Height Forum

How do you grow taller? What's the best way to grow tall? Is it even possible to gain height through diet, pills, or stretching? These are questions asked by countless teenagers and young adults. Throughout these years in the height community, I've seen a number of fad methods and products come and go. No one has successfully the question "How can I grow taller?".

But after reading and reviewing all those methods and claims out there, I came up with a series of conclusions that may help you increase your height.

Good Diet of High Quality Protein, Calcium, Vegetables, and Complex Carbs

Growing taller is not unlike a good workout program. To grow in any direction, you need nutrients. For example, to synthesize bone, your body needs plenty of calcium, phosphate, and amino acids (protein). By supplying your body with the right nutrients, you make sure that if your body is still capable of growing taller, it will not be stingy with the nutrients. But what should you eat?

1. High Quality Protein. This usually means animal products such as meat and eggs. If you are considering taking protein powder, whey protein made from milk is commonly believed to be more absorbable. In the Human Growth Hormone section, we talk about the effects of eating protein on HGH Release.
2. Calcium. All right, you've heard this one often enough. But it is not just about eating enough cheese and drinking enough milk. In order to grow taller, you also need to get proper amount of vitamin D. Without vitamin D, your intestine and kidneys simply dump most of the calcium you eat into your urine and feces. Vitamin D can be easily found in fortified milk. Make sure you get out in the sun once in a while. Vitamin D gets converted to its active form in the skin when it is exposed to sunlight. However, watch out for skin cancer. You don't need to be out that long to get enough vitamin D, and it certainly isn't an excuse to go tanning.
3. Vegetables. Yes, eat them. Fruit too. They contain vital minerals (vitamin, anyone?) and organic compounds that your body need to function properly. They also contain fiber that aid in digestion and intestinal health.
4. Complex Carbs. It's not that complicated. Too much white and processed carbs, such as white bread, white rice, and pasta can make blood sugar rise and fall too much. While that's a risk factor for diabetes II, high blood sugar may also suppress HGH release and dampen the effects that proteins have on HGH levels. Complex carbs, on the other hand, contain fiber and other substances that keep blood sugar from rising too fast. With a steady stream of carbohydrates for energy and good mixture of other nutrients, you are likely to achieve that HGH balance to help you maximize your growing potential.

Sleep

Human Growth Hormone is released in large amount during sleep. To be exact, during the period of deep sleep (also known as slow wave sleep). Sleep cycles through 4 stages sequencialy, with the 4th being the slow wave sleep. Thus, it is important to allow youself to get enough, uninterrupted sleep so that you can maximize your HGH release during your growth period.

Exercise, Stretching, and Posture

There is an ongoing theory about how you can grow tall by doing stretch exercises. So far, no one has reached a definitive conclusion on what stretching does to height growth. But what stretching and exercising do for you are two things. First, exercise helps you release HGH, and because of this, it helps grow bone if the growth plates are still open. Exercise also bear weight on the bones (almost any exercise, not just weight-lifting), which signals them to absorb calcium and phosphate in order to increase bone density. The result is healthier bone with the potential to achieve longer bones.

Second, stretching and exercises strengthen the muscles that contribute to your posture. Specifically, your muscles of the back. Your spine is mainly consisted of 3 curved parts: cervical, thoracic, and lumbar. Each curvature is influenced by how your body develops. Therefore, having strong back muscles will help you grow an ideally-shaped spine and keep it that way. So while stretching may not necessarily cause you to grow taller, it indirectly align your spine to give you better posture. This can easily give you a few inches of boost in height.

Take Advantage of Your Growth Window - Puberty

Current evidence suggests that it is difficult to grow taller after puberty, in which the epiphyseal plates are already fused. The bones, at this point, can only grow stronger and thinker. So, the best way to grow taller is to take advantage of your youth. Maximize your height growth while you are still in your prime growth season. Many older people who grew after puberty, such as in their twenties, probably were still at the tail of their puberty window, with just enough room for a little bit of growth. Other stories of people growing in their 30s and 40s are few and far between.