Ageless: The Naked Truth About Bioidentical Hormones (10 page)

It’s not about willpower or intellect. Rather than cave in to cravings, it’s better to make the decision to change your life. Start working on eating well, sleeping an adequate amount, managing stress, reprioritizing your schedule (yes, the world will keep on spinning without you running it!), and, of course, keeping your hormones balanced. Remember that all hormones talk to one another. If one is off, they are all off.

TREATING EXHAUSTED ADRENALS:
No one of us can take on the whole world. All we can do is try to make the changes in our own lives. Part of this involves following a good diet of whole, unprocessed foods that avoids sugar and chemicals. These changes not only will affect our health positively, but will also have a positive impact on our immediate family.

I
NSULIN

WHAT IT IS
:
Insulin is a major hormone. It has many jobs in the body, one of which is determining whether fat will be burned off as energy or stored as fat. (This is why insulin is often called the “fat-storing hormone.”) In my eating program, Somersizing, I advise my readers that to lose weight, they must acquaint themselves not only with sugar, but also with foods the body converts to sugar, and then avoid those foods during the weight loss portion of the program. These foods promote insulin secretion and include white flour, white rice, high-starch vegetables, refined white sugar, and any food that contains sugar. By identifying and avoiding these foods, we can control our insulin levels and, therefore, our weight.

HOW IT WORKS:
When we eat sugar or carbohydrates, our blood sugar is elevated. If our metabolism is working at optimum, our pancreas first secretes insulin. Along with sugar, the insulin travels to the liver, where the sugar will be converted to fat. The fat will be burned off immediately as fuel, or it will be stored as fat. Here’s the hitch: If someone is “insulin-resistant,” his or her cells will not accept any
additional sugar. When the cells do not accept any more sugar or fats for energy, this initiates a further release of insulin from the pancreas, leading to even higher insulin levels. If blood sugar and fats are not burned as fuel, they will be stored for later use. Therefore, even fat-free carbohydrates like sugar and white flour can be converted to fat if we do not need the energy at the time we eat. With this information you can see how the elevation of blood sugar can lead to weight gain when we eat too many carbohydrates at one time.

With prolonged high insulin levels, you’ll first notice fat deposits around the midsection. Men get that “beer belly” or “potbelly,” and women get thick through the stomach, waist, and thighs. Think of your midsection as your “insulin meter.” It doesn’t matter if you are overweight or thin. When you are thick around the middle, your insulin levels are elevated.

Insulin resistance occurs naturally as we get older. Our metabolic processes slow down, and we do not need as many carbohydrates as we did before. But when we have too much insulin, we throw off our body’s entire hormonal balance. Hormonal imbalance leads not only to weight gain but also to increased cholesterol and disease. Overproduction of insulin leads to plaquing of the arteries and accelerated growth and division of tumors. Breast, colon, and prostate cancers have been found to grow more rapidly under the stimulus of insulin. Anything that leads to chronic high insulin levels, including poor nutrition and lifestyle habits, can increase the risk of cancer.

High insulin also causes an abnormal increase of salt retention at the kidney level and is thus a factor in heart disease. Too much salt in the system increases water retention, and more overall fluid means higher blood pressure. Insulin also overstimulates the nervous system, and this increases blood pressure as well. With high blood pressure the amount of blood pumped out by each contraction of the heart is increased and the artery walls become stiffer—not good for heart health.

Women need to understand the estrogen connection to high insulin. When estrogen levels are low, we crave carbohydrates. This is why women are combing the cupboards for chocolate right before
their periods, when their estrogen levels are at their lowest. A low estrogen state makes it impossible for a woman to avoid carbohydrate craving because estrogen is one of the hormones necessary for serotonin production. When she gives in and consumes the sugar, chocolates, or carbohydrates, her insulin levels shoot up. Now she craves more sugar and carbohydrates, and the merry-go-round begins.

If you continue your present high-insulin eating and lifestyle habits, both your immune and hormone systems will age faster, since prolonged insulin levels are one of the causes of accelerated metabolic aging. The best way to lower your insulin level is to keep yourself hormonally balanced, eat a well-balanced diet of real foods and real fats, and engage in some form of daily exercise. Remember this:
An important key to longevity is delaying insulin resistance for as long as possible
.

Here is a look at habits and factors that raise insulin levels:

• low-fat diet (yes, low-fat!)
  
• excess carbohydrates
  
• fake food, including saccharin, aspartame, margarine-invented substances, refined and processed foods
  
• consumption of soft drinks
  
• overconsumption of alcohol
  
• smoking
  
• recreational stimulants
  
• stress
  
• lack of exercise
  
• prescription drugs
  
• steroids
  
• diet pills
  

H
UMAN
G
ROWTH
H
ORMONE

WHAT IT IS
:
Human growth hormone (HGH) is a protein hormone released by the pituitary gland in the brain. It is responsible for telling
our bodies to grow cells, bones, organs, and muscles and is beneficial to the brain, the cardiovascular system, the immune system, aerobic capacity, body composition, and bone. HGH enters our bloodstream in bursts during sleep, particularly after midnight. It heads to the liver, where it is converted into insulin growth factor 1 (IGF-1), a messenger molecule that travels to all parts of the body and stimulates cell production and growth.

HOW IT WORKS:
HGH promotes growth by helping transport amino acids (the building blocks of protein) between cells and into cells. The body uses amino acids to create muscles and to build and restore organs, including the heart and skin.

Because this hormone is primarily responsible for the growth and regeneration of every cell in our bodies, low levels of HGH cause aging. HGH is in plentiful supply until about age twenty. Each decade thereafter, we lose approximately 20 percent of our HGH base level. So by the time you’re sixty or seventy, your body has access to only 15 to 20 percent of the HGH you had in your youth.

Symptoms of a deficiency include

• thinning, sagging, wrinkling skin
  
• thinning bones
  
• loss of muscle strength
  
• accumulation of fat tissue
  
• decreased heart function
  
• lowered immunity
  
• thinning hair
  
• loss of libido
  
• decreased stamina and vigor
  
• depression
  
• anxiety
  
• fatigue
  

On July 5, 1990, the
New England Journal of Medicine
published a clinical study on HGH, hailing it as a fountain of youth. Injections of synthetic human growth hormone had turned twelve men, ages
sixty-one to eighty-one, with flabby, frail, fat-bulging bodies into sleeker, stronger, younger selves. After just six months of treatment, the men gained an average of 8.8 percent in lean body mass and lost an average of 14.4 percent in fat mass. In addition, their skin thickened by 7.1 percent, the bone density of their lumbar spines increased by 1.6 percent, their livers grew by 19 percent, and their spleens grew by 17 percent. Finally, the subjects in this study showed a ten- to twenty-year reversal in the aging process.

According to Dr. Philip Lee Miller: “Perhaps more powerfully than any other hormone system, supplementing the body’s waning production of growth hormone with bioidentical replacement hormones can reduce, and even reverse, the changes normally associated with the aging process. Growth hormone replacement therapy enhances the effects that we have already seen with testosterone and estrogen therapy: more youthful skin, increased lean muscle mass, and increased mental and physical vitality. But with the addition of growth hormone, the changes are even more dramatic and profound.”

HGH is also great for weight control, doing something few other weight loss regimens do: It recontours the body, melting away fat and building muscle. In many cases, people who take HGH look as if they’ve shed not only years, but also lots of fat. Even better, the greatest loss occurs in deep belly fat, the area associated with increased risk of heart attack and diabetes. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study on overweight women, HGH caused an average loss of more than 4.6 pounds of body fat, mostly in the abdomen. Most diets cause loss of muscle along with fat, but in this study the women’s lean body mass increased by
6.6
pounds.

Loss of abdominal fat also has implications for type 2 diabetes, since there is a close association between central obesity and insulin resistance. According to Dr. David Clemmons, “While some early studies showed increased blood sugar and insulin resistance in GH-treated subjects, later studies showed that after six months of treatment, insulin sensitivity returned to baseline. While proof is still lacking, it is reasonable to assume that over the long run, stimulation of growth hormone could help to
prevent type 2 diabetes or even reverse the process
.”

HGH’s disease-fighting and antiaging benefits are becoming more clear all the time. More than twenty-eight thousand different studies on HGH indicate that human growth hormone supplementation is indeed one secret to maintaining youth. (If you want to read some of these studies for yourself, go to
www.pubmed.com
.)

Dr. Julian Whitaker of the Whitaker Health Institute in California has been prescribing HGH to his patients with deficiency. In his view, HGH is most effective in combating the effects of chronic diseases that involve muscle wasting, stroke, chronic heart disease, and AIDS. He feels it can even be beneficial in treating burns and in helping patients recover from surgery.

For the record I, too, have become convinced and am enjoying the benefits of daily injections of HGH. My tests indicated I had a deficiency. In a few weeks of taking this hormone, my belly fat had all but disappeared. My skin appeared thicker and less wrinkled. My stamina, vigor, and vitality are now at optimum. Combined with a regimen of adequate sleep, good diet (most of the time), and exercise (but not fanatically), I find my hormone levels and all ratios are in line, and all my other tests are coming out in good to optimal ranges. These are very significant and encouraging results.

SUPPLEMENTING WITH HGH
:
The antiaging community has heralded HGH as the ultimate antiaging therapy. But it is prescribed
only
when there is a deficiency. For now, the conventional establishment continues to insist that growth hormone therapy is unproven and risky. Growth hormone is readily available as an FDA-approved drug and is the standard treatment for adults with a clinical diagnosis of growth hormone deficiency due to pituitary failure or disease.

As a cancer survivor, I have always been interested in understanding HGH, yet somehow I felt that a
growth hormone
certainly couldn’t be a good thing for me. I mean, why would I want to encourage growth in a body that once housed the nastiest element of growth? But the more I discovered about this hormone, the more interested I became. According to Dr. Philip Lee Miller, “Perhaps more powerfully than with any other hormone system, supplementing the
body’s waning production of growth hormone with bioidentical replacement hormones can reduce and even reverse the changes normally associated with the aging process.”

Virtually everyone over age forty has suboptimal growth hormone levels, and the earlier HGH is initiated, the greater the benefits. HGH is typically prescribed in small, regular doses to mimic the body’s own natural secretions. Although supplementing with injectable HGH remains somewhat controversial, Dr. Miller argues strongly in favor of considering it as part of a comprehensive antiaging program. “Personally, I believe the antiaging effects of growth hormone are so profound and so beneficial to your long-term health that the benefits far outweigh the possible risks,” he explains. “In addition, I firmly believe that when HGH is used properly, the risks are minimized. I not only offer growth hormone therapy to my patients as an option, but also personally use HGH injections as part of my own antiaging program.”

At the moment, HGH injections are quite expensive. Most doctors I have spoken with say that the price will be going down drastically in the near future as this amazing hormone becomes better understood. If daily HGH injections are not a possibility due to cost, or if you find the idea of daily injections too difficult, you can try to jump-start your own body to make HGH on its own by supplementing with L-arginine, L-glutamine, L-ornithine, lysine, glycine, and niacin, all known to increase the body’s internal release of growth hormone. Getting adequate sleep and exercising on a regular basis also stimulate the release of HGH.

SAFETY AND SIDE EFFECTS:
I’m sure at this point you are asking whether growth hormone is safe. In my case, I first had blood work done to show that I had a growth hormone deficiency, probably due to the aging process and the natural occurrence of declining hormones. Then I wanted to know if using growth hormone could increase the risk of cancer, so I looked into this. The only evidence comes from children and young adults who were given growth hormone to treat growth disorders and later had a higher rate of certain
cancers as adults. The dosages used in these cases were up to ten times those used today in antiaging therapies. The connection between cancer and growth hormone has also been observed only in patients who received therapy prior to 1985, when HGH was synthesized from cadavers. When synthetic forms of the hormone became available, the use of growth hormones from cadavers was halted.