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How to Increase HGH Naturally: Sleep, Training, Diet

Nov 26, 2023
6 min read

Updated: Oct 12

By HGHThailand Team

Your body produces growth hormone on its own, mostly during deep sleep and in response to exercise. Levels are highest in youth and decline with age, which is why many people ask how to increase HGH naturally. The best-supported levers are sleep and resistance training, with diet playing a secondary role. This article summarises what is commonly reported about those levers, and where the evidence is thinner than the marketing suggests.

Key takeaways

  • Most of the day's growth hormone is released around sleep onset and during the first hours of sleep [1][2].

  • High-intensity resistance training with short rest periods produces the largest acute growth hormone response [4].

  • Eating, and glucose in particular, tends to suppress its release; fasting is associated with higher secretion [12].

  • Evidence for over-the-counter "HGH boosters" is thin and limited to small studies [7][8][9][10].

Diagram with cards showing the levers for natural HGH: sleep and resistance training are the best-supported, diet is secondary, and supplement evidence is thin.

Resistance Training

From a training perspective, emphasis is usually placed on compound exercises that stress the largest areas of the body and work multiple muscles at once. Higher training intensity and a larger total workload are associated with a greater growth hormone response [3][4][5].

Shorter rest periods between sets are also associated with a higher GH response. In a controlled study that compared heavy-resistance protocols with the same exercises, the largest growth hormone response followed the protocol with the shortest rest period (one minute) combined with a moderate load (10-repetition maximum) and high total work; three-minute rest periods produced smaller responses [4]. With shorter rest, weights need to be adjusted so the planned sets and reps still get completed.

Growth hormone rises during a resistance session and peaks in the period after it [3]. Session design (total work, load and rest length) appears to matter more than any single fixed formula [4][5].

Cardio to Support Growth Hormone

Growth hormone release is influenced by food intake: eating, and glucose in particular, tends to suppress it, while fasting is associated with higher secretion [12]. This is the rationale behind suggestions to train in a fasted state in the morning, although morning growth hormone levels are not guaranteed to be higher for everyone.

Fasted training is not required, and it is not suitable for everyone. Adequate total protein intake supports muscle repair and recovery after training; whether a small serving before cardio changes the growth hormone response is not well established, so the timing of protein around cardio is largely a matter of personal preference.

Night time: sleep and HGH

Most of the day's growth hormone is released around sleep onset and during the first hours of sleep, and slow-wave ("deep") sleep is the stage most closely linked to its release [1][2]. Inadequate sleep duration and quality are associated with changes in growth hormone secretion, and sleep is a major modulator of hormonal release generally [2]. That makes sleep quality central to natural HGH levels. Sleep disruption is also studied alongside mood and hormonal change, covered in our note on HGH levels and anxiety.

Practical measures that support sleep quality include a consistent schedule, a dark and quiet sleeping environment, and avoiding unnecessary disruptions at night. A short daytime nap may help if the schedule allows.

Supplements Studied for Their Effect on HGH

"Natural GH boosters" are marketed heavily, and the category sits in a sensitive regulatory area. In the United States, growth hormone itself is a prescription drug, unapproved HGH products are subject to detention at import, and distributing HGH for non-medical uses is prohibited under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act [11]. A few supplements, however, have been studied for an effect on GH release.

  • Melatonin: included here mainly for its effect on sleep quality. Beyond improving sleep, melatonin has been reported to stimulate growth hormone secretion through pathways other than growth-hormone-releasing hormone in a small clinical study [7].

  • GABA: in a small randomised, placebo-controlled trial in 11 resistance-trained men, oral GABA raised resting and post-exercise growth hormone concentrations; the authors noted that the relevance of this to muscle adaptation is unknown [8].

  • Arginine / ornithine: arginine is well known for its role in nitric oxide production and has been studied for its effect on growth hormone release. A placebo-controlled trial in strength-trained athletes reported higher resting growth hormone and IGF-1 levels after three weeks of arginine/ornithine supplementation combined with heavy resistance training [9].

  • Mucuna pruriens (velvet bean): a source of L-dopa, a precursor to dopamine. Dopamine is known to modulate growth hormone secretion, but direct evidence that mucuna pruriens raises growth hormone in humans is lacking, so this should be treated as a hypothesis rather than an established effect [10].

A note of caution: supplement quality, labelling and purity vary widely, and an effect shown in a small study does not translate into a guaranteed outcome for any given person. Anyone considering a supplement should review it with a qualified healthcare professional.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you increase HGH naturally after 40?

Growth hormone levels decline with age, but the same levers still apply: sleep quality, resistance training intensity, and rest intervals all influence natural release [1][2][3][4]. No lifestyle change is guaranteed to raise levels for a given person.

What foods affect growth hormone release?

Food intake influences growth hormone secretion. Glucose in particular tends to suppress it, while fasting is associated with higher secretion [12]. Some protocols suggest training in a fasted state for this reason, though it is not required and does not suit everyone.

Do natural HGH supplements work?

The evidence is limited. A few supplements (melatonin, GABA, and arginine/ornithine) have shown an effect on growth hormone in small studies, but their relevance to real outcomes is unclear, and a result in a small trial does not translate into a guaranteed effect for any given person [7][8][9][10]. Anyone considering a supplement should review it with a qualified healthcare professional.

Conclusion

Natural HGH release is influenced by training intensity and rest, sleep quality and timing, and to a lesser degree by diet and certain supplements. Sleep and consistent resistance training are the best-supported levers [1][2][3][4][5]; supplement effects are far less certain than the labels imply [7][8][9][10]. For pharmaceutical growth hormone preparations rather than natural production, see our comparison of Genotropin and Ngenla.

This article is informational only and is not medical advice. Consult a qualified healthcare professional about any hormone concern.

Sources

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  2. Van Cauter E, Spiegel K, Tasali E, Leproult R. Metabolic consequences of sleep and sleep loss. *Sleep Medicine*. 2008;9 Suppl 1:S23–28. PMID 18929315. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18929315/

  3. Wideman L, Weltman JY, Hartman ML, Veldhuis JD, Weltman A. Growth hormone release during acute and chronic aerobic and resistance exercise: recent findings. *Sports Medicine*. 2002;32(15):987–1004. PMID 12457419. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12457419/

  4. Kraemer WJ, Marchitelli L, Gordon SE, Harman E, Dziados JE, Mello R, Frykman P, McCurry D, Fleck SJ. Hormonal and growth factor responses to heavy resistance exercise protocols. *Journal of Applied Physiology*. 1990;69(4):1442–1450. PMID 2262468. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2262468/

  5. Kraemer WJ, Ratamess NA, Hymer WC, Nindl BC, Fragala MS. Growth Hormone(s), Testosterone, Insulin-Like Growth Factors, and Cortisol: Roles and Integration for Cellular Development and Growth With Exercise. *Frontiers in Endocrinology*. 2020;11:33. PMID 32158429. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32158429/

  6. Fanti M, Longo VD. Nutrition, GH/IGF-1 signaling, and cancer. *Endocrine-Related Cancer*. 2024;31(11):e230048. PMID 39166749. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39166749/

  7. Valcavi R, Zini M, Maestroni GJ, Conti A, Portioli I. Melatonin stimulates growth hormone secretion through pathways other than the growth hormone-releasing hormone. *Clinical Endocrinology (Oxford)*. 1993;39(2):193–199. PMID 8370132. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8370132/

  8. Powers ME, Yarrow JF, McCoy SC, Borst SE. Growth hormone isoform responses to GABA ingestion at rest and after exercise. *Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise*. 2008;40(1):104–110. PMID 18091016. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18091016/

  9. Zajac A, Poprzecki S, Zebrowska A, Chalimoniuk M, Langfort J. Arginine and ornithine supplementation increases growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-1 serum levels after heavy-resistance exercise in strength-trained athletes. *Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research*. 2010;24(4):1082–1090. PMID 20300016. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20300016/

  10. de Souza GO, Gusmao DO, de Sousa ME, Martins MG, Basso AS, Donato J Jr. The role of dopamine release and D2 dopamine receptor in GHRH and somatostatin cells in controlling growth hormone secretion. *Frontiers in Endocrinology*. 2025;16:1741139. PMID 41601936. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41601936/

  11. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Import Alert 66-71: Detention Without Physical Examination of Unapproved Human Growth Hormone (HGH). https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cms_ia/importalert_204.html (accessed 2026-10-05)

  12. Ho KY, Veldhuis JD, Johnson ML, et al. Fasting enhances growth hormone secretion and amplifies the complex rhythms of growth hormone secretion in man. *J Clin Invest*. 1988;81(4):968–975. PMID 3127426. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3127426/ ---

 
 
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