Everyone expects to slow down a bit as they age. Feeling tired more often, losing muscle, and gaining weight can seem like “just part of getting older,” but what if some of those changes aren’t just about age?
In many cases, symptoms blamed on aging may actually point to something more specific: HGH deficiency.
What Is HGH?
Common Signs of HGH Deficiency Often Mistaken for “Just Aging”
Fatigue and Low Energy
Human growth hormone is largely responsible for stimulating the body to produce insulin-like growth factor 1 or IGF-1. This hormone encourages the cells to grow and repair themselves. Therefore, it causes the cell’s mitochondria to produce energy more efficiently. When this occurs, the body is less likely to feel tired and can sustain itself energetically throughout the day.
When human growth hormone levels are low, the energy production process slows down, and this causes fatigue.
Increased Belly Fat
HGH also helps break down triglycerides, a type of fat stored within cells. This action does not allow fat to accumulate in the body. The area particularly vulnerable to the accumulation of triglycerides is the abdominal area. With fewer growth hormones to break these fats down, you begin to see fat accumulating around your midsection.
Growth hormone is also the reason that your metabolic rate, or the calories you require for breathing, temperature and blood circulation, increases. This means that your body has the opportunity to burn more calories at rest than while it is in motion. This metabolic rate increase results in higher levels of energy because it allows the body to convert food to energy rather than store it as fat.
Decreased Muscle Mass
At the same time that growth hormone is preventing the abdomen from storing fat, it is increasing the body’s lean muscle mass. It also increases muscle strength. As muscles become stronger, you notice that you are capable of lifting heavier weights and managing more difficult activities.
Along with extra strength, your endurance increases, and things that used to be difficult are easier for you. This causes you to feel more energized. However, the lack of growth hormones keeps you from enjoying these advantages.
Mood Changes and Brain Fog
Depression and anxiety are symptoms of low growth hormone levels. That is because low HGH levels inhibit the body’s ability to repair itself. This has a detrimental effect on the body’s capacity to manage depression and anxiety. It may also cause you to feel irritable and experience more pain.
With low levels of growth hormone, mental clarity is also lacking. Some people notice that they cannot focus on tasks for as long a period or that they are having memory lapses. This leads to mental fatigue.
Poor Sleep Quality
Low growth hormone levels prevent the body from receiving the HGH spurts it regularly receives during deep sleep. This is highly important because it is during deep sleep that the body releases the majority of your human growth hormone supply. With low growth hormone levels, you begin to experience poor sleep quality, and this leads to chronic fatigue.
Thinning Skin and Slow Healing
HGH is also implicated in the thinning of the skin. We need adequate levels of growth hormones to maintain the thickness of our skin. It also leads the skin to be less elastic, meaning that it does not stretch and return to its original shape like it did when it was young. That is because low levels of the growth hormone lead to decreased collagen production, the main building block of skin and other bodily structures.
In addition to maintaining the structure of the skin, HGH contributes to its repair. If your growth hormone levels are low, another symptom is the fact that it takes longer for the body to heal.
What to Do If You Notice These Signs…
If you have checked all of the lifestyle boxes, such as eating well, sleeping enough, and exercising, but still feel “off,” it might be time to consider hormone testing. A search for an HGH therapy clinic near me can connect you with specialists who understand the signs of deficiency and offer tailored treatment plans based on lab work and health goals.