# STEROIDS FORUM > IGF-1 LR3, HGH, and INSULIN QUESTIONS >  HGH: With or Without Food

## Gettin'Old

I'll apologize in advance b/c i'm sure this has been answered a hundred times. I've looked around the forums though and not seen an answer.

Do you need to take HGH on an empty stomach?

If so, how long do you need to wait before eating?

Thanks much,
GO

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## cold1

Try to avoid carbs an hour before and after your injection. Unless you mega dosing PWO. Otherwise your good to go.

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## RedBaron

HGH will interfere with your cells ability to uptake glucose and get it out of your bloodstream, so as already mentioned carbs around injection time are not a really smart idea.

I usually take my first HGH injection at about 4-5 am, so I go back to sleep for a couple of hours before I do anything. My normal morning routine is another injection of HGH, some water and glutamine, and then off to the precor for a half hour of cardio. By time that is done and I have showered and shaved, I am out of the window that carbs are an issue.

If you need to eat around injection time, then try to eat a protein/healthy fat meal and save the carbs for a little later in the day. Insulin resistance with HGH isn't just a myth ... trust me, I know first hand what it can do if you let it (an a1c reading of 9.5% at one point). As long as you watch your eating and keep a cursory eye on what your BG levels are doing, you shouldn't have any concern. Ignore sound eating practices and don't give a thought to BG levels and you may be in for a really nice case of insulin resistance.

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## Luuke

do you eat anything before cardio in the a.m.? or have a shake?

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## RedBaron

All I have is some bottled water with about 10g of Glutamine in it. Doing my cardio for a half hour on an empty stomach equates to much better percentage of fat vs. overall calories burned than if I have fueled up before I start. I don't hit the cardio at 85% of max heart rate for my age - I keep it more along 70%. I am just using it to keep my bf% in check.

I most certainly have a couple of meals under my belt before I lift later in the day though.

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## Gettin'Old

Ok, many thanks! What is the window of time - how long should i wait to eat after the HGH?

I eat very healthfully. Breakfast is a protein shake and Gettin'Old guy cereal to keep things rollin'. LOL

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## plzr8

30 mins to an hour is good but i would still wait and hold off a little longer on taking any simple sugars, including juice drinks like oj

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## ultraaman

How strict does the no-carb rule have to be? My 16oz AM shake has 10-12 g carbs. I do 4iu soon after. I could move the shot to an hour later but that would put it immediately before my workout and I'm not sure that's a good idea.

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## peteroy01

how about take ur GH an hour before ur shake. problem solved.

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## ultraaman

I tried that for a while but me+needle+5 hours of sleep = bad idea. I get up at 6 AM then drive an hour to the gym before I go to work. Is there any benefit/loss to taking the shot right before working out? I did a search thru the threads but nothing on the subject that I can find.

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## AnabolicBoy1981

insulin sensitivity should actually go up on gh, not down. But i think when the doses are higher it begins to have the opposite effect from what i understand. Its kind of biphastic in that sence.
Carbs/insulin shouldnt negate gh if the gh if its from an outside source. Stimulating insulin from eating carbs in abundance is what dulls GH output of your own secretion from the pituitary. When insulin is high, somatostatin is relaesed to bring down insulin, but it also brings down gh, which is why carbs/insulin will dull *natural* GH secretion. But if you inject it, its in you, no matter what.

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## goin on 4T

AnabolicBoy1981
So what you are saying is that the only reason to not take carbs at a certain time is to stimulate or allow for the natural production of HGH. Is that what you mean?

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## AnabolicBoy1981

> AnabolicBoy1981
> So what you are saying is that the only reason to not take carbs at a certain time is to stimulate or allow for the natural production of HGH. Is that what you mean?


yes. this is assuming though that somotostatin is working at the pituitary level. i would think it probably is. i dont think another hormone could cause another hormone to "clear" faster, per se. Generally when hormones are affected its at their gland of origin that its halted.

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## ultraaman

> yes. this is assuming though that somotostatin is working at the pituitary level. i would think it probably is. i dont think another hormone could cause another hormone to "clear" faster, per se. Generally when hormones are affected its at their gland of origin that its halted.


Wow, so cool. Thanks for the info.

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## RedBaron

> insulin sensitivity should actually go up on gh, not down. But i think when the doses are higher it begins to have the opposite effect from what i understand. Its kind of biphastic in that sence.
> Carbs/insulin shouldnt negate gh if the gh if its from an outside source. Stimulating insulin from eating carbs in abundance is what dulls GH output of your own secretion from the pituitary. When insulin is high, somatostatin is relaesed to bring down insulin, but it also brings down gh, which is why carbs/insulin will dull *natural* GH secretion. But if you inject it, its in you, no matter what.



This really isn't the issue that we are worried about. We are not worrying about HGH being dulled ... we are worried about your blood glucose levels soaring to uncomfortable heights.

The problem with carbs around an HGH injection is that for a matter of a few hours the HGH interferes with your body's ability to uptake glucose. That is a problem for many people over the course of a cycle. Intaking a lot of carbs at exactly the same time your body loses the ability to pull it out of your system elevates your blood glucose levels. We can theorize that the subsequent secretion of IGF will offset this in a few hours, but that is a pretty general observation and one that doesn't fit every user. Many folks (self included) can get some pretty impressive a1c readings while on HRT doses of HGH. That over time will result in some nasty sides that I would really rather not deal with.

The above is the reason we suggest no carbs around injection, not because we are afraid that we are somehow negating our exogenous HGH.

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## ***xxx***

I am a little bit lost now...




> But insulin that is too low will hinder IGF-1 production. And think of all the "expert" physicians who tell their patients to not eat for a couple of hours status post their GH injection (even though they have already injested no protein for many hours)! Or that insulin will bind to the IGF-1 receptors--even though, even at physiologic concentration, affinity of insulin for the IGF-1 receptor is two to three orders of magnitude less (1/100th to 1/1000th).

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## Dr. Zeus

Can you eat pure protein foods like eggs during injection time? Or is it still better to hold off on solid food all together. The only thing I've been consuming within an hour before/after injection is water.

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## RedBaron

You can certainly eat protein foods or even protein / healthy fat meals without any problems. I would just avoid carbs and anything that would hit quick and spike your sugar levels. Outside of that, you will be fine with having a bite to eat.

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## Baron

So inbetween the carb meals is fine? Just as long as there's an hour gap?

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