Body Builders and Human Growth Hormone (HGH)

It is common knowledge that bodybuilders make use of various supplements to aid in the rapid growth of muscle mass and to reduce fat content in their bodies. One of the most popular supplement items used by body builders today is human growth hormone (HGH). There are some important facts that bodybuilders should be aware of when they choose to include HGH in their muscle building regimen.

First, many of the supplements sold legally in the U.S. are worthless as far as human growth hormone content is concerned. This is because any type of dietary supplement containing HGH will be digested before the hormone can be absorbed by the body. This digestion breaks down the growth hormone into constituent amino acids, much like digesting proteins. The molecule that makes up human growth hormone is too long and complicated to be absorbed through the stomach lining before it can be broken down.

The second thing is that HGH in an injectable form can not be acquired legally without a doctor's prescription. An injection of human growth hormone is the only way to introduce it into the body in a form that can be taken up and utilized by the body. Then it is only available for a very limited number of conditions that result in a lower than normal amount of the hormone in the body. While some doctors will prescribe growth hormone injections "off label", they risk losing their license to practice medicine if caught doing so.

Human growth hormone is on the list of banned substances used by most sports to determine if a person has been using performance enhancing substances. Chemically, synthetic HGH can not be distinguished from naturally occurring HGH. The testing checks for unusually high levels of hormone in the blood or urine. The body's levels of HGH normally peak during adolescence, and steadily decline as a person ages. If a person in his thirties is tested and found to have the same levels of HGH that are considered normal for an eighteen year old, he is considered guilty of doping, using an illegal performance enhancing substance.

Human growth hormone is available to bodybuilders and other individuals willing to pay the price for it on the black market. The DEA has tried to halt the flow of HGH, anabolic steroids, and other illicit substances just as the work to curb the flow of illegal narcotics, with about the same effectiveness.

Many bodybuilding supplement websites offer HGH for sale as a supplement to speed the formation of larger muscles and reduce the body fat percentage of bodybuilders. These dietary supplements that are legally available in pill or powder form may contain significant amounts of human growth hormone, but the body can not access it in this form, so these supplements are a waste of money.

Any source of injectable HGH other than a doctor's prescription, and then only within a narrow band of allowed reasons to prescribe, are illegal and can result in the bodybuilder being banned from competition.

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