How to Increase Height

In nearly every sphere of life, especially those of business, tall people are more in demand than folks with lesser height. Folks who command a better height seem to have an undue advantage of commanding better respect than short people. Tall people also have advantage in nearly every form of sport. Unless a person is working in a low gallery coal mine or in a similar situation, there is no advantage for being short. To increase your height, your body should be within the growing age (preferably 24 years or less), although you can still add a few inches after that. However, the result for the effort taken is pathetic.

There are 7 things responsible for your height – heredity, upbringing, school conditioning, posture maintenance, diet, exercise, and lifestyle. Let us discuss these and see if there are any workarounds:

Heredity: While heredity is an important determining factor in the growth of the body, hereditary tendencies can be overcome to a large extent provided that growth retarding influences acquired or cultivated in early childhood are eliminated. Another way to counteract a heredity tendency is to consult a doctor and take hormone inducing medication, although I would not advice this unless you’re facing a lot of problems due to height deficiency.

Upbringing: How often have you seen babies pushed around in growth retarding prams with their body hunched up, neck drooped forward, back bent, chest strapped across and legs cramped? Their bodies are constricted for hours at a stretch with no room to stretch and move, which tortures their spine and other growth areas. When traveling, babies should be put in perambulators that have sufficient room to move around. They should also be put on a rug with plenty of sunshine for a few hours so that it will play and kick around wrestling with the sunbeams; and then fall into a growth inducing sleep after getting tired. You don’t need to coddle them in a feather bed or in a lap; a hard couch is also good enough and as long as a light blanket is thrown over him, he will not catch a cold. Don’t allow the baby to curl up in a ball, it will retard growth. Never allow the habit of covering the head when sleeping; this will disallow fresh oxygen from reaching their lungs which is very much required for growth.

Schooling Condition: Even today, children are herded together in schools which are badly ventilated and improperly lighted. They hardly get any freedom and are required to sit or stand for very long periods. Desk seats are often the wrong height and they are made to carry heavy loads of books. All this gives rise to crooked spines, stooped shoulders and flat chests; at a time when the bones are most malleable and the body is growing at the fastest.

Posture Maintenance: Whether you’re sitting, standing, walking or sleeping, if you do not maintain the correct posture it will affect the growth of your body. If you slouch, the whole weight of the body is thrown on the spinal column and the cartilaginous substance between the vertebrae is pressed down and shortened. It is very important to maintain a correct posture always; back straight, head held high and the chest forward.

Diet: Diet plays a very important role in growth and height increase. Never allow your children to select their food; it is the job of the mother to ensure that nourishing and wholesome food in sufficient quantity is provided to the children. Ensure a healthy breakfast to start the day. Fruits like banana, apples, oranges, grapes, etc should also be given along with porridge or milk, shredded wheat, oatmeal, etc. Lunch and dinner should comprise of plenty of vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, collard greens, etc. Soups and rice bran are also great to have as starters. Avoid pastries, meat dishes, pies, and all sweets in general. Instead, let them eat fruits, honey rolls, or currant puddings. Better still, do some research and provide them more food that contains Calcium and vitamin D.

Exercise: Proper and regular exercise helps you to increase height as well as overall growth. Pull ups are a great way to increase height, so have an iron rod at about 6-7 feet height. If you’re a girl and find this difficult, try to just hang on to the rod as much as you can. Besides this, you should do a lot of stretching exercises. Bending and touching toes, kicking exercise without bending the knees, twisting the face left to right, are some good exercises. Here’s an easy one: Stand at ease. Then lever hands out to level of shoulders while elevating the body on the tips of the toes. Inhale deeply and then exhale, lowering arms and body to normal. Consult a trainer for some good practical exercises.

Life Style: Use of tobacco is not only detrimental to growth but is directly responsible to chest ailments and other serious complications; so kick that habit if you want to increase your height. Sleep not only gives the body rest, it also repairs and induces growth, so an eight hour sound sleep at night is a bare minimum. Keeping your metabolism and hydration at an optimum level, avoiding tight fitting clothes, regular stretching of the muscles and spine supplemented by deep breathing and outdoor exercise in fresh air, are some of the things you can add to your routine. Please also refer to the health articles I write at http://www.bharatbhasha.com/author.php/Nirjara%20Rustom there’s a whale of knowledge you can put to good use.