eating before bed and growth hormone

kma · 08-07-2006, 05:36 PM

ok so i was doing some reading and i came across a statement saying that eating 1-2 hours before bed inhibits HGH release when you sleep. this is because in the first hour of sleep most of the HGH is released but if you eat something right before your body is more focused on digestion. after reading this i googled it a bit and it dosent seem to be false. Now we all eat before bed to prevent catabolsim but then this would not optimize muscle gains. i usually eat right before i sleep. I realize alot of you eat 1-2 hours before bed and im assuming this is more optimal. i guess i should do that from now on. Any insights or comments on this theory would be appreciated.

thanks in advance

djansen · 08-07-2006, 05:54 PM

thanks, i will try that

juggernaut=-= · 08-07-2006, 05:54 PM

ive been wondering the same thing, insulin release is said to block gh release, taking in fat, even in small amounts is also shown to slow down gh release, but i find it hard to bleive that protien would block gh release, some studies have shown that certian aminos increase gh release. the new flex mag has a whole article on this, mayby you should pick it up. ill have another look at it and see what it says, anyone else here have any info on this???

juggernaut=-= · 08-07-2006, 06:08 PM

well acording to the article in flex, they recomend eating before bed, hmmm go figure, more conflicting advice. They also say when your hungry the hormone ghreline is released which stimulates gh release, ho hum, what to do, lol. Also the aminos arginine, ornithine and acetyl-L-carnitine boost gh. My advice is to go ahead and have your protien shake befor bed, ive tried not eating 2 hrs befor bed and have found that for me my gains slow down compared to haveing a low fat, low carb protien source.

kma · 08-07-2006, 06:48 PM

thanx juggernaught

i dont want to sound a bit obsessive like am i going to lose muscle if i dont eat for this many hours but if i were to eat 2 hrs before and wanted to sleep 8hrs i would go for about 10hrs without food. i know that my muscles arent gonna shrink overnight but i know i will have a harder time sleeping 8 hrs because im pretty hungry when i wake up already. I think im gonna just stick to eating right before bed or have a larger meal 2hrs before.

jordanair45 · 08-07-2006, 07:43 PM

Nonsense. GH is released during sleep no matter what. Even if your body does focus more on digestion come on, does it take long for digestion? No, maybe 1-2 hours at the most. So if you aim for 10 hours of sleep, 2 go to digestion and 8 go to actual sleep and gh release. It's fine dude, it naturally happens. The only thing that inhibits it is not sleeping.