There is a large body of scientific study on the effects of L-arginine on growth hormone release. In fact, the administration of a large dose of L-arginine is the standard test for the ability of the pituitary to release growth hormone. (Another test using insulin is actually more effective, but it is not accepted as the standard test by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.) Most scientists believe that L-arginine promotes HGH release by inhibiting somatostatin. L-arginine has many other benefits in addition to being a growth hormone releaser.

 

Arginine is an amino acid that is known as a growth hormone releaser. The decrease of growth hormone in the human body with aging is a major reason why muscle mass tends to decrease with age and body fat tends to increase with age. Decreases in growth hormone also are partially responsible for the slower rate of skin growth with aging, which results in thinner and less flexible skin. Injections of growth hormone can reverse these problems. Even though the cost of growth hormone injections have come down in price considerably in the past few years, they are still very costly. Growth hormone injections introduce growth hormone in a manner that is very different from the way it is produced by the pituitary gland. Growth hormone cannot be taken orally, because it is broken down in the digestive tract. Arginine is also a powerful immune stimulant and wound-healing agent. At one time, this was thought to be exclusively due to its growth hormone releasing properties; but arginine is a powerful immune stimulant and wound healing agent even in the absence of significant growth hormone release. It is now known that arginine has other important benefits as a precursor of nitric oxide