I first wrote about GenF20 Plus years ago, and one of the questions that keeps coming up with a product like this is simple: what is actually in it? That question matters more than the phrase “HGH releaser” on the front of a bottle. A supplement can contain ingredients that have interesting biological research behind them without proving that the finished product will recreate the effects people associate with prescription growth hormone.
The current GenF20 Plus formula is marketed as a 16-ingredient system. The manufacturer lists amino acids such as L-arginine, L-glutamine, glycine, lysine, tyrosine and valine, along with GABA, bovine colostrum and other components. The sensible way to assess it is not to ask whether each ingredient has ever appeared in a study. It is to ask whether the specific ingredient, dose, population and outcome match what we are being led to expect.
That is the standard I’m using here. I like GenF20 Plus based on my own experience, but my experience does not turn every ingredient claim into established fact. If you want my overall verdict on the product rather than the formula itself, start with my full GenF20 Plus review.
What ingredients are in GenF20 Plus?
The official product information currently describes a 16-ingredient formula. Among the prominently listed ingredients are L-arginine, L-glutamine, L-glycine, L-lysine, L-tyrosine, L-valine, GABA and bovine colostrum. These ingredients come from different categories and should not be treated as if they all work through one identical mechanism.
Several are amino acids. Amino acids are building blocks used throughout the body, and some have been studied in relation to exercise, neurotransmission or acute growth-hormone responses under specific experimental conditions. GABA is a neurotransmitter-related compound that has also been studied in the context of exercise and growth-hormone responses. Colostrum contains proteins and growth-related factors, but that does not mean taking bovine colostrum orally is equivalent to receiving human growth hormone.
An ingredient having a plausible mechanism is not the same as a finished supplement being proven to produce a meaningful anti-aging outcome. Formula-level evidence matters.
L-arginine
L-arginine is probably one of the most recognizable ingredients in the formula. It is an amino acid involved in nitric-oxide production, which is why it also appears in many sports-performance and circulation supplements. Arginine has been investigated for its relationship with growth-hormone secretion, but the results depend heavily on dose, timing, exercise and study design.
That matters because supplement marketing can take an interesting result from a controlled experiment and make it sound universal. I would not look at the presence of arginine and conclude that GenF20 Plus will automatically create a large or sustained rise in HGH. I would look at it as one biologically relevant component of a multi-ingredient formula.
GABA
GABA, short for gamma-aminobutyric acid, is best known as an inhibitory neurotransmitter. It is frequently marketed in relaxation and sleep products, and it has also attracted interest in growth-hormone research. Again, the useful question is not whether a study somewhere reported a hormonal response. It is whether oral supplementation at the amount used in a particular finished product translates into a durable benefit that a person can actually notice.
For me, GABA is an example of why I prefer a measured interpretation of GenF20. There is enough biological interest to make the formula worth examining, but not enough to justify promises that taking it will reproduce the body-composition, recovery or anti-aging effects associated with medical HGH treatment.
Glutamine, glycine, lysine, tyrosine and valine
The formula also includes several other amino acids. Glutamine has important roles in nitrogen transport and cellular metabolism. Glycine is involved in protein synthesis and many physiological processes. Lysine is an essential amino acid, meaning we must obtain it through diet. Tyrosine is a precursor used in the production of catecholamine neurotransmitters and thyroid hormones. Valine is one of the branched-chain amino acids involved in muscle metabolism.
Those descriptions are legitimate physiology, but they are not proof of a GenF20-specific outcome. This is where supplement articles often go off the rails: they describe what an ingredient does somewhere in human biology and then quietly imply that swallowing a modest amount of it produces every downstream benefit associated with that pathway.
I don’t think we need to do that. A better argument for GenF20 is that it combines several ingredients selected around a coherent hypothesis and, unusually for this category, the finished product itself has been studied in a randomized controlled trial.
Bovine colostrum
Bovine colostrum is the nutrient-rich early milk produced after a cow gives birth. It contains proteins, immunological components and growth factors. It has been studied in several areas of human nutrition and sports science, but it should not be confused with injecting or replacing human growth hormone.
The presence of colostrum also makes the ingredient list worth checking carefully if you have a milk allergy or another reason to avoid dairy-derived ingredients. Ingredient tolerability is personal, and “natural” does not mean universally appropriate.
Do the doses matter?
Very much. When I evaluate a supplement now, I care almost as much about dose as ingredient name. An ingredient can have research behind it at one amount and be present in a commercial formula at a much smaller amount. Conversely, combining ingredients can create a formula that has to be evaluated as a whole rather than by simply adding up isolated studies.
The official GenF20 site currently lists amounts for several ingredients—for example, 130 mg of L-arginine, 115 mg of L-glutamine, and 100 mg each of glycine, lysine and tyrosine. Those numbers are useful because they let readers compare the actual product with research instead of relying on ingredient names alone.
I would not use those amounts to predict a specific HGH increase. In fact, that is exactly the kind of claim I want Vitamin Hippo to avoid. The better evidence is the trial of the finished GenF20 Plus formula.
What does the GenF20 Plus trial tell us?
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study published in 2015 enrolled 70 healthy adults aged 35 to 65 and evaluated GenF20 Plus for 12 weeks. Sixty-one participants completed the study according to protocol. The primary endpoint was serum IGF-1, a hormone often used as an indirect marker related to growth-hormone activity.
Across the full study population, the GenF20 group had a larger average increase in IGF-1 than placebo, but the between-group difference in the main analysis was not statistically significant. In participants aged 40 and older, a baseline-adjusted analysis found a statistically significant difference, although the unadjusted subgroup comparison was not significant.
That is interesting, particularly because GenF20 is marketed heavily toward adults concerned with aging. But it is not permission to claim that every person over 40 will experience a meaningful increase, and it certainly does not establish all of the downstream benefits popularly associated with HGH.
The study also did not find significant between-group advantages for body mass index, waist circumference, body fat, lean body mass, memory, libido, energy or sleep quality over the 12 weeks. The authors recommended larger and longer studies. The research received financial support from DM Contact Management, which is another reason independent replication would strengthen the case.
What about safety and side effects?
In the trial, 12 adverse events were reported: seven in the GenF20 group and five in placebo. The paper describes them as mostly gastrointestinal, and no serious adverse events were reported. That is reassuring within the limits of a small, 12-week study, but it cannot establish long-term safety for every type of user.
Individual ingredients can also matter. Allergies, medications, medical conditions and other supplements can change the risk calculation. If you are using GenF20 because you suspect a hormone deficiency or another health problem, a supplement review is not a substitute for medical evaluation.
Are the ingredients good enough to make GenF20 worth trying?
I think the ingredient list is more coherent than the average “anti-aging” kitchen-sink formula, but the strongest reason I continue to find GenF20 interesting is not any single amino acid. It is the combination of a plausible formula, a published finished-product trial and my own positive experience using it years ago.
My expectation would still be conservative. I would not buy GenF20 because arginine, GABA or colostrum supposedly guarantees fat loss, muscle gain, better sleep or a younger appearance. I would buy it only if I understood that this is a dietary supplement with limited but interesting clinical evidence, and I wanted to test how I personally responded.
If you want the complete decision-oriented version—including my experience, the study, realistic timelines, pros and cons—read my GenF20 Plus review for 2027. If you are researching the broader category rather than one brand, our HGH & Healthy Aging hub is where I’m building the evidence-based guides around growth hormone, IGF-1, sleep and aging.
Sources & further reading
- Sonawane N, Kale V, Erande S, Chaudhary J. Effect of GenF20 Plus on serum IGF-1 levels in healthy adults: a randomized controlled study. Open Access Journal of Clinical Trials. 2015;7:35–42. Read the study.
- GenF20 Plus official ingredient information. View current manufacturer ingredient list.
- For my first-hand history with the product, see Vitamin Hippo’s updated GenF20 Plus review.
Tim Lekach founded Vitamin Hippo and has written about health, supplements and men’s wellness since the site’s original run. He personally used GenF20 Plus and now separates first-hand experience from clinical evidence and manufacturer claims.
More about Tim and Vitamin Hippo →