MK-677 Doesn’t Cause Hypoglycemia – Reactive Hypoglycemia Explained

MK-677 DOES NOT Directly Cause Hypoglycemia

I can see how many individuals would conclude that MK-677 is causing hypoglycemia, because it literally brings on the exact same feeling that very low blood sugar brings on.

Shakiness, sweating, severe hunger, anxiety, etc.

The thing is, with MK-677 is it doesn’t drop your blood sugar; rather, it slightly increases it.

MK-677 is most commonly known as a potent growth hormone secretagogue.

However, one commonly overlooked trait of MK-677 is the fact that it is an oral ghrelin mimetic.

What Is Ghrelin Exactly?

Ghrelin is also known as the “hunger hormone.”

It is a peptide that is secreted by your stomach that stimulates your appetite.

When your stomach is empty, Ghrelin is produced to signal to your brain that you are hungry and need to eat.

As you would expect, Ghrelin levels are high before meals, and low after finishing meals.

This is how your body regulates its appetite and knows when to eat and when to stop eating.

Growth hormone releasing peptides (GHRP’s) and growth hormone secretagogues (like MK-677) function by stimulating the pituitary gland to pulse out GH.

These GHRP’s and MK-677 also have a very significant effect on Ghrelin.

The most notable being GHRP-6 and MK-677.

These are both notorious as appetite stimulating compounds.

Their ability to stimulate appetite so significantly has nothing to do with them dropping your blood sugar lower and making you hungrier, rather, it has to do with the fact that they significantly increase Ghrelin levels more than any of the other GHRP’s.

The result of this is a massive spike in hunger, resembling the symptoms very closely of hypoglycemia.

The effect on blood sugar levels is actually completely contradictory to what most are thinking is occurring in their body.

In one of the most popular and notable studies on MK-677, you will find that they actually observed its’ effect on blood sugar levels in the body after continuous use, and it was determined that “Fasting blood glucose level increased an average of 0.3 mmol/L (5 mg/dL) in the MK-677 group (P = 0.015), and insulin sensitivity decreased.”

You can read this study for yourself here:

Effects of an oral ghrelin mimetic on body composition and clinical outcomes in healthy older adults: a randomized trial.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18981485

The point of me addressing this is more so to dispel a common myth surrounding MK-677, as well as to inform you about how it actually is working in your body and the mechanism of action behind the hunger response.

Can MK-677 Indirectly Cause Hypoglycemia?

Yes, and this is something a lot of people don't understand either.

If you are experiencing Hypoglycemia on MK-677, this is the result of your own body's poor insulin response.

As mentioned, MK-677 can raise blood sugar.

But, in some individuals with developing insulin resistance, when their body senses a spike in blood sugar, their pancreas releases too much insulin.

Not enough to just bring blood sugar to homeostasis, but so much as to cause a complete reversal of blood sugar and drop it low.

The final outcome of that is a tanked blood sugar reading, and very real hypoglycemia.

Early stage or moderate insulin resistance combined with a growth hormone secretagogue that increases blood sugar levels would just worsen the condition and inch you closer to becoming diabetic.

The only way to fix this is to address the insulin resistance and work on improving fasting blood sugar via lifestyle and diet changes.

The overconsumption of carbohydrates (and calories in general) and lack of exercise are the most common causes of reactive hypoglycemia and insulin resistance.

Growth Hormone abuse is also another common cause in bodybuilders.

How Can You Tell If You Are Experiencing Hypoglycemia Or Just A Giant Ghrelin Spike?

The only way to be 100% sure is to take your blood sugar and see for yourself.

Some individuals are unable to discern between a huge Ghrelin spike, and crashing blood sugar, so it would be advised that you keep a glucose meter on hand whenever you mess around with MK-677, GH, or anything that can cause a sharp elevation or sharp drop in blood sugar.

The solution if your blood sugar drops would be to quickly ingest something with simple sugars that will quickly raise your blood sugar back up to normal.

The solution to help reverse insulin resistance would be to exercise, clean up your diet and focus on losing fat, get adequate sleep every night, as well as remove any drugs out of your protocol that are keeping your blood glucose levels chronically elevated.