The human body is quite the complex and interesting organism. It can withstand a lot of physical and mental strain, it can rebound from multiple stresses at once and it can do amazing things when pushed to its limits. And all of this daily activation is completely resultant from the effect of hormones.
If they are in balance, then everything else will be in balance. This includes your weight, brain function, sex drive, mood, and especially, athletic performance. And it makes no difference if you are in the gym, cranking out kettlebell snatches or on the track doing timed sprint intervals. Hormone optimization is absolutely paramount!
And perhaps the most important hormone of them all is human growth hormone, or HGH for short. This particular hormone is produced in the pea-sized pituitary gland that sits right smack dab in the center of your forehead.
As the name implies, it’s first and main responsibility is to promote growth in adolescence. Then it plays a role in muscle building and maintenance, strength, energy production, fat metabolism and recoveries from workouts.
Because of all these duties, it then becomes apparently clear how important it is to keep your HGH levels high if you want to excel in your sport or just stay in the best shape possible. But, as you get older, your HGH levels tend to decline, along with another key hormone known as testosterone.
That’s where a good supplement like Deeper Sleeper can come to the table. When you are asleep, your body releases a high amount of growth hormone. This is why it’s so important to get adequate sleep for recoveries and muscle growth.
However, you still have your waking hours to deal with. If you are exceptionally active, your needs are different than the everyday Joe who works out a few times a week. You need a biohack to ensure that you hang with the rest of the hardcore crew—especially if you are over 30 years old. And this is where food comes to the table—literally and figuratively.
By making some simple additions, you can boost your HGH levels naturally and keep them elevated for many years to come.
If you think about it, in the past, people didn’t have the convenience of supplements to optimize their performance in daily life. Food was their only option. And in some cases, they connected the dots, found out what worked and stuck with it.
Fast forward to you in the present moment, and it’s a good idea to not take anything to chance. If there is a way to optimize your HGH levels, then why wouldn’t you want to try? Well, you can. And it starts with the inclusion of these five foods. Some of which might be new to you.
1. Goji Berries
These little berries have been around for thousands of years and they are heralded as superfoods. They bear a close resemblance to cranberries, but are smaller and a brighter shade of red.
The fun fact about them is they are complete proteins, which you do not see every day when it comes to fruits. This is just the tip of the iceberg though. They are also high in vitamin C and A, fiber and antioxidants that help boost your immunity. But… the news gets even better from there!
They also contain powerful substances known as sesquiterpenoids, which cause a high dump of HGH by stimulating the pituitary gland. You can get these in all health food stores and even conventional stores as well. And they make great add-ins to smoothies, oatmeal bowls, salads and side dishes. Or, you can just munch on a handful as they are.
2. Fava Beans
All beans actually have a decent effect on boosting HGH. But perhaps the king of all legumes in this department would be fava beans. They contain a particular substance responsible for the output known as L-dopa. Simply put, it has the same effect as goji berries.
You can add these to your weekly diet as a side dish, make soup or stew with them or find them dried and packaged and use them as a crunchy treat. And just for the record, you may also hear these referred to as broad beans.
3. Raspberries
Goji berries aren’t the only berries that can give your HGH levels a shot skyward. You also have another red berry known as raspberries. How does this magic happen? Well, it all revolves around another substance known as melatonin. You may have heard of this before.
Melatonin is a key element in the sleep cycle. If you nosh on some raspberries while polishing off your last meal of the day, you can boost your melatonin levels, and by default, sleep more soundly. This, in turn, will increase your HGH levels.
4. Raw Cacao
Tryptophan is often associated with turkey. It’s true that turkey does contain it, but if you are opposed to turkey, there is another option for you to add called raw cacao. To put it into layman’s terms, this is raw chocolate.
You can find it in powdered form or in these little pieces called “nibs.” They are just the seeds of the cacao fruit that have been dried and mashed up.
The tryptophan content of raw cacao is what makes it beneficial at boosting HGH levels. As an added bonus, cacao is a powerful antioxidant, it’s high in fiber and it also contains a broad spectrum of B vitamins.
5. Raisins
A lot of people have grown scared of eating raisins over the years because of the popularity of low-carb diets. But if you are active, and want to get an edge in your workouts and races, you should not pay attention to the fear mongering.
What you SHOULD do is add raisins to your daily diet. They contain a substance known as L-arginine, which has been shown to raise your HGH levels naturally. Much like goji berries and raspberries, they are very easy to add to preexisting dishes or eat them as they are.
Wrapping it Up
You are now armed with an array of foods that you can start incorporating into your daily diet plan to promote higher HGH levels. If you embark on all the other lifestyle tricks of the trade to optimize your HGH, and add foods to the list, just think about how much your performance can improve. Use that as a motivator to stay on track and beat out all the competition. Even if you are only competing with yourself.