DOES SLEEPING MAKE YOU TALLER?

CONTENTS

• The Factors that Affecting Your Height
• What Should Be Avoided During the Growth Period
• Is Your Morning Height Your Actual Height?
• Can Adults Grow Taller?

THE FACTORS THAT AFFECTING YOUR HEIGHT

1. GENE

Yes, genetics - the great puppeteer manipulating our physical attributes. Our height is significantly determined by the genes we receive from our parents, just as our eye color and hair texture. There are over 3,000 thousand different gene variants that can affect our height, they are more like a hidden organization, each with a specific purpose, coming together to decide your final height. Hormones are a key player in this epic war for growth dominance. Therefore, you can blame or thank your ancestor for their contribution to your stature if you find yourself standing up like a redwood or blending in with the daisies.

2. NUTRITION

We don’t mean that eating a mountain of broccoli would turn you into a hulking monster. Actually, while nutrition is important for maintaining healthy development during childhood and adolescence, it won’t make you into a skyscraper overnight. Nevertheless, you can undoubtedly optimize your potential and stand tall with confidence with the support of a well-balanced diet rich in vitamins and minerals.

3. SUFFICIENT SLEEP

Let’s take a moment to ponder why sleeping is correlated with height. Well, the pituitary gland releases “growth hormone” during sleep. As one of the most critical hormones for human growth, the growth hormone (HGH for short) promotes cell division and regeneration. However, growth hormone is actually secreted both during the day and at night. But the amount secreted at night is about three times greater than it is during the day. So, it's safe to say that HGH during sleep is especially crucial for a child's growth spurt. It is worth noting that pulling an all-nighter every once in a while won’t make you any shorter. But if you continuously skip sleep, that could affect your height. So, be careful to get enough Zs if you want to literally soar to new heights.

4. EXERCISES

Exercise is not only good for the body and mind, but it also helps you get taller. For children going through a growth spurt, roughly 30 minutes each day for exercises involving exercises that increase the vertical position of the growth plates, which can improve the immune system in addition to height. Growth hormone levels can start to rise after a few minutes of moderate exercise, peaking after about an hour before starting to fall. They are still greater than they were prior to exercise, though.

5. ILLNESS

There are three main categories of illness that can mess with growing children’s height. First, there are problems with the metabolism or genetic mutations that produce metabolic diseases. Second, there are endocrine disorders that affect hormones such as parathyroid hormone, growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor, and calcitonin. Third, digestive system diseases can affect nutrient absorption and growth. For starters, watch out for any indications of irregular growth and take your child in for routine checkups. Make sure they follow a healthy lifestyle and nutrition, of course. Keep in mind that prevention is always better than cure.

WHAT SHOULD BE AVOIDED DURING THE GROWTH PERIOD?

1. SUGARY FOOD

Yes, sweetened beverages and desserts can tempt us with their sugary allure, from regular sodas to sports drinks, and fruit drinks to sweetened flavored waters. These sneaky culprits come in all shapes and sizes to tantalize our taste buds. But we have to keep in mind that these foods may be the most consumed source of added sugar in our diet but offer little to no nutritional benefit. Anything from obesity and tooth decay is covered. And yes, during those critical years of growth and development, these beverages can interfere with the body’s ability to absorb calcium and impair bone density.

2. DRUG ABUSE

Avoid clicking on those “grow taller” ads. You will always find millions of websites on the internet that promise to be a “miracle cure” for your height problem. But let’s be honest, most of them are just useless. These “wonder” drugs won’t get you taller, and taking them has permanent negative effects.

IS YOUR MORNING HEIGHT YOUR ACTUAL HEIGHT?

Some may wonder why you’re taller in the morning than at night. It is because the 23 intervertebral discs that connect your spine are to blame for everything. The nucleus pulposus is made up of 75-90% water and acts as a shock absorber for the spine. When we stand up, the pressure on our spine increases, causing the water in the nucleus pulposus to seep into the vertebrate. However, when we lay down and release the pressure, the water returns to its rightful place. So basically, gravity is just trying to bring us down, but we won't let it! Which height is your actual height? Well, both of them. If you want to figure out if you’ve gotten taller. Just measure your height at the same time everyday day, and you’ll be able to see any changes with your own eyes.

CAN ADULT GROW TALLER?

From a scientific standpoint, expecting adults who didn’t experience their normal growth spurt throughout adolescence to suddenly grow 10 centimeters taller is really wishful thinking. Unless, of course, they opt for a height-increasing surgery, which comes with exorbitant costs, terrifying side effects, and even a chance of disability. In general, once adults reach the age of 18 or above, their skeletal development slows down due to bone calcification. However, there is still a possibility of increasing height before the bones fully close.

As for adults over the age of 25 whose bones have already closed, it's not an easy task to grow taller, but it's not entirely impossible either. With corrective exercises like orthopedic gymnastics and height-increasing yoga, they can still cure skeletal defects, particularly in the pelvis and spine. This can result in a rise in height.