Paypal was a really smart idea; it’s one of those I wished I had thought of first, like, well pretty much anything that makes a boat load of money.

The idea is simple, but I’d bet the execution was the tricky part – after all, a concept is nothing without its materialization.

One of the co-founders of Paypal – Peter Thiel – seems to have done pretty well from it anyway, as Forbes tells us he’s got about $2.2 billion stuffed into his mattress.

Two billion dollars is the equivalent of about £5 in today’s economy so I reckon I’m still richer than the guy, but whatever. Anyway, there was a point I was trying to get to here and it’s this: he would like to live to the age of 120 years old…and he’s using growth hormone pills as part of his plan, and not the sort of GH Boosters we review either, he’s gone full synthetic.

He also claims to be on a paleo diet and steers clear of nearly all sugar, which he explains contributing to a longer lifespan rather than being the major factor. According to him, ridding your diet of sugar is the only real dieting rule one should follow. Okay, Pete, paleo diet and no sugar ever…sounds like my idea of Hell on Earth if I’m honest.

The basic idea of the paleo diet is to mimic more closely the type of nutrition that cavemen lived on, because they didn’t have access to processed foods and pasteurized milk and so on, yet they were super-athletic and didn’t get cancer much. They also didn’t live past 35, but no-one seems to mention that.

Any paleo stalwarts will be about to smash their computer screens now. To those people: I know there’s more to it than that, I’m just attempting some festive jest. Relax, and drink a yummy raw milk and mud smoothie or something.

Justifying use of HGH

Peter Thiel says he takes GH pills every day because they help you retain muscle mass, which makes your bones less likely to break or develop arthritis. I must admit, this philosophy was a bit of a head-scratcher for a while until I moved on, thinking silly billionaires!

Yes, synthetic human growth hormone will certainly help muscles grow and bones to heal, but it will also help a bunch of other tissue types to grow according to some research findings. Unfortunately, they include the malignant variety, and while tumor growth is a concern, there’s also other problems like the overgrowth of jaw bones and feet and such. None of that sounds pretty but there is more than likely a dosage level that doesn’t have too many side effects.

More Research Needed

More research into the true effects of HGH is needed, and it’s interesting to see some important people in suits with fat wallets take a real interest in it. Even in the NBA, one team manager has decided to fund some research to find out whether growth hormone can play role in suitable recovery therapy for players with injuries. Contrastingly, the NFL has recently announced that HGH is on their banned and tested-for performance enhancing drug (PED) list.

Of all the things human growth hormone might be capable of, performance enhancement is probably going to be one of the least effective. While the drug’s association with concomitant growth in muscle size and recovery will more than likely be corroborated by research, there is not much preliminary evidence to suggest it leads to huge gains in strength, power or performance. To some people, however, the very fact that it speeds recovery from injury is just another type of performance enhancement. Also, what does it say about the risks professional sportsmen would take if they know they had a powerful healing aid waiting for them?

Risk versus Reward

But back to Peter Thiel, who understands the potential increased risk of cancer growth and responds with the positive mental attitude that cancer will hopefully be cured within 10 years. Just got to scrape through the next decade unscathed then, Pete. You know what though, all power to the guy; he’s pumping wads of cash into cancer and other biotech R&D, which is only going to benefit us proles who can’t even afford to upgrade our seat from economy class on Cheapo-Air.

At least some of them are philanthropists (well pseudo-philanthropists, these people always have their own agenda) because on the other hand we’ve got Branson trying to send non-astronaut type souls into space for $200,000 a pop. That’s unfair, Richard does a hell of a lot for charity, even though he sort of has to, for tax purposes and such.

Synthetic or Natural Alternatives

Right, human growth hormone, sorry. Long story short: the jury is very much out on the benefits of using the synthetic hormone. Personally, I will always be a proponent of the natural and supplemental methods of indirectly increasing our endogenous (body’s own release) growth hormone levels, as there is an abundance of benefits to be had from doing so. It’s also hugely safe, because our hypothalamus and pituitary gland can release and regulate it. Supplements are a handy way of doing this because it saves the time and expense of seeking out all the ingredients separately from specialized stores.

Amongst other ways to boost your natural (endogenous) release of growth hormone there’s exercising regularly and getting a good amount of sleep. And that advice holds true for so many other factors of our health, so just do it anyway, and don’t waste time thinking about it.

So, while some ridiculously wealthy people, some pro basketball players (also ridiculously wealthy), and quite a few bodybuilders, to name but a handful of persons, might start taking human growth hormone with their breakfast, I will stick to the natural GH boosters thank you very much.

Considering synthetic HGH is prescription only in most countries, I assume such formalities don’t get in the way of billionaires very often. I’ll wager there’s a well paid doctor somewhere laughing maniacally as he relieves his office wall of one undeserved hippocratic oath. And if we’re really honest, synthetic human growth hormone is probably not the panacea-esque fountain of youth it was once believed to be.

I can tell you one thing for sure; if you told me I had to eat a sugarless paleo diet for the next 80 years or so, I’d take something far more dangerous than synthetic growth hormone immediately. What’s the point of living to 120 without chocolate in your life!!