Despite all of its progress, modern culture still practices subtle height discrimination. As such, it insidiously favors those who look tall and tends to belittle those who appear short. What if you don’t look as tall as you think you should? While there’s nothing you can do to influence your genetics, some factors remain within your control.
Key Factors that Influence How Tall You Look
Your skeletal system undergoes most of its formation by the time you become 20 years old. And your genetics determines at least 60% of how this process unfolds. From there on, your skeletal system experiences only minor adaptations that depend on few key factors found at The Health Review Online. They are:
• Your lifestyle: Certain bad habits that are deeply ingrained in the modern lifestyle can significantly restrain your natural height potential. For instance, caffeine and sugar addictions are both notorious for depleting the body of calcium, magnesium, and other vital micronutrients. Such depletion constantly robs your skeletal system of all the building blocks that it needs for it to develop. As you enjoy those sweets and cups of joe, your body washes out exactly what it needs to stay tall.
• Your diet: For you to stay as tall as you can be, your skeletal system requires constant and proper nurturing. Your bones and vertebrae need minerals like calcium and magnesium from foods like leafy greens and veggies to maintain density. And your joints and intervertebral discs must receive adequate hydration and protein supply to avoid shrinking in size. Without nourishment, your skeletal system won’t be able to deal with the mechanical stress and will become prone to degeneration.
• Your sleep: The health of your spine largely determines how tall you can look. In the absence of proper nourishment, degenerative processes may affect the spine causing the spinal column to shrink in size. Unlike other places in your body, your spine receives most of its nourishment only during physical activity and sleep. When you assume horizontal body position during sleep, your spine can decompress and safely nurture and hydrate its intervertebral discs. If you constantly go through cycles of sleep deprivation, you rob your spine, and your height, of this vital moment.
• Your physical activity: If you lead a sedentary lifestyle with lots of slouching over your computer, you further rob your spine of nurturing. It’s only during sleep and physical activity that the tiny vessels in your spine can supply it with proper nutrition. Without regular and sufficient movement, your spine suffers from the lack of blood supply and starts to degenerate. In its turn, the degenerative processes happening in your spine cause it to shrink and deform, making you look shorter.
You Can’t Change Your Height, But You Can Make the Most of It
Making the above factors work for you rather than against you is key to looking taller naturally. As you leverage them in your favor, you can use your natural height to the fullest of its potential.
