Peat Archive

Ray Peat held a contrarian view on growth hormone (GH), considering chronically elevated levels to be problematic rather than beneficial. While mainstream anti-aging medicine often promotes GH supplementation, Peat argued that elevated GH is associated with increased cancer risk, insulin resistance, and accelerated aging. He pointed to research showing that GH-deficient animals and humans (such as Laron syndrome patients) tend to live longer and have lower cancer rates.

Peat saw elevated GH as a stress response — the body produces more GH when thyroid function is low, when blood sugar drops, or during fasting. He argued that optimizing thyroid function, maintaining stable blood sugar, and ensuring adequate nutrition would naturally keep GH at healthy levels without the need for supplementation.