A person’s height is determined by many factors. Therefore, there are also many things that can stunt growth. Your body is like a machine with great potential. If you care for your body, it can increase your height. However, things like carbohydrates, fats, proteins, posture, exercise, and sleep dramatically impact your level of growth. If you wish to make yourself taller, it is important that you master these six obstacles.

Over consumption of carbohydrates is one of the biggest setbacks to growing taller. This is why Asians, with traditional diets consisting mainly of carbohydrates, are generally smaller in size than the Western cultures who balance their diets with protein. Carbohydrates are most commonly found in foods like cereal, breads, potatoes, and rice. Foods consisting mainly of carbohydrates are typically high in calories. Eating too many calories causes weight gain, which makes you appear shorter and negatively affects the spine as it grows. If your diet consists mainly of carbohydrates, then you are counteracting your efforts to grow.

Fats are almost as big of a hurdle as carbohydrates. Your body does need a small amount of fat for metabolism and insulation. However, too many fats can cause weight gain. Saturated fats, commonly found in cakes, cookies, and ice cream, are very high-calorie and make you gain weight. They also cause clogged arteries and heart disease. Unsaturated fats, like that in vegetable oil, actually works to lower cholesterol and has far less calories.

Another hurdle you must overcome is lack of protein. The body cannot perform basic functions, such as growth, without ample quantities of protein. When you consume protein it is broken down into amino acids. Many of these amino acids are necessary to create the Human Growth Hormone that causes every part of your body to grow. Additionally, these amino acids help the digestive track metabolize food and create other growth related enzymes. If you want to grow, make sure your diet is filled with protein-rich foods like meats, legumes, and dairy.

In addition to eating right, you must also make sure you get the right amount of sleep. Sleep helps you grow in two ways. First, lying horizontally helps to counteract the negative effects of gravity that compact the spine. As you lay down, you spine stretches out and you grow. Secondly, when you are asleep your body begins to use the Human Growth Hormone in your system to build bones, muscle, and tissue. It is important that you sleep long enough to let this process run it course. Eight hours of sleep is ideal. However, you should not sleep too long because this can slow your metabolism and make you gain weight. It is also important that you support your spine during these periods of growth. Sleep on a firm mattress and in a position that keeps your spine as straight as possible.

Exercise is critical if you are trying to improve your health and gain height. Exercise makes your body generate and release Human Growth Hormone. Also, when you stretch you can increase your cartilage to support the decompression and growth of sleep. Exercising also increases your metabolism which helps your body better use the nutrients in your diet.

Even if you have the right diet, sleep, and exercise you will still need to have good posture in order to grow. Many people could be taller than they are if they had good posture. If your spine is not kept straight, you will be undoing any work you have done to increase your height. Poor posture, such as hunching over and rounded shoulders, keep your spine in a compacted position. Only a spine that is in correct alignment throughout the day and night will reach its full height potential.

These six obstacles can hold you back by several inches. However, making simples changes to your lifestyle can have an amazing affect. You can grow if you discipline your eating, sleeping, exercise, and posture. This discipline will give your body all of the fuel and support it needs to make your taller.