Does Sauna increase Human Growth Hormone (HGH)?
Interest in sauna culture and usage has seen a rapid growth in recent years for a multitude of reasons. This interest coincides with an interest in many health related topics such as Human Growth Hormone also called HGH. What is less often discussed is the connection between sauna use increasing the serum levels of HGH in the body.
What is HGH (Human Growth Hormone) and What Does it Do?
HGH is a hormone produced by the pituitary gland. Its main role is to build, repair, and maintain our organ tissues. HGH is particularly useful when recovering from a workout or an injury. Starting in middle age our body begins to produce less and less HGH and many have taken the somewhat controversial decision to inject synthetic HGH to maintain or increase their strength and ward off aging. Many people take synthetic HGH in order to burn fat, boost metabolism, and many claim it as a sort of fountain of youth, but that is not without controversies. There is a natural way to increase natural HGH to gain most of the same beneficial effects without the drawbacks.
Sauna Effect on Natural HGH Production
One study published by the National Library of Medicine outlines the effect of regular sauna use on Human Growth Hormone. A co-ed group of 17 people were tested for baseline levels of HGH amongst other metrics before undertaking two daily dry sauna sessions for seven days. While there was little to no difference in testosterone levels there was a very significant rise in growth hormones. Scientists observed a 16x rise in serum growth hormone levels after sauna use in the study participants. A much larger and longer study from Finland studying 2,300 middle aged men over 20 years found regular sauna use correlated with a much lower mortality rate than the men who didn’t use the sauna as regularly or at all. The study is worth reading here. The connection with natural HGH increase is just a part of the growing evidence that we are only just beginning to understand the benefits of regular sauna use, a tradition going back 3000 years.
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