refferencing Soy protein, no?
8 joe March 21, 2012 at 2:28 pm: Hi John Davis, I don’t think the report is referring to soy protein(in fact large amounts of soy protein has been shown to increase estrogen(female hormone) in men,I think the report is referring to whey and casein proteins.
9 JC March 21, 2012 at 2:30 pm: What the heck is a placebo in a study like this? For medicines it’d be a sugar pill or saline injection, but how do you placebo a meal? Did they eat something they can’t actually digest, fast, eat just carbs? I couldn’t get the full PDF text to load.
10 sly March 21, 2012 at 2:33 pm: Can you drink some BCAA, for example XTEND? It is much quicker (in your blood) than whey. Will it work?
11 Ren March 21, 2012 at 3:26 pm: Is there a certain amount of protein required to harness this growth hormone through protein consumption? Above/under 50?
12 Ikram March 21, 2012 at 3:44 pm: I also thought u needed some carbs, even a small amount to aid your workouts?
13 Pip March 21, 2012 at 4:23 pm: Hi Mark,

I’ve been reading your articles with interest for some time and they have been excellent, especially with regards to the training tips you dish out

However, I feel that it is too much of a leap to use this study as proof that protein alone will raise GH. As mentioned by John A Davis the study was based on soy protein and not whey protein as you recommended. Also, the study was conducted on a small sample group of 6 women, hence the results of the study may not be applicable to the general population. The results would be way more reliable if the study was replicated in a large group. Also, there are likely to be significant differences in the results if the study were conducted on a group which had both males and females instead,

The study design also leaves much to be desired as several design biases present cast the validity of the results into doubt. This is also the first such study which has been conducted, hence there are no other studies which can corroborate with the findings stated.

I have presented just a few of my thoughts on this study, I hope Mark that yourself and other readers will be able to cast a more critical eye on such studies and consider them in their entirety before trusting in their results
14 Josh March 21, 2012 at 4:27 pm: I appreciate the article, but it has caused some confusion. Mark you preach to eat those egg yolks, of which I eat a 5 full egg omlete every morning. Just to clarify, I should skip the big protein / fat breakfast and go with a protein shake or just egg whites? Do you generally eat your egg yolks later in the day? After drinking my protein shake and eating some egg whites, how long should I wait to consume some fat? Should I be skipping my breakfast? Thanks…
15 Josh March 21, 2012 at 4:30 pm: It also would have been nice if they added a “4th subject” that only consumed protein and fat and no carbs.. How would this have impacted the results?
16 gus March 21, 2012 at 4:31 pm: How did they measure their GH levels? GH only can only be measured at night when you are sleeping. The only tests you can run in the day are for your IGF-1 levels.
17 Brandon March 21, 2012 at 5:19 pm: The protein I’m using has a bit of carbs in it, that shouldn’t present a problem should it?
Thanks
18 Goran March 21, 2012 at 6:46 pm: Study mentions Soy Protein, is there a reason they used soy in particular, and have they tested whey and other proteins, maybe its something in the soy element about the soy protein that triggers the elevated GH, it would be awesome if they did a study with other types of protein, mainly because soy unless properly fermented contains a lot of Estrogen, and wed all rather have pecks and not man boobs!

I usually skip breakfast so i will be testing this out with whay protein regardles!
19 AK March 21, 2012 at 7:03 pm: I enjoy the taste of Optimum Nutrition’s Gold Standard Whey. However, I find it tastes even better when mixed milk. I don’t drink cow’s milk because it doesn’t agree with. But I do mix it with almond milk. However, I’m debating whether to switch to coconut milk. In your opinion, will mixing whey with either almond milk or coconut milk, assuming they have no added sweeteners, impact the growth hormone boost?
20 Mike Huber March 21, 2012 at 11:23 pm: Mark,
I thought it was the 7-8 hours of sleep helping me…….. Must be the protein also!! I have 1 scoop of O.N. Whey protein w/water every morning. And, it is at least 45min. to 1 hour before I eat breakfast, which is 2-3 hard boiled eggs and 4 pieces of turkey bacon. Like I mentioned last article, I have seen some Good Gains in muscle size over the last six months!! Excellent Article Mark!!!
…And yes it IS Muscle Growth to the nay sayers….My body fat % is staying the same and I still have veins sticking out all over!!
21 Sunil March 22, 2012 at 4:03 am: Dear Mark,

I have lot of confusion,i have gone through lot of website and blogs where different experts say different regarding “when to take whey protein before or after workout”

Some expert says take 15 gram before and 15 gram after workout,while some expert says take it only after the workout,we are confuse..

Some expert says whey protein + carb + creatine + leucine build muscles while other expert says whey protein + carb + creatine + glutamine build muscles while other expert say take the whey protein within the workout.

How much time the whey protein take to get into the blood stream?some expert says 45 minutes to 1 hour before workout..

It would be grate if you experts get together and come to the final conclusion….
22 Sunil March 22, 2012 at 4:10 am: Some expert says take 20 gram of whey protein every 3 hours while other expert says take it after 4-6 hours

http://markyoungtrainingsystems.com/2009/04/protein-after-exercise-an-interview-with-dan-moore/

http://www.exercisebiology.com/index.php/site/articles/should_you_eat_protein_every_2-3_hours_for_muscle_growth/
23 ferncrest March 22, 2012 at 12:32 pm: I can’t eat dairy, therefore whey tears my stomach up, so what other protein would be good to drink?
24 JaSoN March 22, 2012 at 1:04 pm: Gees!! you guys are going to have a heart attack worrying about all the fine details on when to take your protein (worrying/stress=cortisal) if this happens then it doesnt matter when you take your damn protein cause cortisal will eat away at your muscles. experts say this and that, use it as a guide line and test it for yourself, with bodybuilding you need patience, when I have whey stocked then i take it first thing in the morning, sometimes i cant afford it and go a month without it and just eat solid protein. I don’t loose anything in the procces and I am an ectomorph/hardgainer.
25 Mark McManus March 22, 2012 at 2:59 pm: Ok, let me say this first. The only thing that you can take from this is this: test it! Trial it and see how you get on. Give it at least a month to see how your strength and size progresses as compared with the previous month.Try 50g protein first thing in the morning.
26 Mark McManus March 22, 2012 at 3:00 pm: Does it matter that it was soy? No I don’t think so. It’s the same amino acids at the end of the day. I don’t recommend anyone take too much soy, so use whey protein instead.
27 Mark McManus March 22, 2012 at 3:05 pm: If you’re training first thing in the morning I would have a shake before, 1 immediately after, then a complete meal 1-2hrs later.
28 Mark McManus March 22, 2012 at 3:20 pm: @Sunil. No you don’t need protein every 3 hours in reality. See this article I wrote about just that including absorption times…
http://www.musclehack.com/how-much-protein-can-the-body-absorb-in-one-sitting/
29 Mark March 22, 2012 at 8:32 pm: Interesting article here on growth hormone.

http://broscience.com/broscience-com-approved-articles/561-growth-hormone-great-expectations.html