Between 60 and 80% of your height is due to genetics. The rest, 20 – 40 percent, is attributed to nutrition and other environmental factors. And that means you can fail to reach your optimal height due to environmental factors. But it also means that you can exceed your parent’s height, even though slightly.
Studies show that nutrition changes can significantly affect the average height of the populace. As such, wealthy countries have been shown to have taller people than in developing countries. You can read this study here.
Seeing that getting taller is a combination of factors, can you grow taller after 21? Can following a particular diet, as the studies show, increase your height?
When people stop growing tall
The majority of people stop growing between the ages of 18 and 21. But why do you stop growing at this age?
Growth plates are the main culprits why you cannot grow after reaching a certain age, which in most cases, is after puberty. It is when your growth plates are still active that your bones become tall. For boys, the growth plate stops growing after the age of 19. It is much earlier for the girls, and it is mostly after attaining 16 years.
But is it possible to continue growing after puberty? Of course, it is possible. Nothing is cast in stone when it comes to height growth.
Some studies show that you may belong to a category of people whose spine continue growing even after puberty. These changes may sometimes be slight, and sometimes even unnoticeable, but you can look at it this way, it is a light at the end of the tunnel.
What you can do to look taller even after 21 years
As mentioned above, genetic factors only contribute between 60 and 80% of your height. It is, therefore, possible, even though slightly, to increase your height by focusing on the environmental factors that include nutrition.
It is critical to take a balanced diet daily that includes the right amount of fruits and vegetables, proteins, and carbohydrates. Proteins provide the essential amino acids that your body needs to enhance the production of the growth hormone and providing the necessary raw materials for growth. We are all different, and your growth plates may not have closed yet, and taking a balanced diet would help take advantage of this slight chance.
You should also practice the right posture to minimize compressing the spine too much. To maintain the correct posture, your shoulders should be backward, your stomach inwards, and your body should be in level with your head.
Maintaining the right posture will not only make you look taller but will prevent specific problems such as headaches at back pains.
Another essential practice is strengthening the midsection. In particular, the exercises make it possible to maintain the right posture without trying too much. Your core muscles are around the spinal column and the abdominal muscles.
The core muscles are what holds up the spine, and when they are weak, it becomes challenging to maintain the right posture. But which are the particular exercises for strengthening the core muscles?
Some of the favorite exercises include the abdominal crunch and doing the plank frequently.
