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Wed Jan 23, 2008 8:02 am

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Location: Chico, CA

This was from my Supplement Research column in an upcoming issue of Muscular Development magazine (written for bodybuilders):

GABA Increases Growth Hormone
Gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) is an important amino acid found in the brain that inhibits the activity of nerve cells. Increased GABA levels in the brain cause relaxation, reduces anxiety and influences growth hormone production. GABA is sold as a sports supplement, but many scientists doubt that it crosses the blood-brain barrier (i.e., can’t go from the stomach, to the blood, and then to the brain). A Shenendoah University study led by Michael Powers found that 3 grams of GABA taken orally before weight training increased two types of growth hormone by 400 percent in young men. Weight training elevated GH levels an additional 200 percent. They did not measure the effects of increased growth hormone levels on muscle hypertrophy. Is it helpful to increase growth hormone naturally? Surprisingly, we don’t have much scientific information that optimizing GH levels promotes muscle growth or fat loss— but we do have some. Studies from the University of Connecticut found that changes in blood growth hormone levels during weight training influence the rate muscles grew. Intense weight training increase blood levels of testosterone, IGF-1, and GH, all of which promote muscle hypertrophy. GABA supplements enhance the effects of weight training on growth hormone, so it could be an effective supplement for bodybuilders.
(Medicine Science Sports Exercise 40: 104–110, 2007)

_________________
Thomas Fahey
Dept Kinesiology
California State University, Chico
Chico, CA 95929-0330
discusdoc@aol.com



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