This question I wanted to answer is really more for the pre-epiphyseal plate closure crowd than the ones who are looking for extra height in their adult years. If you are a parent, you might be concerned and wonder whether your child will be getting the right nutrition so that they can reach their full growth and height potential. This can be a particularly worrying subject if you are of short stature yourself and so is your spouse.

We all know that on average, taller people in life are treated better, are liked more, have more romantic partners, and get more career advancement and financial rewards than their shorter counterparts. A teenager who is shorter than his/her peers and classmates may be particularly worried about this situation. If one is too short (or even too tall) they might be the victim of ridicule by others. So how does one make sure in terms of diet that they are getting everything they can to push their growth and height to the maximum?

First, we have to understand that diet makes up only a small part of the equation. What is even more important than diet is sleep and genetics. I showed in a previous post entitled”How much of human height is genetic and how much is due to nutrition?” that our genetics make up 60%-80% of what will become of our height so it is a very big factor. After that comes sleep, which is when most of our longitudinal lengthening of the long bones happen.

There is a post I had originally written entitled “The Effect On Height And Growth Being A Vegetarian“. I particularly focused on the need to get protein because the meat that vegetarians purposely choose not to eat is often the main source of protein in one’s diet. Protein is critical and essential for the human to live.

So the first thing we need to do to make sure the factor of diet is not inhibiting our growth and height is to get proteins, and as much good proteins as possible.

There is sort of a concern going around the US that most of the meat we eat came from cows, pigs, and chicken which had been fed growth hormones so that they can grow fatter faster. The fatter the animals are, the more meat there is. We american love to eat and we do had an obesity problem so it is possible that the meat we buy from the supermarket is filled with growth hormones. From a previous post I did looking at the effects of growth hormones on height, the general conclusion is that one consumes too much GH, it can theoretically speed up the growing process so that the growth plates will actually fuse earlier than they are supposed to so you end up shorter than if you had not taken the GH.

So the 2nd thing is that we need to make sure is that we are not eating meat from animals that is not been injected with GH. That is hard to do because we don’t know what type of treatment the beef we are eat is from a cow that was treated well or not. The suggestion is then to go to a place like “Whole Foods” and buy the beef that is is “grass fed”.

As for Carbohydrates, a lot of the flour made from wheat, rye, and corn these days have been processed with many forms of preservatives. Those flour are then used to make our bread, donuts, cake ,etc. In terms of how processes food will affect our overall height, I am guessing that the processed food like the flour we use to make our breads and cakes have certain compounds that are not eh healthiest in the world. The does take away from the food from having real vitamins and minerals.

However, one thing that I would say is a casual observation is that families who eat more natural food like from “Whole Foods” seem to be more on the short side. Now, I might be burned for that last comment by people who want to rebuff that with their own anecdotes and heights of people they might know and who is also big. But I am just stating an observation. We all know that foods that have not been genetically altered are usually smaller in quantity. If you have ever seen a carrot or watermelon that is grown in the wild, they look nothing like what we find in our supermarket. The fruits we see in nature are often much smaller and even a different color.

Since the cost of the stuff we buy in say “Whole Foods” can be 30-50% more expensive than the processed, genetically engineered food. I would make sense that people who are militant on only eating the most natural organic food are eating less than the people who don’t. If we wanted to correlate weight to the type of food eaten, it is obvious that people who DON’T eat organic natural food is bigger, but can we say the same about height as well. Do people who eat non-organic processed food become slightly taller than the people who don’t. That is a very hard question to answer, but I would guess it is true. So the big take away is that going in the natural organic direction may be healthier but it might be the option that leads to the greater height.

As for fiber, there is not a lot of scientific research or data that correlates to the amount of fiber we take and the height we reach. What is known is that from taking sufficient fiber, one is less likely to get slow stool or get constipation. There does seem to be some relationship with having a high fiber diet at old age with a lower mortality risk. That means that eating more vegetables has a correlation with overall health and longevity. So if you get enough fiber, your digestive system overall will be cleaner.

However, from what I have seen over my lifetime, from evolutionary theory, there seems to be an inverse correlation between longevity and height. Often it is the shorter people who outlive their taller counterparts. Taller people are more likely to develop cancer, since they have more mass in their body. The Japanese who are among the shortest group of people in the Developed world also have some of the shortest average heights of its people. In contrast, the people of the dynamic alps like Bosnia, Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia who have experienced so much ethnic conflict in the last century are among the tallest in the world.  They have lower lifespan than the Japanese from so much conflict but they are bigger. Of course if you even thought over my last argument, you realize that my argument is not completely logical.

In terms of fat, the human body needs fat (the good kind) to survive. Fat is made of lipids and in the human body, it is the adipose tissue. I am too lazy to do the research right now and pull out a scientific article on some study, but if I was to guess, I would say that not getting enough of the right type of fat in one’s diet will lead to a decrease in height.

Conclusion: So after going on for so long, what is the conclusion on the best type of diet needed to lead to the most growth and height? The best type of diet will involve at least 5 main parts

1. Getting all the neseccary types of vitamins and minerals, especially the type that involve in bone creation and growth and cartilage creation.

2. Getting enough of the right proteins, so eat a lot of meat like grilled chicken, fish ,grass fed cows, and eggs

3. Getting as much water as possible.

4. Eat enough fiber to have a rather clean gut to be healthier but don’t eat too much fiber.

5. Eat a lot of the good fat.

6. Try to find meat that was not injected with growth hormones

7. Eating some processed food is okay

I wanted to admit a weird trait about myself. I enjoy learning about height, and how to increase my height. It is a strange obsession but that is what I am crazy about. It’s not that I am that short. I range from 5′ 11.25″ -6′ 0″ throughout the day. I live in the US where the average height is around 5′ 11″-6′ 0″. I am pretty much exactly in the middle range of hight. I am not too tall that I have trouble getting around places or fitting inside cars in life. I am not too short that I have to get a step ladder everytime I need to reach the uppermost shelf. I am a guy and no female has ever rejected me over my lack of size, (only on my career prospects and lack of personality).

I used to be crazy about myself and really wanted to grow taller, although now I know I am tall enough for all practical applications. For me, I have come into terms with my size and my body, at least most of it. If I could change my height, I would like to be 6’5-6’6″. That for me would be like the perfect size.

However, even though I can accept my height right now and would be okay living in this body for the rest of my life, I have also known too many people who were unhappy with their height in life. 1 younger sister, 2 ex girlfriends, 2 female cousins, 3 female friends, my own father, and 2 guy friends have all stated they had desired at some point to be taller than they are and had actively searched for an answer to their size issue. This had partly caused this project to be done for others, to give others a sense of hope and possibility.

However, when it comes down to it, learning and researching about height and height increase is my passion. I have secretly desired to go back to graduate school and learn about genetics so that I could be part of a group of scientists and researchers to search for a real solution. I don’t even care if I do find the solution and can’t use it for me. I just see this problem as the perfect and most interesting problem I can tackle alone or with a team.

Other people have also taken on just as good, or even better projects. There are people out their trying to protect and save endangered species from extinction. There are people out there who are lobbying in the government to save the rainforest and protect their own locale. There are people trying to create a renewable clean energy source. There are people out there who are trying to build devices and systems to filter and purify dirty water supplies and provide the human world with clean water to drink.  And there are people out there doing research on Multiple Sclerosis, Cancel, AIDS, ALS, and Parkinson’s trying to cure the diseases and pathologies that inflict us as a human species.

However, for myself, trying to find a solution to increase our height and renew our body to grow again after we have passed puberty and reached sexual maturity is my goals. Looking for a way to increase height is my passion.

Update 6/7/2014: The website is finally back up, after a long week dealing with my hosting company’s legal team.

I have noticed some people saying in the message boards that this website is a scam since it just suddenly went down with no message or warning.. Here is my only response. I quote what Anthony Robbins said…

“It doesn’t matter whether what you believe is right or wrong. What really matters is whether your belief system empowers you or not” (I would like to add that what matters is whether what you believe helps improves your life or not)

If believing that this website is a scam makes your life better, go right ahead. Keep on believing that and stop visiting this website. I’ll block your ip address (I learned how to do that recently from my hosting company, by editing the htaccess file) to help make sure you are full accountably to your commitments to believe this place is fake and that I am just trying to rip you guys off. You don’t ever have to come back here again.

If by coming to this website, you don’t improve in any way your life, then don’t come here. If the website doesn’t empower you, then you should not be doing it. If however, you get some type of joy or entertainment out of reading what is written, then we will not stop you either. I have nothing to hide on how I operate this website. There are some affiliate links around and I do wish to make some type of income from it to help at least pay for the websites operations. In fact, I recently reset all the Adsense IDs (2 of them) to be under Tyler’s name, so I don’t even earn any income from the ads anymore. No one is putting a gun to the readers head and forcing them to buy something from the affiliate links.

Update 5/27/2013: I recently found on the LSJL Forums a thread that was started that claims that my website, Natural Height Growth is a “semi-scam”. It also says that HeightQuest.com is also a “semi-scam”.

The thread is entitled “HEIGHT QUEST AND NATURAL HEIGHT GROWTH=SEMI SCAMMERS“. I can assure the person named “panos” who wrote the thread that this website is NOT a “semi-scam”.

There is indeed Amazon Associate Affiliate Links to the website to monetize it. I am a business man and I create businesses. There is also Google Adsense Advertisement ads posted in non-offensive places on this website to further monetize the website.

To people like “panos” and other future critics, I counter your point to say that instead of criticizing people like Tyler and me who actually created a website to do this type of research, why don’t you try to do something similar and help us in the research???

We are all humans. Money is an important factor in many of the decisions we make in our lives. I have written over 900 posts by now looking at everything under the sun and put almost 1 year of my life towards this. Why shouldn’t I monetize this website and make some side income from this which clearly has helped hundreds of people already.

I have always believed that humans are at their core selfish creatures who will always try to gain something for nothing. Did you guys really think that you guys would be able to find a solution to your height increase solutions without giving something in return, whether it would be your money, time, effort, or energy?

Even weight loss, which is much easier endeavor by many magnitudes compared to height increase require some level of commitment, sweat, pain, and exercise to reach goals. This would be 10,000X harder. There is no way around this thing.

Most people do have good intentions, at least in the very beginning, and want to believe that they are good people, but their actions usually reveal how intrinsically selfish they are. I admit that I am selfish too, and do wish to make some money from this. I have to pay for Mailing List fees, Podcasting Hosting fees, Registration Fees, and Website Hosting Fees to keep all of this site working. That usually adds up to be $55 out of my own pocket which I pay to continue this project every month. You guys should be appreciative of all the effort I have been putting in.

Look at how many people in the old GrowTallForums.com (now dead) believed that this guy Alkoclar from Turkey with his promoted CNP increasing methyl agents had some type of miracle drug that could make them taller. There was all this drama during the 1st trials and the increased drama in the 2nd trials lead to some guy named Halcyon/Nico who was an admin shut down the entire forum. Everyone was hoping for that Miracle Pill, something that they can swallow to get the benefits that they wanted. Well I say right now that for those people who are past their natural growth period, we are in the stage where the road ahead is only filled with hard effort.

There is no way you will ever find that single compound which will do everything you are hoping for. It just does not exist.

Paco, you don’t have to read my website. You don’t have to read Height Quest either. I don’t like to use foul language but for you, I will say to shut up, sit down, and let the researchers do their work. If you want to help, then pick up a medical textbook, start learning about endocrinology, orthopaedics, and join in the “fun” and make a real difference in the world. You can be one of those people who sits in the audience or you can be in the arena making things happen.

I am happy with you being one of the audience members, as long as you are not one of those idiots who can’t discriminate between the real sincere people, and the scam artists. Just because I chose to add monetization to my website does not mean that I am “grey-hat”. That shows that I am a practical business man who can think pragmatically and not be fooled into delusional heroism and choose to do everything and all the heavy lifting in terms of the research while people like the cynics and “haters” sit back and contribute in no way waiting for me (or Tyler) to come up with that Miracle Technique.

Maybe after the 5-10 years of intense research and effort we find nothing at all and say that this entire endeavor is impossible. I have always said that this endeavor we are trying to do is not the same as lossing weight. This is height increase research. This is stuff that no one has ever succeeded in before. We are in an area of research which most people would say we are crazy for even trying to do. Maybe we are wasting our time. However, for me, this research which has only a very small chance of success is probably 100X more worthwhile for the betterment of the overall human race than say working as a barista at the local Starbucks. I think I am making a difference and making the Internet Landscape better by creating one of the only honest Grow Taller websites out there.

For further proof that there is no way in hell that I can make a living from being an affiliate with Amazon, I’ve clipped a picture of all of the Amazon Associates earnings that I have gotten through out the website’s lifetime, ever since I activated the natural height growth amazon associates account back in December of 2012. (Note that today is May 27, 2013). From December to May, I have earned only $60 in referral fees. That is $60 for around 150 days of insane effort.  I get less money from doing this type of research project that if I just stood outside on the side of the street and begged for quarters – And no, I did not photoedit those picture on the bottom to hide my “real” earnings if anyone is thinking that I must be earning more because I am not.  I do not have that type of time to do that type of mind-numbing, painstaking job.

Am I a scam?

In my previous post I had answered the question “Will I ever do a review on a product and not say it is a scam? . I concluded by saying that probably “NO”. The reason goes back to what I define as the 4 needed parts that make up a scam. They are…

1. The product does not work

2. The seller knows the product does not work

3. The seller chooses to state that the product does work

4. The seller chooses to sell the product.

I proclaim right now that I am NOT a scam. I am not proclaiming that any technique or method I have found has even a 51% chance of working. Even the most likely techqniues and ideas I have discovered who has had many adherent and followeres go through a 6 month process has come back to say that they saw no height increase and started to loss faith where there was once hope and energy.

I don’t know whether any of the products work or not. I choose to state with 51% confidence that even the best and mostly likely techniques probably own’t work.

Lastly, I am not selling anything. I don’t market, promote, or advertise any type of product or service on my site that claims it can increase your height. Sure, there is a section called “Height Increase Guide” that states that you can increase your height by 3 cm. That is 1.25 inches in US units. 3 cms is what I honestly believe is the maximum amount of height most people can ever hope to gain from taking the natural path in their height increase endeavors. This usually just means focusing on getting posture, exercising, and correct nutrition in order. Nearly anyone who has a little bit of discipline and a flexible program will be able to get those parts fixed, often in less than 3 months. 1 cm of extra height is perfectly reasonable and 2 cm is something probably half of the people who try to increase their height will get with a clearly defined program and some discipline

I admit that I did write a in a previous post that I do connect my coaching program to this site to help anyone who clearly is having issue with their height but I will never force any of thise stuff down someone else’s throat. there is no mailing lists, asking for emails, or lengthy sales letters. I put a post saying that I would appreciate it if people would pitch it and give a $1-2 monthly or $10-20 yearly donation to help pay for the site registration and hosting fees. My own financial situation is tight too.

That’s all there is. I write and do research for height increase because I enjoy doing it. I learn, I become educated, and I believe I can really help other people either achieve their height goals or come to peace with the body they were given in life. I am NOT a scam.

I have done so far 10 product reviews on products and services that are claimed by the seller online that it works to increase your height even after your puberty stage and your growth plates have fused. I have concluded that 9 of them are scams and the other one was something that I am just not sure on, but if I had to bet, I would say it doesn’t work.

Here is how I define the word “scam”. A scam is the act of where one person gets another person to believe in something that they know is not true. The scammer is lying. In additon, the scammer knows they are lying and doing it intentionally. Some people really do believe their products work so they are not intentionally lying. Does that mean that they are not held accountable? I would say less so. Just as in criminal court, there is a difference in punishment for people who commit murder which was premeditated and or accidental, we should always take into account the intentions of the person who is lying into consideration.

So to be a true scammer, a person must be intentionally lying to you to make you believe in something or do something. When it comes to our small niche, the scammer wants you to give them money. The absolute truth is that 99% of all the products and services sold across the internet that claim to get you to grow taller will NOT work. In addition, the person who is selling it knows that it will NOT work. SO the act of them saying that the product did work and selling it on a false pretense makes them a scammer by default.

so

1. The product does not work

2. The seller knows the product does not work

3. The seller chooses to state that the product does work

4. The seller chooses to sell the product.

All these 4 parts create the definition of a height increase scam and scammer.

In conclusion, to answer my original question “Will I ever do a review on a product or service and NOT say it is a scam?”

In the internet space where anything and everything is promoted and sold just to get the next potential customer or victim to open their wallet and pull out their credit card, I would state that my answer is “NO”.

I don’t believe I will ever review a height increase product or service sold on the internet and conclude that it is not a scam. the main problem always goes back to the first part that makes up the scam 1. The product does not work. There is currently no magic bullet or easy way to gain height so no product being sold as a supplement or E-book or exercise routine will work. So everything sold online is basically a scam unless the science of the mechanism is valid.

This is the first review I will do that is not really selling a product but selling a type of service. I know, this is not a real “Product Review” but more of a “Service Review” but the idea is the same. There is a website that is claiming that from using either their services or products they can help you gain extra inches in height. I look at their practices, they technique or strategy the intend to use, and review whether their practices seem legit and feasible.

Today I look at the site AddingHeight.Com . On the main first page, they start off with a warning message, telling you to stay away from height increase scams. That is nice of them to do that. I’ve seen this type of front page before and I would call it a sales page. The picture of a doctor on the right side is the same doctor picture of another product which I reviewed in the past, the (Company That Will Not Be Named) product/program.

At the bottom of the page is a cute seal with bold letter words saying “100% money back guarantee”. Then they challenge you by asking you the question “Are you ready to take the first step towards your new life as a taller person?”. They continue by saying that “there is nothing to lose and everything to gain”. Well what about my money if it turns out the service or product I buy doesn’t work?

When we go to the section “How the Program Works” there is a very short explanation that apparently we can still gain extra height from our spine which is not complete bone. The “Adding Height Program” is supposed to quickly and easily improve your posture problems that led to bad spine compression and other stuff that takes away from your true height. The end of the page ends with the same question to challenge you “So are you ready to take the first step towards your new life as a taller person?”. The exact same follow up phrase appears after it with “there is nothing to lose and everything to gain”.

On the “Join Now” section you are supposed to pay $50 to get the program. You can pay using credit card, money transfer, paypal, order by mail, etc.

Conclusion: I decided to stop reading after this point and just say that this site and whatever service or product they sell is a total scam. At least the other scam sites offered you some thin low content E-Book. This site doesn’t even offer that. I am really, REALLY getting sick of these types of websites that have sleazy crafted sales pages with reused pictures of “doctors” and “100% money back guarantees”. This site is one of the worst scam sites I have seen so far. Stay away from this site. I am going to add this page/site to the scams section.

A few days ago I was doing research for another article and I stumbled upon another amazing resource which I have not found before. I am surprised that a forum/board this big and well established had not come into my radar sooner. Anyway, the organization is an actual Non-Profit 501 (c) (4) Membership Organization. Their website is www.nossaonline.org . Remember that the website ends with a .org, not a .com since it is an organization.

It seems that this organization is a really big and well established. They were featured in the documentary S&M: Short & Male which I had briefly eluded to in a previous post that talked about a male who went through with limb and leg lengthening surgery to escape the ridicule and frustration of being so much shorter than his peers. The website has been around since 2006. They have their own Facebook, Twitter , and Youtube channels and profiles. There seems to be even a NOSSA TV. The organization seems to have support groups located in different cities in the US. You can sign up and join the group for $25 which goes to some station in NYC. In addition, there is a forum, a chat room, and even a single’s group on the website. In the forums section, they seem to tackle every single one of the topic that can come up for being short living in a tall person’s world.

I am impressed. I will definitely be putting this site on the resources section of the website.

In their about section HERE, this is what their manifesto seems to be….

There is no absolute definition of short. Short is a relative measure.

“Short stature” has been defined by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists as height more than 2 standard deviations (SD) below the mean for age and sex. Currently, this would correspond to heights of less than 5′ 3″ and 4′ 11″ in adult men and women.

Currently, the average height of a male in the United States of America is approximately 5′ 9″ tall and the average height of a female in the United States of America is approximately 5′ 4″ tall.

NOSSA considers short stature to refer to any male person 5’7″ and below and any female person 5’2″ and below in height.

We based this on the results of our own research and discussions regarding short stature.

NOSSA recognizes that people may feel short not because of some specific measure, but because of their countries of origin, workplace environment, friends or other factors.

That is why all people who support the mission of NOSSA are welcome to apply for membership in our organization.

We also recognize that some men who are 5’7′ and below and some women who are 5’2″ and below may not feel that they are short statured.

If you wish to discuss this further with us, we invite you to join our message forums by clicking here.