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Why Taller?Height is not for everyone, and that's okay! But for guys in particular, height is literal andfigurative social capital. That might be a good thing or a bad thing, but either way, it's definitely athing. And, whereas height is 60-80% hardcoded in our DNA1, that still leaves 20%+ of the"nurture" side of the equation to optimize in our favor until we stop growing: for 90% of us, thatwill be between ages 18 and 222. It's quantifiable in statistics: for every inch a guy reaches overaverage, his income goes up about $1000 per year3. Over a lifetime that's a fortune! Some ofthe benefits conferred by being (or becoming, with the help of the best available clinicalevidence) taller may be surprising or even controversial4. The good news is, there are lots offree or cheap things you can do to optimize your height outcome if you're not yet age 23+. Thisguide covers the distilled clinical evidence on how to optimize your height if you’re still growing.4 Tallsome, accessed March 2022: https://tallsome.com/why-tall-is-good/3 The Atlantic, 2015 ($1000/Y figure adjusted for gender):https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/05/the-financial-perks-of-being-tall/393518/2 CDC Growth Chart: https://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/data/set1clinical/cj41c021.pdf1 Healthline, 2022:https://www.healthline.com/health/i...o your,percent of your final height.Copyright © 2022 Taller Online 2How To Grow Taller. Here are some pro-health things you can do every day to optimizeyour height growth if you are still growing.1. Eat the right foods. If you aren't lactose intolerant, then consider upping your dairy intake. Dairy is oftencited as the #1 reason why the Dutch are the tallest nation on Earth5. Milk is the cheapest source of leanprotein in most of the developed world. If you are lactose intolerant, then consider this list of calcium-richfoods: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/15-calcium-rich-foods Pumpkin and sunflower seeds are rich inL-arginine and lysine, which are height-promoting amino acids. Balance this with plenty of greens andcruciferous vegetables like steamed broccoli. If you can't stand broccoli then try it with some soy sauce orsesame oil. Brussels sprouts, radishes, cabbages and arugula are also cruciferous vegetables. Carrots andpeppers of all kinds and mushrooms of safe kinds are also nutrient rich and height-promoting.2. Take a good multivitamin: calcium, D3, K2 and Zinc are common deficiencies that affect height. To get therecommended 2000mg/d calcium, 5000IU/d D3, 500mcg/d K2, 3000mg/d L-arginine and 3000mg/d lysine,you’d need to drink 2L (~2 quarts or a half gallon) of fortified milk, eat about a half cup of pumpkin orsunflower seeds6 and take a daily vitamin D3 and K2 supplement. For ages 13+, D3 are usually safe at5000IU/d7 and K2 at 500mcg/d. Zinc can be hard on the stomach and may be best consumed with food. Youalso want enough calcium, at least 2g/d for growing guys: a quart or liter of milk contains about 1g or1000mg of calcium8. Multivitamins usually have most of these but at lower than necessary doses tocompensate for common deficiencies. If you take a multivitamin then find one that has at least 100% RDAfor D3, K2, Zinc, A and B vitamins.3. Consider height promoting supplements: aside from the vitamins reviewed above, creatine9, GABA10,chondritin, glucosamine11, chrysin12, L-arginine and lysine all come up as candidates for boosting height ingrowing adolescents. Research dosages if you decide to try these, ramp up slowly, and discontinue if youexperience side effects. Creatine is arguably the most effective single supplement in this lineup, andyou can get a good spread of aminos from pumpkin and sunflower seeds.4. Practice daily stretching. Lengthwise stretching such as touching your toes whether standing or sitting,and hanging stretches such as performing knee-ups and core rotations from a hanging bar, are especiallyeffective13. Stretching won’t permanently increase your height if you’re fully grown.5. Practice a daily vibrational sport. Vibrational exercise such as that induced by basketball, volleyball,racquetball, tennis, sprints and jump training all stimulate bone growth plates to produce14.14 Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Obesity, 2014:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4458848/13 WikiHow, accessed March 2022: https://www.wikihow.com/Get-Taller-by-Stretching12 Helyion, 2020: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7063143/11 Natural Height Growth, 2012:http://www.naturalheightgrowth.com/...w-taller-using-chondroitin-and-glucosamine/10 Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2008 Jan;40(1):104-10. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18091016/9 Nutrients. 2021 Mar 23;13(3):1027. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/338067198 Calcium Content of Foods, UCSF Heath, accessed March 2022:https://www.ucsfhealth.org/education/calcium-content-of-foods7 Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2019:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30611908/6 Foodstruct, accessed March 2022: https://foodstruct.com/compare/pumpkin-seed-vs-sunflower-seed5 BBC, 2015:https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34380895#:~:text=In 150-odd years of,5ft 7in (1m 70cm).Copyright © 2022 Taller Online 36. Manage stress. Sitting meditation—which can be as simple as sitting in a comfortable place while listeningto some calming music you like—for half an hour before bed is clinically proven to reduce cortisol15, thecatabolic stress hormone, in your system. Making this a nightly habit should prime your body for a morerestful and restorative sleep: and sleep is when your body grows the most! Identifying toxic people andsituations that make you feel bad or uncomfortable and then avoiding them is another helpful way tomanage stress. Here is a good 10 minute guided meditation for starters:. Get lots of sleep. 9-10 hours nightly are recommended for growing guys16.8. Avoid height inhibitors. These are a whole array of things including, but not limited to, thefollowing list:● Smoking● Drinking (particularly in excess, or binge drinking). Any time you dump alcohol into yoursystem, you're telling your body to forget growing that day and the day after, in order toconcentrate on clearing toxins from your system.● Large amounts of stress (try to avoid toxic people, environments and situations)● Sleep deprivation (make sure to get at least 8 hours of sleep nightly, if you can. Practicegood "sleep hygiene")● Colas. Colas have compounds that may inhibit new cell growth, stunting your height overtime. Swap out colas, which also tend to contain lots of acids that leach calcium fromyour bones, with green tea and milk until you're done growing.● Fried foods. Foods fried in inflammatory oils such as lard, butter, peanut oil, canola oiland soybean oil force your metabolism into cleanup duty, which detracts from growingnew cells and growing taller. Acrylamides are carcinogens that accumulate whencarbohydrates are exposed to hot oil17. French fries and chips are particularlycarcinogenic. If you absolutely crave fries, then try baking your own drizzled with olive oil,seasonings like salt, spices and peppers, and vinegar.● Trans fats. Unfortunately, these are sneaky and appear in lots of processed foods fromSnicker's bars to most peanut butters! The ingredient "hydrogenated vegetable oil",partially or fully, means "trans fats".● Microwaved foods in plastic that contain BPA. This includes microwaved popcorn! BPA isin most plastics and specifically disrupts your hormonal systems, dramatically affectingyour reproductive tract and cellular metabolism, thus detracting from normal growth.When you microwave food, take it out of its plastic packaging and instead put it on aceramic microwave-safe dish or bowl.● Teflon-coated pans, aka non-stick pans. Teflon comes off in bits and ends up metabolizedby your body into estrogen. Perhaps not so bad if you're female but if you're male, stick towoks or iron skillets with oil.17 Frontiers in Nutrition, 2018: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5835509/16 Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2016: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5078711/15 Health Psychology Review, 2021: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32635830/Copyright © 2022 Taller Online 4● Chewing gum. Almost all commercially available chewing gum contains unacceptablelevels of aspartame18 or saccharin, synthetic compounds that jam human cellularmetabolism. They're also usually formulated with hydrogenated oils.● Bad water. Lots of suspicious contaminants are in most water supplies includingpharmaceuticals, pesticides, fertilizers and industrial waste "forever chemicals" that arebad for your health. It’s a good idea to at least filter your water through activated charcoalfilters. Osmotic water is even better.Height CalculatorsThere are a number of online tools for predicting height outcomes. We’d recommend getting aprediction from three of them and averaging the results. Keep in mind that if you implement thestrategies in this guide and have years to grow, then you’re likely to alter your trajectory tallerand arrive at a mark above these predictions.2 to 20 years: Boys, Stature-for-age and Weight-for-age percentiles (cdc.gov)https://www.mdapp.co/height-calcula...//www.calculator.net/height-calculator.html18 Journal of Basic and Clinical Physiology and Pharmacology, 201
