Hi Ellis,

I am new to the group, (Hi all) and have few questions. I originally
found this group after reading a page about your friend who owned the
gym and unfortunately he was jailed.

[That was Dr. David Spear, "Big Doc"... I lived with him at the
Royal Mayan for one week in Can Cun, about 6 months before he died...
Big Doc was a frequent and very interesting contributor to our
forum... he died reportedly of a heart attack, but he was not in
good physical shape when I met him in Can Cun... he would literally
sit down and rest for "a few minutes" if we walked 2 blocks...
I think "a few minutes" is a very long time to have to rest for
walking only 2 blocks. This is the page I put up after he died:

http://www.rajeun.net/bigdoc.html

- Ellis]

I am wondering what the effect of diet is on GH and specifically do
low carb diets alter the effectiveness of GH or change the dosage one
should take?

[Low carb diets keep your glucose levels low, and high glucose
levels inhibit the natural secretion of growth hormone... but I
don't think that if you have low carb diet it would change the
dose of GH that you should take, since whatever amount of GH your
body is still letting out, it isn't enough. Eating "correctly"
might make the effectiveness of GH greater, certainly not less.
- Ellis]

Do insulin levels impact effectiveness of GH supplementation?

[You probably have as much insulin or more than you need, but
yes, "insulin levels" do have an impact on the effectiveness of
GH supplementation, but this requires a bit more explanation than
a "yes" or "no" answer... A diabetic type 1 has no insulin or very
little insulin... That diabetic type 1 person is PROBABLY injecting
(or trying to inject) a correct amount of insulin at the right
time, in which case there would be enough insulin to couple with
growth hormone. If he is NOT injecting insulin, then the lack of
insulin in his body results in that growth hormone cannot make new
protein, because growth hormone causes an increase in "insulin growth
factor 1" but if insulin itself is missing, then IGF-1 by itself
won't be able to make new protein. What USUALLY is missing in our
body is enough IGF-1... there usually is more than enough insulin to
get together with IGF-1 (which is usually missing, unless you take
growth hormone) to permit new generation of protein when needed. - Ellis]

The forementioned website recommended taking 3iu/day with alternating
weeks.


[That was Big Doc's protocol to get the most "bang for the buck"...
It was his opinion that 3 iu per day for 6 days followed by 6
days of 0 AND very low carbs, is better than 1.5 iu for 12 days.

That's o.k. with me, that was his opinion, not mine, and he said
that he could get more "pump" and results... I think ZERO is too
little anytime... I would prefer a minimum of 1 iu on those OFF
days and 2 iu on the ON days... that still adds up to 6 plus 12
equals 18, and in my opinion it is better to never starve my body
of growth hormone...

But NOBODY REALLY KNOWS who is right, or which dose is the optimum
dose, or which IGF-1 level is best... We know which dose causes
PROBLEMS, but none of us is close to those doses, so we are left
with deciding which dose is best, or optimum.

I always like to think "What dose would I take if growth hormone
is FREE?" I think I might take 3 iu per day, if growth hormone
would be free... but it isn't free so I take 2 iu per day...

I have taken 3 iu for several months, several times, and I have
tested my blood then... I got IGF-1 in the 700's... NOBODY KNOWS
that 700's is TOO HIGH, but I didn't want to be the brave pioneer
that gets into trouble all alone, and since growth hormone is not
free and in fact is pretty expensive, both doctors and patients are
trying to economize so most people taking growth hormone are taking
1 iu, and getting good results... but there simply aren't enough people taking 3
iu per day for me to be able to know I am safe...

That coupled with the cost and I decided to drop my dose to 2 iu.

BUT I FELT FINE with a dose of 3 iu... I can't really say I felt
"better" taking 3 iu than taking 2 iu, but I THINK 3 iu is a good
and safe dose. In any case, 1 iu is infinitely more than 0,
2 iu is also infinitely more than 0 but only twice as much as 1...
and 3 iu is infinitely more than 0 and one and a half times as much
as 2... So... ZERO is too little, that, we know...

So which is the best dose if everybody who is taking at least
a little bit of growth hormone says they are having good results?

I don't know... But I think the BEST dose is the HIGHEST dose I can
take in the LONG RUN without getting ANY side effects. And I THINK
I would not have any side effects if I took 3 iu per day and got
IGF-1 of 700, but I DON'T KNOW if this is true or not... and since
there are not enough people that I know who are taking 3 iu, and
there are plenty of doctors and patients taking or recommending
2 iu or IGF-1 of 500, I decided to stay with 2 iu as my daily dose.
- Ellis]

Is the goal of GH supplementation to restore a level of a young
adult or is there value in the higher dose?

[I'm not sure what the goal of GH supplementation is... My goal
is to live a long and healthy life... I feel that taking HGH is
like taking Life, I am injecting a little more Life into my life
every day that I inject growth hormone. It is Life in that little
bottle. I am young, and staying young, and others are old and
growing older every day around me. It gives me goose bumps to see
my friends looking more and more like my grandparents each year,
but that is exactly what is happening more and more each year. Now
I am 60 years old (almost)... the next 20 years should be decisive,
although the past 7 have been decisive too... If I really do continue
to stay young, the contrast between me and those who do not take
growth hormone as I do will become notorious, and maybe more people will finally
take notice that this stuff is for real. If they do,
or if they don't, I am going to continue on my path which has been
a pretty good path so far. If I ever change my mind, I'll let you
know. - Ellis]



Is there concern of inhibiting the bodies own natural production of
GH with GH supplementation?

[I'm not worried about this, especially since I am 60 years old
(or will be, soon...) and GH in my body is probably too low anyways.
Take a look at this page, and you will see that after a year and
a half taking HGH every day, my IGF-1 level was 201, which is as
high as many healthy 25 year old athletes. So I don't think that
my pituitary has stopped producing GH, and in fact may be producing
more GH than before I began with this therapy.

http://www.rajeun.net/day30.html


These were very good questions. I will tack some of them on
my HGH FAQ page, here:

http://www.rajeun.net/hghfaq.html

This is the first time I have ever given you the URL to my HGH FAQ
page, which I usually reserve for people who pay me a consultation
fee... so... there's an encyclopedia of HGH knowledge and questions
and answers in there. Go read it. - Ellis]


Thanks

Dan

[Thanks for writing. Three stars for this post, which means:
"This is an exceptionally interesting post." - Ellis]