Lower levels of the cancer-promoting growth hormone IGF-1 in those eating vegan is not expected to affect their accumulation of muscle mass.
Plant-Based Bodybuilding
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We know excess cellular growth isn’t so good when we’re fully grown adults, since budding tumors may end up being the main beneficiaries of higher levels of circulating growth hormones. But in some circumstances, a little extra growth is sought after, particularly for men in this culture—though not exclusively.
The growth hormone IGF-1 is the reason some dogs look like this, and others like this. What about those who strive to be the big dog? Yes, lower circulating levels of IGF-1 in vegans lowers cancer risk, but might that interfere with their accumulation of muscle mass? There certainly are lots of plant-based body builders, but maybe they’re the exception. To look like this, does one have to risk looking like this?
True or false: Lower IGF-1 levels in vegans likely interferes with muscle accumulation. Is this fact, or is this fiction?
Well, there’s a couple ways you attack that question. For example, what’s the skeletal muscle mass like in acromegaly? People afflicted with giantism—where they have an IGF overload in the body. If IGF bulks up muscle, you’d think they’d be musclebound; but no, they don’t have any more muscle, on average, than anyone else.
What if you inject people with IGF-1? They injected women for a year, and found no increase in lean body mass or grip, bench or leg press strength.
What about men? Basically, same thing. They had about a dozen 22-year-olds flex for 15 weeks under different hormonal milieus, and concluded that elevations in ostensibly anabolic hormones, like IGF-1, with resistance exercise, enhances neither training-induced muscle bulk, nor strength.
“Thus it seems that outside of [genetically engineered mice or a cell culture dish or other animal models] that the search for the true role of the growth potential for IGF-1 in adult muscle hypertrophy is a vain one.” So, although it’s never been directly tested, probably fiction.
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Kerry Skinner.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Friedlander AL, Butterfield GE, Moynihan S, Grillo J, Pollack M, Holloway L, Friedman L, Yesavage J, Matthias D, Lee S, Marcus R, Hoffman AR. One Year of Insulin-Like Growth Factor I Treatment Does Not Affect Bone Density, Body Composition, or Psychological Measures in Postmenopausal Women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2001 Apr;86(4):1496-503.
- Phillips SM. Comments on Point:Counterpoint: IGF is/is not the major physiological regulator of muscle mass. In search of the skeletal muscle growth potential of
- West DW, Burd NA, Tang JE, Moore DR, Staples AW, Holwerda AM, Baker SK, Phillips SM. Elevations in ostensibly anabolic hormones with resistance exercise enhance neither training-induced muscle hypertrophy nor strength of the elbow flexors. J Appl Physiol. 2010 Jan;108(1):60-7.
- Sutter NB, Bustamante CD, Chase K, Gray MM, Zhao K, Zhu L, Padhukasahasram B, Karlins E, Davis S, Jones PG, Quignon P, Johnson GS, Parker HG, Fretwell N, Mosher DS, Lawler DF, Satyaraj E, Nordborg M, Lark KG, Wayne RK, Ostrander EA. A Single IGF1 Allele Is a Major Determinant of Small Size in Dogs. Science. 2007 Apr 6;316(5821):112-5.
- Freda PU, Shen W, Reyes-Vidal CM, Geer EB, Arias-Mendoza F, Gallagher D, Heymsfield SB. Skeletal Muscle Mass in Acromegaly Assessed by Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Dual-Photon X-Ray Absorptiometry. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2009 Aug;94(8):2880-6.
- Rowlands MA, Gunnell D, Harris R, Vatten LJ, Holly JM, Martin RM. Circulating insulin-like growth factor peptides and prostate cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Cancer. 2009 May 15;124(10):2416-29.
- de Herder WW. Acromegaly and gigantism in the medical literature. Case descriptions in the era before and the early years after the initial publication of Pierre Marie (1886). Pituitary. 2009;12(3):236-44.
- Yang SY, Miah A, Pabari A, Winslet M. Growth Factors and their receptors in cancer metastases. Front Biosci. 2011 Jan 1;16:531-8.
- Zhang Y, Ma B, Fan Q. Mechanisms of breast cancer bone metastasis. Cancer Lett. 2010 Jun 1;292(1):1-7.
- Kleinberg DL, Wood TL, Furth PA, Lee AV. Growth Hormone and Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I in the Transition from Normal Mammary Development to Preneoplastic Mammary Lesions. Endocr Rev. 2009 Feb;30(1):51-74.
Images thanks to Dan Bennett, dbking and Larry He’s So Fine via flickr; alanpoulson via shutterstock; auremar via fotolia; Derek Tresize by Josh Avery, Ed Bauer and Nathane Jackson via veganbodybuilding. Images have been modified.
We know excess cellular growth isn’t so good when we’re fully grown adults, since budding tumors may end up being the main beneficiaries of higher levels of circulating growth hormones. But in some circumstances, a little extra growth is sought after, particularly for men in this culture—though not exclusively.
The growth hormone IGF-1 is the reason some dogs look like this, and others like this. What about those who strive to be the big dog? Yes, lower circulating levels of IGF-1 in vegans lowers cancer risk, but might that interfere with their accumulation of muscle mass? There certainly are lots of plant-based body builders, but maybe they’re the exception. To look like this, does one have to risk looking like this?
True or false: Lower IGF-1 levels in vegans likely interferes with muscle accumulation. Is this fact, or is this fiction?
Well, there’s a couple ways you attack that question. For example, what’s the skeletal muscle mass like in acromegaly? People afflicted with giantism—where they have an IGF overload in the body. If IGF bulks up muscle, you’d think they’d be musclebound; but no, they don’t have any more muscle, on average, than anyone else.
What if you inject people with IGF-1? They injected women for a year, and found no increase in lean body mass or grip, bench or leg press strength.
What about men? Basically, same thing. They had about a dozen 22-year-olds flex for 15 weeks under different hormonal milieus, and concluded that elevations in ostensibly anabolic hormones, like IGF-1, with resistance exercise, enhances neither training-induced muscle bulk, nor strength.
“Thus it seems that outside of [genetically engineered mice or a cell culture dish or other animal models] that the search for the true role of the growth potential for IGF-1 in adult muscle hypertrophy is a vain one.” So, although it’s never been directly tested, probably fiction.
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Kerry Skinner.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Friedlander AL, Butterfield GE, Moynihan S, Grillo J, Pollack M, Holloway L, Friedman L, Yesavage J, Matthias D, Lee S, Marcus R, Hoffman AR. One Year of Insulin-Like Growth Factor I Treatment Does Not Affect Bone Density, Body Composition, or Psychological Measures in Postmenopausal Women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2001 Apr;86(4):1496-503.
- Phillips SM. Comments on Point:Counterpoint: IGF is/is not the major physiological regulator of muscle mass. In search of the skeletal muscle growth potential of
- West DW, Burd NA, Tang JE, Moore DR, Staples AW, Holwerda AM, Baker SK, Phillips SM. Elevations in ostensibly anabolic hormones with resistance exercise enhance neither training-induced muscle hypertrophy nor strength of the elbow flexors. J Appl Physiol. 2010 Jan;108(1):60-7.
- Sutter NB, Bustamante CD, Chase K, Gray MM, Zhao K, Zhu L, Padhukasahasram B, Karlins E, Davis S, Jones PG, Quignon P, Johnson GS, Parker HG, Fretwell N, Mosher DS, Lawler DF, Satyaraj E, Nordborg M, Lark KG, Wayne RK, Ostrander EA. A Single IGF1 Allele Is a Major Determinant of Small Size in Dogs. Science. 2007 Apr 6;316(5821):112-5.
- Freda PU, Shen W, Reyes-Vidal CM, Geer EB, Arias-Mendoza F, Gallagher D, Heymsfield SB. Skeletal Muscle Mass in Acromegaly Assessed by Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Dual-Photon X-Ray Absorptiometry. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2009 Aug;94(8):2880-6.
- Rowlands MA, Gunnell D, Harris R, Vatten LJ, Holly JM, Martin RM. Circulating insulin-like growth factor peptides and prostate cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Cancer. 2009 May 15;124(10):2416-29.
- de Herder WW. Acromegaly and gigantism in the medical literature. Case descriptions in the era before and the early years after the initial publication of Pierre Marie (1886). Pituitary. 2009;12(3):236-44.
- Yang SY, Miah A, Pabari A, Winslet M. Growth Factors and their receptors in cancer metastases. Front Biosci. 2011 Jan 1;16:531-8.
- Zhang Y, Ma B, Fan Q. Mechanisms of breast cancer bone metastasis. Cancer Lett. 2010 Jun 1;292(1):1-7.
- Kleinberg DL, Wood TL, Furth PA, Lee AV. Growth Hormone and Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I in the Transition from Normal Mammary Development to Preneoplastic Mammary Lesions. Endocr Rev. 2009 Feb;30(1):51-74.
Images thanks to Dan Bennett, dbking and Larry He’s So Fine via flickr; alanpoulson via shutterstock; auremar via fotolia; Derek Tresize by Josh Avery, Ed Bauer and Nathane Jackson via veganbodybuilding. Images have been modified.
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Plant-Based Bodybuilding
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Content URLDoctor's Note
Why might we want low levels of IGF-1 in adulthood? See IGF-1 as One-Stop Cancer Shop. As we saw in How Plant-Based to Lower IGF-1?, vegan men have higher testosterone levels, which can be a risk factor for prostate cancer and enlargement, but given the average IGF-1 levels of those eating plant-based diets this may not be an issue. See Ex Vivo Cancer Proliferation Bioassay, and Prostate Versus a Plant-Based Diet. Having said that, if they eat excess “high quality” protein, they may not retain their IGF-1 advantage. See Higher Quality May Mean Higher Risk; Animalistic Plant Proteins; Too Much Soy May Neutralize Plant-Based Benefits; and How Much Soy Is Too Much?
For more context, check out my associated blog posts: Stool Size and Breast Cancer Risk, and Vegan Men: More Testosterone But Less Cancer.
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