Girls Reaching Puberty As Early As 7, Health Benefits of Cactus, and Fitness-Friendly Alternatives to Your Desk Chair

April 15, 2011

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• By now you’ve probably heard of the slim-down craze sweeping in from France called the Dukan Diet. But what is this latest fad all about? And can it actually get results? [FitSugar]

• Secret natural ingredient alert: Prickly pear cactus packs a hearty dose of vitamins and fiber and can help regulate your blood sugar. [Fox News Health]

• A new survey finds that while they can certainly whip up a tasty meal, most restaurant workers haven’t had any type of food-allergy training, which could contribute to the disproportionate number of reactions allergic people have after eating out. [TIME Healthland]

• The chemicals involved in this popular hair-straightening treatment could potentially cause some serious harm to your health and the health of your stylist. We’ll stick to the flat iron, thanks. [HuffPo]

• About 15% of American girls now hit puberty at the astonishingly young age of 7, according to a recent study. [MomLogic]

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Girls Reaching Puberty As Early As 7, Health Benefits of Cactus, and Fitness-Friendly Alternatives to Your Desk Chair

Is this possible to grow taller after puberty?

Puberty is the time when most of the hormonal changes occurs inside the body which gives proper male or female features based on the gender of the body and also helps in gaining sexual maturity. But due to nutrient deficiency, disease or any other reason, this growth can be arrested and it becomes visible in form of dwarfism, infertility, improper growth etc. Height is one of the main features of proper growth and it also gives a boost to your personality. The common perception is that if you couldn’t grow tall during your puberty then you can never grow taller. But this is not the whole truth. It means that it is possible to grow taller after puberty.

Don’t lose hope
Whether you are a teenager or parent of a teenager who is worried over the height issue and want to gain few more inches then the good news is that you can gain 3-6 inches even if your puberty period is over. There are many cases where teenagers have grown taller after puberty. It happens because every human body is different and reacts to factors like nutrition, gender and growth plates differently. Therefore, it is hard to predict when the height gain will happen. Here are some things which you must know about the vertical growth which are:

Development range
Onset of puberty is two years earlier in girls (at the age of 11) than the boys and therefore females attains their maximum height till the age of 15 while boys gain their full height till 17.  The growth range depends on the pre-pubertal height, growth potential, nutrition and even ethnicity.

Growth plate power
The growth plates in our body may not close until early 20s especially in case of male gender because in boys, growth plates remain open two years longer than the girls.

Growth prediction
The height potential of a teenager can be determined with the help of x-rays of growth plate but it is not a common practice. Another approach is predicting the height of the boy or girl by using the parent’s height. Many children reach an adult height within two inches of the mid parental height. To predict the height of girl, subtract 13 centimetres from the father’s height, add the mother’s height and then divide the outcome by two to get the predicted height. On the other hand, to get a boy’s height you have to add 13 centimetres to the father’s height, add the mother’s height and then divide the outcome by 2.

Tips to gain height during and after puberty
Besides a healthy and nutritionally balanced diet, you need to follow the following tips to grow taller and gain inches.

Lengthen your spine
There are many stretching exercises like yoga poses such as cobra stretch, Pilates roll over, cycling, ankle weights etc to help you lengthen your spine and give you additional inches.

Correct your posture
Many times our posture kills few inches of our actual height means by slumping forward, the spine becomes curved and you look shorter than you actually are. So keep your back straight during standing and sitting to reveal your full height.

Increase the human growth hormone
There are many supplements and pills in market which claims to increase the growth hormone in body but you should go for the natural sources of growth hormone rather than opting for the synthetic ones because these artificial supplements may have side effects.

Vertical hanging
This is the most effective exercise to increase the body height in a natural way because when you hang on a support, the gravitational force works on your bones and growth plates. The gravity puts strain on your growth plates and increases the levels of growth hormones in the body simultaneously.

Take professional help
If you are aware of some hereditary disease running in your family causing stunted growth or you have been diagnosed with some hormonal deficiency especially thyroid related deficiency then you must seek medical help. Increasing your physical activities and having healthy food along with proper medication will help you to grow taller.

The above mentioned tips are naturally safe and require only one thing from you which is your dedication. If you do efforts honestly in right direction under expert guidance (such as yoga instructor or dietician) then nothing can stop you from getting a good height.

Is this possible to grow taller after puberty?