Height-Boosting Diet: 5 Surprising Foods That Maximize Your Growth Potential

Being tall is a desirable trait. According to research, being tall has a wide range of benefits, including increased self-confidence, better self-esteem, greater earning potential, and even improved longevity (1). Yes, you read that right; tall people often live longer than their shorter counterparts.

Tall people are also viewed differently from shorter folk. Someone who is above average height is often seen as naturally commanding, authoritative, capable, and charismatic (2). It’s no coincidence, then, that many industry leaders and politicians tower over their peers.

Unfortunately, there is nothing much you can do about your height once you stop growing. Most adults stop growing at the end of adolescence, which is 16-18 for males and 14-15 for females (3). Some people may experience additional growth after this or hit their height peak before these ages. However, these age ranges are the norm for most people.

So, if you are a man in your early 20s or a woman in your late teens, you are probably as tall as you are going to get.

However, if you are still a child or young teenager, you may be able to maximize your future height by eating certain foods. That’s because good nutrition plays a small but vital role in growth.

In this article, we reveal five foods you should eat if you want to grow to be a taller adult.  

Factors That Determine Your Height

Research suggests that about 80% of your height potential is determined by your genetics (4). So, if you want to be taller, you’ll need to choose your parents carefully! Obviously, you can’t change your birth parents so that leaves you with a 20% influence over how tall you’ll be in adulthood.

Factors that can affect your ultimate height include:

1. Adequate Sleep

Growing adolescents need more sleep than adults. While 6-8 hours a night is enough for most adults, growing kids and teenagers need more, especially if they want to reach their full height potential. Preteens typically need 9-10 hours of sleep per night while teenagers require 8-10.

Sleep, especially between the hours of 10 pm and 2 am, is when your body produces most of its supply of human growth hormone (HGH). As its name suggests, growth hormone plays a vital role in growth and height development.

Getting enough sleep usually means going to bed earlier, so having a set bedtime and a consistent sleep schedule is critical if you want to reach your full height potential.

2. Regular Physical Activity

Exercise and physical activity can often seem like a chore. After all, why play sports when you can put your skills to the test in the virtual world? Unfortunately, as realistic as e-sports can be, they don’t affect your body the same way as actually moving.

Sports and working out stress your bones which, in turn, respond by stimulating cells called osteoblasts, which are bone builders. Physical activity also increases human growth hormone production which, as already mentioned, plays a crucial role in height development.

So, if you want to be taller, you need to get off the couch and, on the sports field, or in the gym. 30-60 minutes of physical activity should be enough to optimize your growth. And what about the belief that strength training and weightlifting stunt growth in children?  According to numerous studies, that simply isn’t true (5).

3. Healthy Living Environment

The last 100 years have seen a significant increase in average adult height (6), and today’s adults are roughly 10cm/3.9 inches taller than their predecessors. There are numerous reasons for this, but quality of life is generally the most prevalent.

This means better healthcare, better living and working conditions, better quality food, improved sanitation, fewer dangers, and less stress.

Of course, it’s up to you to take advantage of your improved environment. For example, spending more time in the fresh air and sunshine is far better for growth spending your free time in front of a computer or otherwise cooped up in a dimly-lit bedroom.

4. Adequate Hydration

Water plays a vital role in almost every human metabolic function, including growth. And yet, many preteens and teenagers don’t know how much water than should drink, and some even have faulty thirst mechanisms and don’t know when they are becoming dehydrated. This is partly due to an overconsumption of soda, juice, sports drinks, and energy drinks (7).

Dehydration can undermine growth, as your body won’t have the fluids it needs to function correctly. As such, you must ensure you are drinking enough water. This is even more important if you are also an athlete or regular exerciser.

How much water do you need to drink per day? That depends on several factors, but two liters/68 ounces is a good place to start. For a more accurate figure, please check out this easy-to-use water intake calculator.

5. Good Nutrition

The food you eat provides your body with the building blocks it needs to make you taller. That’s why malnourished populations are often shorter than people who live in less abundant regions. We’ll get into the foods that can maximize your growth potential in the next section but, for now, the key components of a height-boosting diet are (8):

Protein – your body uses protein for muscle repair and growth. It’s also critical for overall development and height. Adolescents who fail to consume adequate protein, e.g., in poorer countries, are usually shorter than their protein-eating counterparts. Sources of protein include meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy, nuts, beans, and legumes.

Calcium – your body stores most of its calcium in your bones. Consequently, if you fail to consume enough, your body will “borrow” calcium from your bones, leading to a deficiency. Low calcium will affect bone growth and could lead to weaker, more brittle bones. Sources of calcium include dairy products, leafy green vegetables, fortified foods, and cereals.

Vitamin D – vitamin D, also known as the sunshine vitamin, activates the enzymes responsible for processing the calcium in your diet. Good sources include fortified milk, fatty fish, nuts and seeds, and egg yolks. Getting out in the sunshine for 30 minutes a day will also help ensure you get enough vitamin D.

Bottom line: A healthy, balanced diet will help maximize your growth potential. In general, this means eating more natural foods, such as unprocessed meat, fish, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy oils, and less processed sugar and trans fats.

Related: Fix Your Diet Forever in Six Weeks!

Five Foods That Can Help Maximize Your Growth Potential

While no single food will make you taller, a well-balanced diet is critical if you want to optimize your height. Here are five nutritious foods that provide the nutrients and energy your body needs to grow. Including them in your diet will help maximize your growth potential.

1. Beans

Your body needs protein to grow. For many, that means meat, fish, eggs, and other animal protein sources. However, you can also get the protein you need from plants, with beans being an excellent choice. As well as protein, beans also contain plenty of iron, copper, magnesium, manganese, and zinc, all of which play a role in height development.

There are lots of bean varieties to choose from, with some of the tastiest and most nutritious being:

• Black beans
• Black-eyed peas
• Cannellini beans
• Fava beans
• Garbanzo beans
• Haricot beans
• Kidney beans
• Lima beans
• Lupini beans
• Navy beans
• Pinto beans
• Soybeans

2. Dairy Milk

When I was a kid growing up in the UK, schoolchildren were given a third of a pint of milk every day. This was a government-sponsored program designed to boost the health of the nation’s school children.

Dairy milk is an excellent source of protein, calcium, and calories, providing kids with the energy and nutrients they need to grow. It’s also cheap and readily available. Research suggests that drinking milk can enhance height, especially in malnourished children (9).

Those with lactose intolerance should avoid milk, but if you’re okay with it, a glass or two of milk a day could help boost your height.

3. Leafy Greens

While few kids actually enjoy eating leafy greens, they contain many of the nutrients your body needs to grow tall and strong. While nutrient values vary between varieties, you’ll find calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and vitamins C and K in leafy greens, all of which contribute to bone growth and height development.

There are many varieties of leafy greens, so you can seek out the ones you enjoy – or, at least, don’t hate! Your choices include:

• Arugula
• Bok choy
• Collard greens
• Kale
• Mustard greens
• Spinach
• Swiss chard
• Turnip greens

4. Salmon

Salmon is a great source of protein. However, it also contains an abundance of omega-3 fats and vitamin D, both of which enhance bone remodeling and growth (10). Not getting enough omega-3 fats is linked to sleep problems, and too little sleep can hurt growth. Not a salmon fan? No problem – there are other equally nutritious oily fish varieties to try.

These include:

• Mackerel
• Herring
• Sardines
• Anchovies
• Black cod
• Bluefin tuna
• Trout
• Catfish

5. Quinoa

Quinoa is often described as a grain when, in fact, it’s actually a type of seed. Consequently, it contains no gluten, which is a substance that some people have a hard time digesting. Quinoa is loaded with protein and also contains an abundance of magnesium, which plays a vital role in bone growth.

You can eat quinoa hot in place of less-nutritious pasta or rice, or cold as a salad. It tastes good and takes on other flavors easily, so you can use it in savory and sweet dishes.

Include these foods in your meals to provide your body with the nutrients it needs to develop and grow.

Conclusion

While your height is largely determined by your genetics, there are several things you can do to ensure you reach your full potential. These include exercising to optimize growth hormone production, getting plenty of sleep, fresh air, and sunshine, drinking adequate water, and eating a healthy, balanced diet.

However, regardless of how tall you end up, remember that you are more than your height. You can be happy and successful regardless even if you are shorter than you’d like. Focus on your strengths and work on improving your weaknesses. Remember that your height is just one of the many things that make you who you are.

Read also: Tallest Bodybuilders of All Time: Meet the Towering Titans

References:

1. Stulp G, Buunk AP, Verhulst S, Pollet TV. Human height is positively related to interpersonal dominance in dyadic interactions. PLoS One. 2015 Feb 26;10(2):e0117860. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0117860. PMID: 25719490; PMCID: PMC4342156.
2. Case A, Paxson C. Stature and status: Height, ability, and labor market outcomes. J Polit Econ. 2008;116(3):499-532. doi: 10.1086/589524. PMID: 19603086; PMCID: PMC2709415.
3. Taranger J, Hägg U. The timing and duration of adolescent growth. Acta Odontol Scand. 1980;38(1):57-67. doi: 10.3109/00016358008997719. PMID: 6929640.
4. National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine. Is height determined by genetics? MedlinePlus. September 18, 2024.
5. Pierce KC, Hornsby WG, Stone MH. Weightlifting for Children and Adolescents: A Narrative Review. Sports Health. 2022 Jan-Feb;14(1):45-56. doi: 10.1177/19417381211056094. Epub 2021 Nov 15. PMID: 34781771; PMCID: PMC8669931.
6. NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC). A century of trends in adult human height. Elife. 2016 Jul 26;5:e13410. doi: 10.7554/eLife.13410. PMID: 27458798; PMCID: PMC4961475.
7. Bougatsas D, Arnaoutis G, Panagiotakos DB, Seal AD, Johnson EC, Bottin JH, Tsipouridi S, Kavouras SA. Fluid consumption pattern and hydration among 8-14 years-old children. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2018 Mar;72(3):420-427. doi: 10.1038/s41430-017-0012-y. Epub 2017 Dec 14. PMID: 29238038.
8. Kim K, Melough MM, Kim D, Sakaki JR, Lee J, Choi K, Chun OK. Nutritional Adequacy and Diet Quality Are Associated with Standardized Height-for-Age among U.S. Children. Nutrients. 2021 May 16;13(5):1689. doi: 10.3390/nu13051689. PMID: 34065650; PMCID: PMC8156872.
9. Grenov B, Michaelsen KF. Growth Components of Cow’s Milk: Emphasis on Effects in Undernourished Children. Food Nutr Bull. 2018 Sep;39(2_suppl):S45-S53. doi: 10.1177/0379572118772766. Epub 2018 May 3. PMID: 29724127.
10. Kajarabille N, Díaz-Castro J, Hijano S, López-Frías M, López-Aliaga I, Ochoa JJ. A new insight to bone turnover: role of ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. ScientificWorldJournal. 2013 Nov 4;2013:589641. doi: 10.1155/2013/589641. PMID: 24302863; PMCID: PMC3834626.

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