Human growth hormone – HGH for short – might have a negative, or at least unnatural connotation to most. When you hear HGH in the news, it’s most often talked about as injections, in many cases used to boost athletic performance. But did you know that HGH is actually a hormone the body produces naturally?

The pituitary gland, which is largely responsible for spurring, maintaining and regulating growth, secretes HGH. Since HGH is one of the main compounds that help the body grow, production is strongest in the teenage years, but the pituitary gland continues to secrete HGH into adulthood to help maintain existing muscle and tissue.

Here are some of the body’s natural processes that are affected by HGH:

* While diet and exercise play a large role in determining your body composition, HGH is the natural compound that helps regulate your body composition as well.

* HGH also plays a role in metabolizing sugars and fats. While you control your intake of these items, HGH is one of the substances that helps process both of these necessary dietary compounds.

* Your body produces HGH to aid in developing both muscle and bone. When you get older, HGH works less as a growth engine and more as a recovery agent to help your muscles recoup from heavy activity and repair any damaged bone or tissue.

Due to its role in tissue growth and recovery, HGH injections are used by doctors to treat a number of conditions. In many cases, HGH treatments are used to treat growth disorders since there’s often some sort of related deficiency that prevents the person from getting the normal level of HGH naturally. It may also be used to fight diseases that cause muscle wasting. However, HGH injections have not been approved for over-the-counter use for those who don’t have one of these conditions.

There are also a number of over-the-counter supplements that aim to promote HGH production in the body. For those using these types of supplements, it’s important to do your research (information can be found at sites like www.hgh-pills.org) to make sure the product is right for you and hasn’t received any safety complaints to governing bodies like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.