The Hormone That Controls Fat Loss

By Craig Ballantyne

Growth hormone (GH) is touted as the fountain of youth and the best fat-loss drug available. There's no shortage of anti-aging clinics trying to sell you on the injections or some miracle growth-hormone-promoting supplement. But what's the truth behind growth hormone? Does it really work for fat loss and anti-aging?

Researchers from the prestigious Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, LA aimed to find out. So they administered it to a group of middle-aged, overweight men for six months.

On average, the men's lean body mass increased by 5.5 pounds. Plus, they lost 8.8 percent of the body fat around their stomachs. Very impressive. The growth hormone therapy also increased their metabolism by 172 calories per day. That means if they burned only 2,000 calories per day before getting the GH, they burned 2,172 calories per day after getting it.

This study shows that growth hormone therapy can help you get lean. However, you can also increase your levels naturally. Start with strength training and interval training. This type of high-intensity exercise boosts post-exercise growth hormone levels, which is probably one reason it works so well for building muscle and burning fat.

It's Good to Know: Why December 25?

Religious scholars agree that Jesus was probably not born on December 25. So why did early church leaders pick that date for His birthday?

One theory is that they were influenced by the solar symbolism of the Roman festival of Dies Natalis Solis Invicti ("birthday of the invincible sun"). The festival took place on December 25, the date of the winter solstice on the Julian calendar, and honored several sun gods and the annual rebirth of the sun.

(Source: About.com, Wikipedia; the Catholic Encyclopedia)

Word to the Wise: Boondoggle

A "boondoggle" (BOON-dah-gul) is an unnecessary or wasteful project or activity. The word was coined by a scoutmaster, Robert H. Link. Link’s boondoggle was a braided leather cord - a simple item still made by young Boy Scouts and campers. The word was later contemptuously applied to any "make-work" project.

Example (as used by Susann Cokal in a New York Times review of Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon): "In Michael Chabon’s gleeful new novel, a pair of 10th-century soldiers of fortune scramble up and down the trails and gorges of the Caucasus, engaging in a brawl or a boondoggle as regularly as they pause for a meal."

Michael Masterson
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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2227, 12-17-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

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