How Your Body Grows Taller

It's not a particular requirement to grow taller that you know exactly how your body does it, but it is an interesting thing to know, certainly something to keep in your arsenal of smart-guy factoids for the next office party.

Throughout your life, and assuming that you're normal, your pituitary gland releases human growth hormones (HGH) which are used in two ways: first, the HGH bind themselves into target cells throughout your body which, in very simple terms, they instruct to grow. The second way sends the HGH into the liver which processes them, amps them up, but also regulates the process so that your body's growth is balanced. HGH has been observed to be released in waves or pulses in the body, mostly occurring during sleep. That is why getting adequate sleep is very important if you want to maximize your natural potential for height increase.

While you're young, the pituitary glands produce a lot of HGH and therefore you grow and get taller fast, but as you age, the HGH production slows down, and so does your growth.

HGH has long been available as an injectable, mostly for children suffering from stunted growth. Why is it not advisable for you to take HGH injections for an easy way to gain inches to your height? Well, mainly because it's expensive and carries an entire set of undesirable side effects ranging from ear infections to abdominal pain and even to diabetes and hardening of the arteries, and many other things you wouldn't want to have.

(Just a little something to add to your factoid collection: HGH for injections used to be harvested from human cadavers, and often carried with it pathogens which in turn infected the patients who used it. Synthetic HGH was developed in the 1980s and so there is no need for cadaver-harvesting today.)

There are more, safer ways to increase the levels of HGH in your body without the use of injections, and at virtually any age. If you are not suffering from stunted growth and are within the norms of standard height, and would only like to gain a bit more for cosmetic purposes, for example, it will be well advised for you to explore the less intrusive and more natural ways to grow taller.