600 mg glycerylphosphorylcholine = more post-training growth hormone

Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "

05.01.2012

600 mg alpha-GPC = more post-training growth hormone

A choline sort that you can buy off the shelf in the better supplements stores boosts the growth-hormone peak after a weights workout. Sports scientists at the American Center for Applied Health Science Research discovered this when they gave 600 mg alpha-GPC, short for alpha-glycerylphosphorycholine, to reasonably experienced strength athletes.

600 mg glyceryl-phosphoryl-choline = more post-training growth hormone

Alpha-GPC

The structural formula of the substance the researchers tested is shown below [formula 4]. Alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine resembles phosphatidylcholine [formula 3], which together with inositol is an important component of lecithin. It's also a precursor of choline [formula 1], and choline is a precursor of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine [formula 2].

Acetylcholine helps the brains and nerve cells to communicate with each other. Acetylcholine ensures that the brain can embed memories and instruct muscles to move. Because of the first property the longevity movement has always been interested in substances that boost the synthesis of acetylcholine.

600 mg glyceryl-phosphoryl-choline = more post-training growth hormone

According to ChemiNutra [cheminutra.com], the manufacturer of the alpha-GPC preparation AlphaSize, alpha-GPC is a better acetylcholine precursor than choline or phosphatidylcholine.

Supplements containing acetylcholine precursor may be of benefit to strength athletes. There are indications that an increased concentration of acetylcholine in the brain boosts the production of growth hormone after training. [Horm Metab Res. 1992 Mar;24(3):119-21.] That's why ChemiNutra commissioned the study, the abstract of which was published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.

600 mg glyceryl-phosphoryl-choline = more post-training growth hormone

Study
The researchers gave seven young men 600 mg alpha-GPC or a placebo one and a half hours before they did a training session. The workout consisted of 6 sets of squats with 70 percent of the 1RM, followed by three sets of bench-press-throws with 50 percent of their maximal weight.

Results
The figure below shows that the single dose enhanced the concentration of growth hormone in the blood.

600 mg glyceryl-phosphoryl-choline = more post-training growth hormone

Hmmm...
The researchers write that due to the supplementation "peak GH increased 44-fold".

That's true, but it's also a bit misleading. Growth hormone is released in pulses. Sometimes you have almost no growth hormone in your blood, but when you train the concentration shoots up. The height of a peak doesn't say much. It is more useful to determine the growth hormone level over a longer period of time.

Source:
J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2008; 5(Suppl 1): P15.

More:
Alpha-GPC supplementation boosts strength within six days 05.01.2016
Alpha-GPC gave man (79) uncontrollable libido 22.01.2014

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