Those who are of average or short height often wish they were taller. Being tall can improve how a person feels about himself or herself. People with short height, particularly men, may be self-conscious about it and feel less confident. A person’s height is determined to a great extent by genetics, but it is not necessarily the only determinant. There is a hormone in the body known as Human Growth Hormone (HGH) that regulates height. HGH is produced by the pituitary gland and is highly essential for the growth of long bones and cartilage.
Often people think that they stop growing when they enter adulthood. But a person can grow a few inches taller even after turning 18. This can be done by incorporating some healthy habits into your lifestyle.
How To Increase Your Height
1. Hanging Exercises
These exercises are just what they sound like. You will need to hang down from a bar and let your body stretch. You can also hang and then bring your legs up parallel to the ceiling to create and even better stretch. You will want to keep this up for several repetitions and several times a week.
2. Cobra Stretch
This stretch is all about stretching out your spine and elongating the body. The more you do this stretch the more you will open up your back and increase your height. To perform this stretch you should lie on the face down and palms under your shoulders. Then arch your back by raising your chin to form an angle.
3. Touch Toes
It’s time to go back to these treasured years of gym class and touch your toes. If you can’t touch your toes, you’re not alone and just stretch as far as you can. If you missed gym class you perform this exercise by standing straight and then bending down to touch your toes. You should hold the stretch for a few seconds each time.
4. Forward Spine Stretch
This stretch is all about your back and calves. Sit on the floor with your legs stretched out in front of you. Now reach forward and try to touch your toes by arching your back. This is another way to stretch many of the same muscles in the toe touch and you should hold the position for several seconds.
5. Jump Rope
Jump rope is not only a school yard activity and a great way to remember songs, it is also a great exercise for stretching out the body, especially the lower legs. You will build up these muscles and stretch them out throughout the jumping motion. The more often you jump rope the sooner you will start to see results.
6. Spot Jump
Jumping is an exercise that really stretches out the cartilage in the body, especially the legs. Repetition of vertical jumps or squat jumps can stretch out the cartilage so that the body gradually becomes taller. You can either do this as an individual exercise at home or you can play basketball in order to get plenty of vertical jumps into your workout routine.
7. Eat Healthy
Good eating not only promotes good skin and hair, but also increases the length of your body in the long run. Make sure you eat the right amount of proteins, vitamin and calcium on a regular basis. Eating well will promote growth in your bones while eating the wrong kind will lead to stunted growth and other kinds of health problems. Do some research work and prepare a diet chart. It always works best.
8. Fruits and Vegetables
Besides increasing height, fruits and vegetables play a crucial role in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. They are a great source of vitamins, fibre, potassium and folates. Vitamin A helps in the development of bones and tissues. Fruits such as cantaloupes, grapefruit, papaya, mango, passion fruit, watermelon and apricots are abundant in vitamin A. Vitamin A is also found in vegetables like carrots, peas, pumpkin, broccoli, spinach, cabbages, sweet potato etc. Besides, citrus fruits, berries, potatoes and tomatoes also contain vitamin C which help in healthy growth of bones and contributes to the height of a person.
9. Calcium From Corals
Coral calcium is the calcium that you get from the corals in the sea. This is great for increasing the mass of your bone. This, in turn, helps your bones grow. Children must be given this calcium since their childhood days, as that is the growing age and the body is ready to absorb maximum benefits.
The height of a person does depend a lot on your genetic structure. But, you can try these awesome and natural height increasing foods to promote your growth and supplement it. You must have a proper and balanced diet to get the required height and an optimum weight. Stay healthy and live happily.
10. Drink Milk
Milk is rich in calcium, an important mineral for bone growth. Calcium also acts as a height booster. Besides calcium, milk has vitamin A and protein that are essential for overall development of the body, including height.
To increase your height by a few inches, drink at least two to three glasses of milk daily. In addition, eating dairy foods like cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt and cream can have an effect on height.
11. Drink Plenty of Water
Try to drink ample amounts of water throughout the day. Water flushes out harmful toxins from your body and improves digestion. Plus, it will improve your metabolism rate, which will have a direct impact on your height.
For overall health, drink at least eight glasses of water every day. Along with drinking water, eat water-based fruits and vegetables like cucumbers and watermelon.
12. Spinach
Spinach is a green leafy vegetable that will help in increasing the functionality of the body. It is commonly seen and used in many parts of South Asia. It is a rich source of vitamins, iron, fibers and calcium. Adding spinach in your daily diet will help in proper functioning of the body. It will help in improving the growth of your body vertically by working on the idle growth hormones inside your body. You can blend the clean and washed spinach leaves with little bit of water in your mixer and make it into a fine paste. You can add some seasoning and a few vegetables to this spinach paste and prepare gravies.
13. Soybeans
Soybeans contain the highest proteins among all the vegetarian foods. The pure protein contained in soybeans, improve bone and tissue mass. For increasing height, 50 grams of soybeans are recommended every day. Vegetarians can fulfil their protein requirements from soybeans which are extremely nutritious.
14. Get Proper Sleep
When you rest, the body grows and regenerates tissues. In fact, the Human Growth Hormone (HGH) responsible for increasing height is produced naturally in the body when you have a sound and deep sleep.
During sound sleep, the brain is relaxed and releases more growth hormones. On the other hand, a tired brain shows low release of growth hormones. As a rule, during the growing stage, a person must have at least seven to 8 hours of proper sleep every night to enjoy maximum height.
15. Enjoy Sunlight
Sunlight is the best natural source of vitamin D, a key nutrient needed for overall growth, including maximum height. When your body does not get enough vitamin D, you can have weak bones as well as less height. To make sure your body gets the required amount of this vitamin, spend 20 to 30 minutes daily in the sunlight.
Go out in the sun during early morning or evening hours to give your body vitamin D with minimal exposure to harmful ultraviolet rays. Along with sunlight, you can get vitamin D from milk, cheese, eggs, oily fish, and fortified foods.