Proper sleeping helps improve height

Growth hormone (GH) is produced by the pituitary gland and is the main hormone that controls every organ and function in the body. Growth hormone promotes the conversion of foods into energy, increases protein synthesis, stimulates cell division and stimulates the growth of organs in the body - from bones to muscles and nerves.

Growth hormone plays a very important role in children's height growth.

Children who are deficient in the growth hormone will grow slowly, become stunted and shorter than their peers. Low growth hormone levels also reduce the firmness of the bones and make the bones more prone to fracture. Moreover, the growth hormone decline also weakens the immune system in children and hinders their height growth. Therefore, sufficient growth hormone production is essential for children to grow and reach their desired height in the future.

Although nutrition and exercise affect growth hormone production, sleep is the most important and the most determinant factor. How should you sleep to get the desired height? Below are the tips to help you sleep properly.

Sleeping time

The growth hormone is released throughout the day. However, in children, sleep is the time that the growth hormone is secreted most. A sleepless night or a night of insufficient sleep may not affect the height growth much. Nevertheless, if this happens frequently, it will leave significant consequences.

According to experts, children have to sleep at least 8 hours per day (preferably from 9:00 PM or 10:00 PM to 5:00 AM or 6:00 AM). Sleeping much in the daytime will be completely counterproductive.

Sleeping posture

Sleeping in wrong postures will put pressure on the bones and cartilages, which will hinder the growth of bone length and of stature. It is an extremely harmful habit if you lie on the side, bend your back and draw your knees towards your chests while sleeping. Just a few minor modifications in sleeping postures will facilitate bone growth.

For the best sleeping posture, you should lie on your back with your body straight and your arms straight down the body or with your head tilted and your arms and legs stretched out for comfort but you should not absolutely bend the joints. These sleeping postures cause the joints not to be compressed and help the cartilages between the spines be expanded favorably, thereby promoting height growth.

Mattress

Soft mattresses will make you feel comfortable and pleasant while sleeping. However, if the mattresses are too soft, they will adversely affect the height. A sturdy and flat mattress will surely support the entire body while you're sleeping and help your skeletal muscles grow. On the contrary, if the mattresses are too soft, they will cause the entire spine to be bent, thereby inhibiting the height growth during sleep.

Furthermore, you should limit your sleeping in hammocks because sleeping in hammocks adversely affects not only your height growth but also your back.

Pillow

The pillows that are too high can make your neck bones and your back bend forward and reduce the growth of skeletal muscles. As a result, the height cannot grow to the full extent.

According to experts, it is best to sleep without a pillow. If you are unfamiliar with this, you should replace the high pillows with thinner ones to minimize the negative effects on height growth.

In order to sleep well, you should pay attention to the following points:

- Do not eat too much before going to bed because eating too much will cause the digestive system to work more to digest foods, thereby making you feel difficult to fall asleep.

- Avoid watching TV, playing games... at least one hour before bedtime because the blue light from the screens will limit the production of melatonin (a sleep-inducing hormone), which causes sleep problems and poor sleep.