Fact or Fiction That Your Height Decreases Over Time?
Definitely, people tend to become shorter as they grow older.
Once past 40, humans generally lose about a centimeter of height per decade. Men experience height loss each year between 0.08% and 0.1%. Women often experience 0.12-0.14% annually.
Factors Contributing to Decreasing Height
Some of this reduction results from increasingly slumped posture over time. Those who develop a hunched back posture throughout the day – perhaps while working – might notice their posture naturally assumes to that position.
We all decrease vertical stature from start to end of day while gravity presses moisture from vertebral discs.
Natural Mechanisms of Height Loss
Our height transformation happens on a cellular scale.
Between ages 30-35, stature plateaus when skeletal and muscular tissue begin to diminish. The vertebral discs separating our spinal bones shed water and start contracting.
The lattice-like center of spinal, pelvic and leg bones reduces in thickness. When this happens, the structure compact slightly reducing length.
Decreased muscle further impacts our stature: bones maintain their form and size via muscle force.
Can We Prevent Stature Reduction?
Even though this transformation can't be prevented, it can be slowed.
Eating foods containing adequate calcium and vitamin D, participating in consistent weight-bearing exercise and avoiding smoking and drinking from younger adulthood could slow how quickly bone and muscle diminish.
Keeping correct spinal position also provides protection of stature loss.
Is Height Loss Always Problematic?
Experiencing minor reduction isn't necessarily harmful.
Yet, significant skeletal and muscular decline in later years associates with chronic health conditions such as cardiovascular issues, brittle bones, osteoarthritis, and mobility challenges.
Consequently, it's beneficial to take preventive measures for preserving structural tissue wellness.
