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Dr. Richard Garde’s lifelong commitment to vitality and the power of the human body began in 1970 when a series of accidents left him in chronic debilitating pain for years. Chiropractic care helped him restore his health. That journey from vital active life to disability and back shaped his vision to understand how the body creates vitality and to assist people in finding simple solutions to restore and maintain vitality at any age. Richard changed his career path after practicing Chiropractic for over 30 years in Boulder to writing and speaking on how to release your internal vitality. He is excited about the next chapter in the re-invention of his life’s passion of helping people find optimum vitality in an energy rich environment. Richard is available for personal consultations or group presentations. He asks that you please visit his blog www.RichardGarde.com or call direct @ (303-709-5068)
IGF Growth Factor is important in looking young, feeling young, keeping young. IGF-1 or Insulin Growth Factor (type 1) is an important part of the preservation of vitality and the rejuvenation of the body. As we learn more about the incredibly complex endocrine system (the glands in the body that secrete the chemical messengers called hormones) certain factors stand out as primary sources of energy and youthful vitality. Human Growth Hormone (HGH) produced by the pituitary is intimately involved in tissue growth and repair.
When HGH is secreted into the blood stream it is carried to the liver and converted into IGF – 1. Together with insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), GH helps regulate metabolism and assists in the maintenance normal brain and cardiac function. Secretion of GH declines significantly with aging, correlating with age-related symptoms such as disordered sleep patterns, fragile bones, cognitive decline, loss of sexual desire and/or sexual function, decreased muscle mass and strength, increased abdominal fat storage and thinning skin.
Individuals that maintain IGF-1 levels above the mean for their age are less likely to experience these declines in quality of life and are able to improve body fat distribution (specifically visceral fat) and improve muscle mass, strength, and endurance resulting from sarcopenia (erosion of muscle mass); prevent or reverse metabolic syndrome; improve serum lipoprotein profiles; reduce cardiac risk; improve glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity; improve vitality; and avoid many of the other age related diseases.
There are numerous studies that increasing levels of HGH or IGF-1 in a healthy aging person will reduce those effects of the aging process. There are also studies that point to those effects as temporary and not without risk. However, those studies were performed with HRT (hormone replacement therapy).
A number of natural physiological stimuli can initiate HGH secretion, the most powerful, are sleep, exercise and diet. Deep stages of sleep stimulate pituitary function, exercise at the lactic acid threshold (where you feel the muscle burn) also stimulates HGH, diets with low caloric intake low in carbohydrate loading and high in protein will also help aid HGH production. It is obvious to state that those efforts and life strategies that lead to better all around health are effective because they are stimulating the increase in production of a person’s own HGH and IGF levels.
It also follows that poor lifestyle strategies (low sleep, diets high in sugar, little or no exercise) are harmful because they retard the HGH production.
