Did you know that the country with the tallest people
overall is the Netherlands? The males average 6 feet (183
cm) and the females average just over 5 feet, 7 inches (170
cm).
The average American male height is 5 feet, 9 inches (175
cm) while females average 5 feet, 4 inches (163 cm).
The Dutch may have the tallest country, but the tallest
people in the world reside in an Eastern European republic
called Montenegro which is part of the country of Serbia and
Montenegro. The former Yugoslavia. If Montenegro were it‘s
own country, it would have the tallest people in the world.
And the Dutch wouldn‘t even be close.
The average male in Montenegro is 6 feet, 3 inches (191
cm). The females average just under 5 feet, 11 inches (180
cm). The average female there is taller than the average
American male.
There are over 5.5 million American males that are 6 feet, 2
inches (188 cm) or taller.
1 in 7 American males is 6 feet (183 cm) or taller, about
15% of the population. 1 in 2 Dutch males is 6 feet or taller,
50% of the population.
There are over 1.5 million American females 5 feet, 9 inches
(175 cm) or taller.
The average Japanese male is 5 feet, 5 1/8 inches (165 cm)
tall.
Each generation seems to be getting taller. The main factor
in that is nutrition.
Since poor people hundreds of years ago and even a few
generations ago had poor unbalanced diets that lacked what
they needed to grow properly, they in effect stunted their
own growth. This brought down the average height for most
countries.
It is general knowledge that wealthier people are on
average a couple inches taller than poorer people based
solely on nutrition.
Generations ago, the differences in height between wealthy
and poor were even more pronounced since poor people
had such horrible diets. The gap in nutrition between
wealthy and poor has closed significantly in recent
generations.
The height gap has also closed but has not completely
caught up. Wealthy people are still taller and that can be
attributed to genetics. Over the years they built up a
genetic height advantage based mainly on their diets.
Why do some wealthy nations such as Japan and other
Asian nations still lag in their height? A lot of that has to do
with the types of food they traditionally eat. Although the
Japanese are still way shorter than Americans and
Europeans, they are slowly catching up and growing at a
faster rate.
The reason? Their diets are changing. The Japanese have
recently passed the Chinese and for the first time in history
they are now taller than the Chinese.
Nutrition and Supplements
Proper nutrition and supplements are important to growing
taller. Leaving them out and dismissing them as not as
important as the exercises would be a bad move. Nutrition
is the main reason why the Dutch are so tall and why the
Japanese have grown 3 inches (8 cm) in average height in
the last 50 years.
The heights of these people and the height increases tell us
a lot about the health and nutritional standards of these
people. The critical stages in growth are the first year of life
and during puberty. If you are well nourished and eat and
drink the right things, you will be setting yourself up to
grow taller and maximize your natural height.
The Japanese use to have a diet consisting mostly of rice
and corn and other high carbohydrate foods. The problem
with that is, protein is essential for growth and they had
very little of that. Since they are gradually eating a more
Western type of diet, they have been growing taller since
World War II.
You will want a diet that consists mainly of meat and dairy
products such as milk, eggs, cheeses, and yogurt. Did you
know that yogurt is reported to be a secret growth food of
the people of Montenegro?
One thing about the Western type of diet that you don‘t
want to include is a lot of saturated fats. 150 years ago,
North Americans were the tallest people in the world.
Even back as far to the year 1750, North Americans were
the tallest people with the average male being 5 feet, 8
inches (173 cm) tall. That was 2-3 inches (5-8 cm) taller
than the average North European male.
We have gotten taller, but the Dutch and Nordic countries
such as Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark have
passed us because they have a less fattening diet. They are
growing at a faster rate.
There are a few other reasons why we have been passed up
as well. In the past we had a lower population which helps
boost up the average height of a people. We were relatively
isolated and had less problems with diseases than
Europeans. We had a dietary advantage as well.
Now we have a population of over 280 million people to
spread the average height across. Over 10% of the
population is foreign born, usually from Third World nations
which have a worse diet than Americans. So these people
put a downward trend to our height average.
Look at the republic of Montenegro. They have about
600,000 people and are relatively isolated with a diet that
has a lot of dairy products in it. They are a hardy
mountainous people who keep fit.
They built up their genetics through diet and fitness over
the years while maintaining a low population. Even though
they are relatively poor, they have had fewer children. Since
having lots of people/children puts a downward trend on
heights, they essentially avoided that without knowing it.
When you spread out having a lot of kids over a population,
usually the poorer and generally speaking, shorter people
will have the majority of kids. Well, when you have less kids
and spread those kids across a smaller population of taller
people, the kids and the whole people become taller
eventually.
This is what has happened in Montenegro. That is why the
average male is 6 feet, 3 inches (191 cm) there. They don‘t
have any secret exercises to become taller. You soon will
though.
Now back to our comparisons of North America and
Northern Europe. We don‘t take care of our poor as well as
European countries. This hurts our average height because
their poor people are taller than our poor people.
When huge segments of the population lack proper nutrition
and proper medical care, they will have a hard time
reaching their maximum natural height. Also they have
smaller populations than the USA.
When a nation hurts itself nutritionally over a few
generations, most of the people won‘t reach their maximum
height. Eventually that will show up in the genetics of the
people.
So it becomes a 1-2 punch. The good thing is, you can
overcome your genetics and usually add 2-4 inches (5-10
cm) to your height.
Now let‘s go to supplements.
The most important supplement you need is calcium. This is
the most important thing you will need for bone growth.
You will also need magnesium, chromium, and zinc. These
all play major parts in aiding bone growth.
The best sources for calcium and zinc are milk, yogurt,
eggs, and meat. The best source for chromium is meat. For
magnesium, it would probably be best to take it in pill form.
Here is an important side note. Magnesium helps you sleep
better which is when you do most of your growing. Milk
does as well. So consider drinking a glass of milk about 2
hours before bed.
Try to avoid calcium inhibitors such as soft drinks,
cigarettes, alcohol, coffee, refined sugars, and salt. If you
want to grow taller minimize the intake of them.
You will also need to drink a lot of water to keep your blood
thinned out and able to transport all the vitamins and
nutrients your muscles and bones will need to repair and
grow bigger and longer.
Human Growth Hormone and
Sleep
Growth hormones are special hormones produced by special
cells in the endocrine glands, specifically the thyroid gland.
These hormones are produced in small amounts and are
sent into the bloodstream and target directly or indirectly
specific organs and tissues to help regulate growth and
development.
Growth hormone instructs your skeletal bones and muscles
to grow stronger, bigger, and longer. If you have a lot of
growth hormone in your system, you can‘t help but get
bigger. If however you don‘t have enough growth hormone
in your body, it will be hard to grow. Your body can do only
so much with too little of it.
Glutamine is an amino acid that helps release growth
hormone. You may want to buy the supplement and
augment your exercise and nutritional program with it.
Now the good news is that you can naturally increase
growth hormone release through exercises, nutrition, and
proper sleep.
Intense exercises such as jumping and sprinting boost
growth hormone production.
Proper sleep is vital. The first 2 hours of sleep are when the
most growth hormone spills into your system. Not getting
enough sleep can lower the amount of growth hormone
your body produces. Get at least 8 hours of sleep.
Eating big meals with foods that have a high glycemic index
will force your body to produce a large amount of insulin to
help in digestion. This will effectively block out the flow of
growth hormone into your blood stream.
That is why a diet high in sugars and carbohydrates is bad
for growing taller. That is a big reason why Asians are
generally short. They eat way too many carbohydrates.
What is better is to have more meals with less
carbohydrates. The typical bodybuilder diet is a good
example to follow. Eating 5-7 small high protein meals is
the best way to keep your insulin levels low and your
growth hormone production high.
The intensity of your exercising has a lot to do with the
production of your growth hormone. If your exercising is of
lower intensity such as jogging, you will produce less
growth hormone as compared to sprinting.
A shorter more intense workout is better than a longer less
intense workout. Just remember there are numerous
factors into growing taller. Doing intense exercises will help
you in this quest, but it is not the only thing you have to do.
You will want to avoid eating any food or drinking any soft
drinks in the 2 hours before bed. This is critical because you
don‘t want any insulin surges before and during your sleep.
Remember, the first 2 hours of sleep are very important
because that is the time when your body produces and
releases the most growth hormone.
Consider drinking a glass of milk with a glutamine
supplement 2 hours before you expect to go to bed.
Now to the sleep part.
You will need 8 hours of sleep. You will need to sleep on a
firm mattress to help keep the spine straight.
You will need to either use a small pillow or no pillow at all.
Pillows hinder your breathing and take your neck out of
alignment with your spinal column.
You will need to sleep on your back and spread out. This
best stretches out and decompresses your spine. You must
stretch out.
One thing you can do is to raise the bottom part of your bed
where your feet are by 2-4 inches (5-10 cm) in height. This
way you use gravity to pull your spine up as opposed to
when you are standing and gravity pulls your spine down.
With your head below your heart, you will also allow gravity
to force better blood flow to your thyroid gland which can
help in the production of growth hormone.
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