It may happen that you are not hitting the same growth spurt as your friends. Your family members are getting taller though you remain the same. Do you feel low about your short stature? Do you wish to add a few inches to your height permanently? Though genetics mostly determines height, good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle can help you get taller. However, the process can be challenging to understand. In this article, we will discover various factors and the ultimate solution for increasing your height even after puberty. Let’s start with the factors that determine the height.
Height Determiners
There are numerous factors that are responsible for height stem.
- Genetics
- Nutrition
- Exercise
- Sex
- Certain medical condition
- Secretion of growth hormone
Genetics plays a major role in determining a person’s height. It indicates that if your parents are taller, it is more likely that you will also be tall. On the other hand, if your parents are short, it is much more likely that you will be short as well.
Sex is another important factor that determines a person’s height. Males tend to have much more total height potential than females.
Like the other two, nutrition also affects a person’s height potential. Nutrition includes vitamins and minerals that help grow a person’s height.
Moreover, physical exercise, medical conditions, and growth hormones are also responsible for your short stature.
Increase Your Height Naturally
The following steps can help you get taller fast if you are still in your teen years.
Balanced Diet
Good nutrition is crucial for reaching your height potential. A balanced diet helps build strong bones and muscles. Prepare your meal with vegetables, lean proteins, and complex carbs. Lean protein includes chicken, fish, beans, nuts, and low-fat dairy. Wheat bread, whole grain pasta, brown rice, etc., are complex carbs.
Healthy Breakfast
A nutritious and healthy breakfast plays a crucial role in maintaining your body’s proper growth and development. If you are too busy to eat breakfast, you need more all-over growth of your body. So, you should eat a proper breakfast to boost your metabolism.
Exercise
Regular exercise can help you grow taller during your teen years. Research states that physical activity can increase the mineral density of bones. Moreover, physical activity strengthens muscles and bones and likely develops human growth hormone (HGH). So, go outdoors and work your muscles for at least one hour per day. You can get a gym membership, join a sports team, or exercise at your nearby ground.
Sleep Adequately
Adequate sleep and rest help in improving the overall growth and development of the body. It is said that sleeping is the time when your body grows. If you are between 13 and 18 years old, get sleep between 8 to 10 hours. Sound sleep encourages the production of growth hormones. Therefore, get adequate sleep to gather energy to stay active throughout the day.
Egg Helps Your Height
Children who eat an egg daily have the potential opportunity to grow taller than the ones who don’t. Eggs are considered the easiest and cheapest source of protein and vitamins that support healthy growth. Add an egg to your daily meal, which will help you get taller.
Take Supplements with Caution
Supplements may assist you in growing taller by meeting your nutritional requirements. Vitamins A and D are essential because they support building strong bones. However, it is seen that many young adults look for supplements to increase their height without knowing the appropriate supplements for them. Remember that supplements won’t make you taller rather, they will increase your physical ability and make stronger bones.
Practice Yoga & Stretching
Practicing yoga can help you loosen your muscles and lead to enhance body flexibility and better posture. Moreover, perform stretches to get your full body development. You can pick from mild to more intensive stretching exercises based on your flexibility and workout intention. Try at least thirty minutes performing stretching exercises. You will feel instant stamina and strength in your body.
Reduce Stress
Stress inhibits your body’s ability to grow as it hinders the development of human growth hormones. Therefore, it is very important to keep yourself stress-free. You can go on holiday or meet your family and friends to reduce your stress level.
Disciplined Life
Having junk foods, eating heavily before sleep, staying away from exercise, eating irregular meals, etc., are all detrimental to your health. Moreover, drugs, alcohol, and smoking contribute to stunting your growth. So, plan to lead a disciplined life and follow a routine to meet your body’s necessities.
Secrets to Look Taller
Although a person cannot increase height after puberty, there are various ways to look taller and prevent the loss of weight.
Show Full Height by Maintaining Good Posture
Maintaining a good posture will not grow you taller. Rather it will make you look taller. While walking, stand tall and keep your back straight. If you are sitting, try to straighten your back while rolling your shoulders back and face straight ahead.
Improve the Core Muscles
A strong midsection can help you maintain posture and look taller. Core muscles include the abdominal muscle and the spinal column. You can try exercises like plank, abdominal crunch, and superman to get stronger core muscles.
Try Higher Shoes
Avoid wearing flat shoes. Wearing heeled or platform shoes is one of the convenient ways to look taller. Be careful of the high hills or shoes as they can impair your balance which may drive you to injury.
Show off Your Legs
To look taller, you can try high-waisted jeans. If possible, avoid wearing a belt. A visible belt will break your body and make you look shorter. For example, pick slightly shorter pants if you are wearing suit pants. It will help you look a bit taller.
Wear Properly Sized Clothes
Loose and baggy clothes hide your body line and make you look smaller. Therefore, wear slim-fitting and properly-sized clothes that will help you feel good.
Try Vertical-Stripped Clothes
Clothes having vertical stripes can help you look taller than you are. At the same time, horizontal stripes do the opposite. So, it is recommended to avoid horizontal stripes.
Prevent Height Loss
Despite adults’ inability to do much to increase height, they can take steps to prevent age-related loss of height. After reaching 30, a person may lose half an inch of height per decade due to osteoporosis, compression of the spine, and many other reasons. This can cause a significant height loss over time.
As an adult, you can give the following a try to prevent height loss.
- Adequate nutrition
- Plenty of calcium
- Proper hydration
- Quitting smoke, alcohol, and any other drugs
- Enough rest
Closing Words
Mostly, you reach your peak height by the time of your puberty. Teenagers can expect to grow a total of up to 7 to 10 inches during puberty. If you are way past your growth spurt, you can take steps to look taller by practicing the above tricks!!