Ever since I did the research on Alkoclar who suggested compounds like Dimethyl Icaritin and Methylprotodioscin, I have been wondering whether the compound Harpagoside had any potential to increase height. It was suggested from a forum post that I found that a harpagoside with glucosamine mixture can eleviate joint pain from arthritis. This suggests that it is similar in properties to the hyaluronic acid which is a very similar compound to the glycoaminoglycan, but missing the sulfated part. If the Hyaluronic acid/ Hyaluronan had the potential to get into the extracellular fluid of the synovial joints to create more lubrication, it would not be that hard of a stretch to wonder whether the harpagoside can do the same thing.

The first thing I noticed from typing the phrase “harpagoside height” into google is that HeightQuest.com has already done a post about the possibility already (LINK). The post seems to be in response to Alkoclar’s idea of combining the effects of Harpagoside with a new compound which I have not heard of before, Acteoside. Tyler has been very clear in showing that Alkoclar’s main way to increase height was to increase the CNP and Nitric Oxide expression, and that was where the the Methylprotodioscin came in, since he was a supplier of the compound, which seems to be made from some Chinese traditional medicinal herb. I can personally say from experience that the NO idea has some reasonable points, but the thing I have always thought was that the NO would cause the blood vessels to increase in widthfrom increased blood flow and for muscles to relax. If we remember the old infomercials on the male impotency pill Viagra, it operated on the same principle, where the pill caused the increase of Nitric Oxide, leading to muscle relaxation and blood vessel thickness increase from increased blood flow. From the Wikipedia article on Viagra/Sildenafil I am reminded that it is the smooth muscles that are relaxed. The pill somehow manages to stop the specific enzyme that causes cGMP degradation. Like always, Tyler already did a post on HeightQuest on the idea of taking Viagra to increase height already (HERE). His main point from that post was this…”CNP overexpression increased height.  Both NO and CNP cause the upregulation of cGMP. cGMP increases hypertrophic differentiation…But if cGMP can increase height then Viagra can increase height by inhibiting PDE5 which inhibits cGMP.” However, I think we are getting off topic on the idea of whether Harpagoside can really increase height. At this point, I would like to point out that this compound goes by another name, Devil’s Claw. Sounds intimidating.

Tyler had used three studies to look at the idea of whether the Harpagoside can increase height, and the main points he made from the three studies were.

1. The extract from some product called Harpagophytum lead to a a decrease in MMP-1, -3, -9 and Tyler argues that the MMP3 and MMP-9 helps height increase while MMP-13 inhibits it. The compounds seems to inhibit the good MMPs although it seems to also help by inhibiting some compound known as Cox-2, which seems to cause MMP-13.

1. Harpagoside dose-dependently inhibited LPS-stimulated NF-kappaB promoter activity

1. Acteoside suppresses phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA)-enhanced matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) expression at the protein, mRNA, and transcriptional levels through the suppression of NF-κB activation.

The main axiom I have to take from his research is that MMP-9 and MMP-3 are good for height increase through a possible increased chondrocyte proliferation and/ or hypertrophic process. I haven’t done any research on the matrix metalloproteinase compounds yet. If I however assume that he is right about the MMPs, the good ones and the bad, then the studies, which may be only just 1 study, is a reasonable good enough to suggest that Alkoclar’s idea of using either the Harpagoside and the Aceteoside compounds are wrong.

What I can agree with Tyler from this post is that a better supplement, used as an alternative to the possible Harpagoside, is to just go with Hyaluronic acid, since it has increased extracellular fluid/matrix effects making the synovial joints increase a little.

However, I wanted to try to do a little bit of research myself on the effects of Harpagoside. First it seems that Harpagoside comes from a specific type of plant, Harpagophytum procumbens. From its Wikipedia article, Harpagophytum procumbens, also called grapple plant, wood spider and most commonly devil’s claw, is a plant of the sesame family, native to South Africa. From there, it is reported that European colonists brought this plant back to be used for the treatment of arthritis. The overall plant itself seems to have three main effects, 1. Relieve Pain, 2. Reduce irritation and causes calmness, and 3. increase the rate of urination. At least one major Pharmacological group has claimed that the plant has anti-rheumatic properties (another fancy way of saying it treats arthritis).  It seems to be a good alternative to brand named prescriptions used to treat lower back pain. It was also found to be effective in treating arthritis derived hip and knee pain.

A quick search on google and PubMed on the efficacy of the effectiveness of Harpagoside as an analgesic or sedative leads to a PubMed study,” Antiinflammatory effects of different extracts and harpagoside isolated from Scrophularia frutescens L. It seems to suggest that at least for Harpagoside derived from this other type of plant, Scrophularia frutescens, it is not the real active ingredient in causing antiinflammatory effects. Other studies, like from Rheumatology journal, entitled “Effectiveness of devil’s claw for osteoarthritis” the writer makes the point that “The study showed that freeze‐dried root tubers of Harpagophytum at a dose containing 60 mg harpagoside per day was as effective as, and had fewer side‐effects than, diacerrhein…painful arthrosis and tendinitis—a dose that contains up to 90 mg of harpagoside” We see that at least from this reference that the Harpagoside has been effective in treating pain.

However, I would say the best resource I have been able to find to either validate or reject the idea that Harpagoside and the plant it is derived from has any possible height increase properties comes from this link HERE. it seems that the plant at least has chondroprotetive properties. As quoted from the article…

“Harpagophytum is chondroprotective, possibly due to inhibition of inflammatory mediators, including COX-2, leukotrienes, nitric oxide, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and interleukin-1β. In addition, matrix metalloproteinases and elastase that play key roles in cartilage degradation are inhibited. 11,19″

The cited studies were

11 – Huang TH, Tran VH, Duke RK, et al. Harpagoside suppresses lipopolysaccharide-induced iNOS and COX-2 expression through inhibition of NF-kappa B activation. J Ethnopharmacol 2006;104:149-155.

19 – Fiebich BL, Heinrich M, Hiller KO, Kammerer N. Inhibition of TNF-alpha synthesis in LPS-stimulated primary human monocytes by Harpagophytum extract SteiHap 69. Phytomedicine 2001;8:28-30.

The first citation was one that Tyler has already looked at ,at least the abstract. The 2nd one, I have the abstract below…

Abstract

Harpagophytum procumbens (Devil’s Claw) is often used in the supportive treatment of inflammatory and degenerative diseases of the skeletal system. Here we studied the anti-inflammatory properties of the Harpagophytum extract SteiHap 69 (Steiner Harpagophytum procumbens extract 69) on primary human monocytes, a useful model of peripheral inflammation. After eliminating lipopolysaccharides of bacterial origin, SteiHap 69 prevented the LPS-induced synthesis of tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) in stimulated primary human monocytes in a dose-dependent manner. Harpagide and harpagoside had no effect on LPS-induced TNFalpha-release. Our data provides evidence that the Harpagophytum extract SteiHap 69 has anti-inflammatory properties. Further studies are required in order to elucidate the molecular mechanism of Devil’s claw anti-inflammatory effects.

Conclusion: What I think is clear now is that while the harpagoside has inflammatory properties, and it may even lead to less chondrocyte damage/ degradation. That seems to be why it has been effective in treating musculoskeletal pain like arthritis, but it does not seem to have any ability in leading to chondrocyte proliferation, but can only protect it a little. This suggest that Harpagoside and the plant it comes from, the Harpagophytum don’t have any height increase properties.

One compound that I’ve been seeing over and over again in the community that seems to have some possibility in working is a plant based material Astragalus which the main researchers say will increase height. The main source I keep seeing this claim made is from HeightQuest.com from posts like “Super Growth Boosting with IGH-1“, “Grow Tall with Astragalus“, “Height Growth and Osteosarcoma“. From the studies he has cited, It seems that Astragalus has some possible height increase effects for young kids who are at least still growing. However, he was never sure whether it really did lead to increased final height or only sped up the process of reaching a predetermined maximum height. One specific study he did talk about entitled “Skeletal Growth and IGF Levels in Rats after HT042 Treatment.” had a phrase which really got me curious…

“HT042, a new herbal prescription consisting of Astragalus membranaceus, Phlomis umbrosa and Eleutherococcus senticosus, is used in traditional Korean medicine to stimulate growth in children. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of HT042 on skeletal growth, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) levels, and oestrogenic activity in female rats.”

So it seems that the Koreans from their own traditional medicine database combined three herbal extracts to result in possible greater growth in children. Did they somehow stumble upon this extract through tria land error or borrow the medicinal properties from another culture, like Chinese traditional medicine? This idea seems to be comfirmed from the 2nd HeightQuest article I have hyperlinked above. From this main article, Tyler found one study where the herb was also used by the Chinese.

At the end of the post, one of the posters stated that the only supplement out in the market today was something known as TA-65, which was sold by TA Science. The TA-65 was extracted from the Astragalus membranaceus. A very quick search on google revealed that the pill was made by Geron, and was considered by its marketers to be a weak telomerase activator (source). From the Nature article, we find out that an adult named Egan took the pill twice daily, and later found out he had prostate cancer. From my own personal research on Geron, and the whole telomere lengthening technology, I would say that there is probably a strong connection to the TA-65 and cancer connection. The company eventually got sued and I am not sure of what happened next. From another article entitled “New Anti-Aging Pill Under Fire” we see a more objective researcher who sees that there are two camps right now, one who think the TA-65 works, and another who doesn’t believe in its efficacy. Even the Nobel Prize Winner who originally discovered the telomere shortening process put in their word, and showed that if the TA Science manufactured pill really worked, it would have to be rigorously tested. However, the overall conclusion is that the extract in the pill form would never even be able to reach the telomeres. This would suggest that the TA-65 pill would not work as an telomerase activator even if it did work. The original paper which is cited for its use had mice blood tested which showed that while the average telomere length did not increase, the short telomere concentration did seem to decrease a little.

All of these studies seem to be cited at some point in the Wikipedia article on Astragalus. The main point from the Wikipedia article was that many commercial projects are currently going on in trying to manufacture pills/ supplements claiming to have the astragalus component and touted as an anti-aging miracle pill. When I tried to get more specific and look at the Wikipedia article on Astragalus Membranaceus we are finding again that the Astragalus was a Chinese traditional medicine idea and the main idea is again telomere lengthening through telomerase activity increase resulting in anti-aging. Interestingly, Tyler wrote in another old post entitled “Grow tall by lengthening your telomeres?” where he tries to validate the idea that the telomere length is correlated to a high degree to the proliferation capacity of chondrocytes, and its progenitor cells like the hematopoietic ones . We remember (and he notes) that Fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) inhibits growth-plate chondrocyte proliferation and limits bone elongation….FGFR3 inhibits chondrocyte proliferation by down-regulating TERT expression and reducing telomerase activity indicating an important role for telomerase in sustaining chondrocyte proliferative capacity during bone elongation” Remember that it is FGF2 and FGF4 which helps in chondrocyte proliferation thus height increase. He notes that you can get the TA-65 capsules from Amazon if you desire, but a better (and cheaper) alternative is jus to take the Astragalus supplements straight up.

I got a little frustrated and just typed the phrase “astragalus chondrocyte” into google to see what would it find and it gave me a doctoral thesis entitled “Effects of Astragalus membranaceus on angiogenesis and osteogenesis” by a Seo Dong-Min of Kyung Hee Univeristy in 2007. It was pages 10 and 31 that got me interested. His application of the Astragalus extract showed that it did result in endothelial cell proliferation, and resulted in a slight BMP-2 increase expression, but a whole lot of VEGF increased expression. at around 25 microgram/ml,, it induced cell migration by over a 2 fold rate. Other results sort of suggest that the astragalus can be used also to heal bone fractures through cartilage generation. This seems to give the idea of astragalus for height increase more probability. A 2nd result from google (HERE) from Master’s And Ph. D thesis papers written by Chinese graduate students shows that injections intra-articularly can result in decrease in cartilage degeneration and the number of chondrocyte apoptosis. The next google result I managed to find was one study TYler already looked at entitled “The herbal formula HT042 induces longitudinal bone growth in adolescent female rats.” from the 1st link above. Like him, we see that if you use either the hGH or the astragalus extract, they both lead to more longitudinal lengthening than the control group. From another study entitled “Effects of astragalus on apoptosis and Bim expression of cartilage cells suffering peroxidation damage in vitro.” it seems to have anti-oxidative properties in healing cartilage which has been subjected to peroxidation damage.

Conclusion: At this point, it really does seem that the astragalus extract has a lot of potential in causing height increase, especially in people who still have their growth plates. While the theory of age reversal from telomere lengthening is still not clear, it seems that astragalus may really do have some form of effect on the telomerase, at least at this point from the studies. It might also lead to chondrocyte repair and possible height increase.

Note: The endothelium is the thin layer of cells that lines the interior surface of blood vessels and lymphatic vessels,^[1] forming an interface between circulatingblood or lymph in the lumen and the rest of the vessel wall. The cells that form the endothelium are called endothelial cells. (wikipedia)

Growth plate stress distribution implications during bone development: A simple framework computational approach.

“We found stress distribution during bone development established osteogenic index patterns that seem to influence locally epiphyseal structures growth and coincide with growth plate histological arrangement.”<-So how stress is applied to the growth plate affects longitudinal bone growth.

“Growth plate characteristics, such as location within the bone, morphology, and width, change according to bone type and age”

“the growth plate morphology of a proximal femoral epiphysis can resemble a concave meniscus at the age of four. With increasing age, at seven the growth plate becomes straight, as a ridged non-uniform line. Last, the growth plate assumes the form of an arch at the beginning of puberty”

“growth plate’s width changes through life, with a wider growth plate during early stages and diminishing progressively until its disappearance toward the end of adolescence”

“Stress distribution pattern for all simulations demonstrated peak octahedral normal stress (P) beneath the loading area. Furthermore, highest values for octahedral shear stress (S) were observed in the central zone of the epiphysis.”<-Load was 1 MPa and applied on the top of the epiphysis.

“high OI values predict cartilaginous tissue ossification”

LSJL growth plates became more convex in response to load.

“prior to complete epiphyseal ossification OI patterns coincide with growth plate histological organization (reserve, proliferative, hypertrophic) which may be involved in stimulating longitudinal bone growth. Additionally, it was observed that complete epiphyseal ossification has an impact on growth plate stress distribution favoring its maintenance rather than ossification.”

” Since long bone growth results from ossification within the growth plate, we suggest OI values in this structure can be an indicator of expected growth rate. Within the growth plate OI values were affected by all variables studied: localization, morphology, and width”

“we obtained a decreasing trend in OI values from the epiphyseal to the diaphyseal end of the growth plate. Our results evidenced OI peak values in the reserve zone, with OI values comparable to those observed in the epiphysis. The reserve zone is in charge of providing cells to the proliferative zone assuring growth process continuity. Moreover, it has been proposed that resting chondrocytes may synthesize biochemical factors, responsible for growth orientation and inhibition of hypertrophy in the proliferative zone. These events favor growth plate histological organization in distinct zones”

“octahedral normal stress has been reported to linearly increase chondrocyte membrane lipid packing and lipid desaturase gene expression”

[Update & Edit: I finally figured out what the compound “Dimethylicartin” really is and it is a misspelling. It is actually spelled Dimethylicaritin (he forgot to add the “i”). This actually only makes the story and detective work even more interesting, at least I think.]

I think this post will be one of the most interesting and most revealing posts for people who have been a part of the height increase community for a long time.

My original collaborator to the website who went by the name Nikki (real name is Kazlina) told me that she and Tyler was on this other Grow Taller Forum that Hakker administered which is now down. There was one guy named Alkoclar who talked about a new possible way to increase height with a type of compound or powder as he claimed. At first I didn’t think much about his claim and assumed he was a scam but a recent finding in the last few hours has caused me to rethink about his claims. Plus, I wanted to take another stab at what his proposed compound could be. Before, I had proposed, and probably guessed wrong that his height increase compound was this Ayurvedic Urea active ingredient called Dhatrumurgasiniy. My old post about it was entitled “Can Dhatrumurgasiniy From Ayurvedic Urea Really Increase Height?“. I think I can conclude now that the compound, which is said to be a very rare compound only found in Nepal, is almost mostly likely to be a scam. Urea is essentially just the most commonly found compound in human urine. Those guys were selling not just a scam, but more likely urine to people at INSANE prices.

However, I wanted to take another stab at Alkoclar’s claims. Like I always said, I am willing to give almost any crazy suggestion, idea, method, proposed thought, technique, at least some chance and give a relatively swift, objective, scientific analysis and review on it. I don’t want to leave out any ideas. 

For this post, I would like to rewind the time back about 1 day ago, and treat this post as a story to explain my findings and try to put the pieces together as a detective. I certainty found the stuff I found today to be very interesting. It sort of goes to show that even the biggest scams and craziest claims has a kernel of truth and fact in them, just like so many stereotypes, urban legends, and generalizations.

A reader of the website who goes by the name “Knives” sent to me on the Natural Height Growth Facebook page a message saying that he has been doing his own extensive research on the idea of possible height increase and he had managed to find at least the supplement section for Hakker’s HUSS routine, which was something so many other Forum members had wanted to figure out and get ever since he left and closed the forums. If you want to know more about the supplements, go to the post entitled “H.U.S.S. Method For Height Increase By Hakker For Stacking Found“. Another commenter asked me about the exercise section and I find out that apparently the HUSS method may have more than just a supplement section ,but possibly also an exercise part to the method as well. I didn’t know that.

So “Knives” leaves me at the end of our exchange of emails a suggestion. Research two types of compounds, 1. Methylprotodioscin, and 2. Dimethylicartin. I have no idea what these two compounds are so I decided to just “google” the first compound’s name in and see what appears. The first search result that catches my eye is one that is directed to a forum post on ArthritisInsight.com.

The thing I found from the link was this interesting patent idea…

“harpagoside and methylprotodioscin in 5:1 ratio to relieve the symptoms and in the long run to cure arthritis”

So apparently there is another idea on how to stop the pain and cure arthritis by taking an oral supplement combination of whatever this harpagoside and methylprotodioscin at a 5:1 ratio is. That is actually sort of a really useful information to know for maybe later in life when I develop cartilage and bone problems and pain. I did only a very short google search at the harpagoside compound and it seems that it really does have some interesting medicinal and pharmaceutical effects. I will come back to doing some more research on harpagoside later, maybe in 6 months or so. 

The next google search result that was very interesting was an Alibaba.com product page, which shows me what this methylprotodioscin compound looks like (source). You can see from the database at the bottom that this compound is a really valid traditional chinese medicinal compound and apparently there are people who are supplying it on Alibaba.

Quick Details

It is actually the next link that really gets me curious. It is from Chemkind.com..

The compound methylprotodioscin is actually short for a longer chemical name methylprotodioscin myostatin 3,7-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)icaritin. This was how I realized that the Dimethylicaritin was misspelling and that it had an effect on myostatin. I remember many times on Tyler’s sight where he talked about how myostatin was something you wanted to inhibit or avoid for height increase. Kazlina in a pervious post showed that however the compound Statin was a natural compound for bone increase, but only in terms of bone mass and density. From other old posts, we find out that many body builders have used and manipulated myostatin to gain muscle mass and loss fat.

The company which sells this stuff claims …

“…plant based compounds.myostatin antagonists to cancer cures. We are a R&D team specialized on detecting plant origined material/compounds that have potent activity againist chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer ,autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases. Rather than offering herbal extracts suitable for long term usage with an intent of preventive means , we offer effective therapeutic cures through purified herbal and/or semi-synthetic compounds.

Fields range from diabetes both type 1 and type 2 to cancer, bone density loss , sexual problems , neurological problems , decreased brain function especially short term memory , wound healing issues, geriatric muscle loss and sarcopenia ,decreased sensory function , Alzheimers , Parkinson’s , autoimmune diseases such as MS , celiac disease etc….”

It seems that this compound is really hard to come by and has properties which helps it cure some of the most common serious pathologies like cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. When we see who the supplier is, we find a name “Can Alkoclar is an exporter of Turkey Plant Extract products“. So the obvious question is to wonder whether the name Alkoclar is the same person who was on the Grow Taller forums. When I do a quick search for the word/name “alkoclar” in google, there is only a few results and most of them are related to Turkey and Turkish Hotels. So I decided not to pursue that route.

Further search on Google reveals that it seems to be mainly from China. You can also get the compound from Mexico from a plant called Solanum rostratum (Solanaceae) (source). On the 4th page of the google results, a page from a thread off of the Grow Taller Forum shows up with this posted. Thee link however is broken from the forum being gone.

The Methylprotodioscin , Icariin, Niacin, GPLC routine

[Update Edit 12/25/ 2012: I forgot to consider the fact there there is another type of size range restriction/breakthrough that does exist, and that is the phenomena of island dwarfism/gigantism aka insular gigantism/ dwarfism. We find mini-elephants, mini-humans, giant birds, giant rodents, giant ducks, giant tortoises and lizards, etc. in these situations. However, we realize that for this case, like the other cases, it was geography that was the real cause for the genetic evolution which chose to go either towards the super-sized or the mini-sized version of normal sized fauna. Again, we see that groups of people may not have genetic propensity towards certain size ranges, but that it is something else that causes the group to over time evolve and adapt their bodies towards that geography and climate.]

Here is another commonly accepted height idea and/or misconception which I wanted to resolve once and for all. I see this so often on the internet forums and boards like Yahoo Answers and Answers.com where a the original poster raises the question about whether they can still grow through exercises and supplement pills. They are interested in seeing if there are any solutions or options in making themselves taller. Almost always the final answer comes from a poster who answers with a statement that goes along the lines of the message

“You will grow only to your predetermined height which your genetics have set for you…. Where you are in height was where you were always supposed to be, and it was already laid out as your fate towards height from the moment of conception and your genome was set.”

This type of message is enough to stop any other people who wanted to make their own opinions heard. Anything that comes after the “genetics determine height” message gets ignored since it does seem that there is nothing one can do to go beyond the height that is supposed to be completely hereditarily based.

However, I think the point to note about these types of people is that their thinking is slightly inaccurate. Sure, a significant part of one’e height is determined by genetics. I wrote in a previous post entitled “How much of human height is genetic and how much is due to nutrition?” where a researcher showed that a significant percentage of one’e height is determined by about 60-80% by genees. What the people forget is that the height they are talking about is not a set point which can not be deviated from.

The best example is to deviate in the wrong direction, to become shorter than what “genetics determine height” state. The best example is in the major height difference between the two nations of North Korea and South Korea. In terms of ethnicity, they are exactly the same. The two nations have only been geopolitically separated from each other by 60 years and the ethnic makeup of the two countries show that their is almost no foreigners to dilute the height average of the two nations. From certain sources (source 1, source 2, source 3), we find that the average height of South Korean males to be around 5′ 9″ and the average height of North Korean men to be around 4-8 cm shorter. Some sources say the actual height difference is 3 inches and others say it is 2 inches.

For the average person, 2 inches may not seem that big of a change, but when we consider the fact that only 60 years can cause this type of height variation between two groups of people who are exactly the same, we see that one’s nutrition and food quantity and lifestyle is a huge determinant of one’s height.

The main point is that when the people say that one’s genetic’s determine height, what they are actually implying is that one’s maximum full height is determined by one’s genetics. What they never state is that the genetics won’t help keep a person to become shorter than what their genetics have set for them. In the most extreme case, I could point to the case of Yao Ming. Born from a 6′ 7″ father and 6′ 2″ mother, we could say that Yao Ming was destined to be tall. From a statistical and genetic point of view, we could say that he would probably eating the same kind f food and getting the same type of nutrition as his fellow man in his country of origin end up on the taller distribution side of a height spectrum. However, it would still not be hard from a lifestyle and nutrition point of view to actually limit even his height to become less than the mean height. I know a few cases where male offspring of two people over 6 feet  tall end up being around the 5′ 8″ height range.

Another coount I could make to show that the genetics determine height arguement is inaccurate is over the height increase we see from the Dutch ethnicity of the last 150 years. Around the end of the 19th century, we note that the average height of the Dutch was among the shortest of all the European countries with a male average height of around 5′ 4″ -5′ 5″ (source ). 1 in 4 males could not enlist in the army because they were below the height cut-off point of 5′ 2″. If two well traveled people were to talk about the stature of the Dutch as an ethnic group, they could have easily argued that the Dutch are just “predisposed to be on short due to genetics” but of course 150 years later we find that the Dutch have shot up by almost 1 entire feet (12 inches) in height to around the 6′ 2″ – 6′ 3″ mark. This may be one of the most dramatic changes in height for a group of people we have ever. And we have not even considered the fact that the average height of the people in the Netherlands have been statistically pushed down from average and integrating the smaller height of inmigrnats which have been coming to the country for the last 100 years. The Netherlands have been traditionally for the longest time quite possibly the most liberal, tolerant, and multicultural country in the world. 1 in four people from the Capital, Holland is made of immigrants. If we truncated those height, we might realize that the real average height of native Dutch people is probably around the 6′ 3- 6′ 4″ range for males.

One point that can disprove the idea of genetics determining the upper bound level of possible height, is that the children of these immigrants to the Netherlands have almost all grown taller than their parents or grandparents, sometimes even shooting up over having a 1 feet in difference. Of course the idea of 1 feet of height difference between 1 generation is on the extreme side but it does happen a lot for the people who decide to move from their native country to another country with better living conditions and better healthcare. The researcher who goes only with the idea of “genetics determine one’s height” would not understand why kids of short groups of people who are from short countries who are supposed to be hereditarily & idiopathically short would grow to be so much taller than the genetics had determined them to be.

In addition, the arguement can be further disproved with what we are seeing in the height increase of children in India and China over the last 20 years. I showed that the children have increased in height by around 2-3 inches for both India and China in previous posts. While cultural anthropologists could have stated using superficial genetics to argue that the Asians are short 20 years ago, they may have to change that idea in another 20-30 years time when the living conditions of many of the “traditional short” Asian countries improve and the people increase in height along with it.

In terms of correlation, we see from classical nutrition books like “The China Study” that the people of rural China from 20 years ago had less instances of Cancer and Heart or Cardiovascular Disease and that is because they were living off of a vegetable, plant, bean, and tofu based diet with very little meat . They lived longer, just like how the Japanese and Okiwanan’s lived on seafood, tofu, vegetables, and little red meat like cow. Both these groups of people had extraordinarily low levels of Cancer and Heart problems. However we must remember that there is a clear positive correlation between increased height and increased cancer risks. We see that while the Chinese and Japanese have been living on plant based diets and live longer, they are also shorter. The newer generations which are richer who have access to red meat and more protein besides just beans and tofu end up taller  but also have higher risk for cancers.

At this point I am going to make general trends which show how the correlations are supposed to go together …

1. Increased Height correlates to Increased Intelligence correlates to Increased Cancer Risk and Decrease In Life Expectancy.
2. Decreased Height correlates to Decreased Intelligence correlates to Decreased Cancer Risk and Increase In Life Expectancy.

Sure, there is no doubt that in the asian countries the people are still on average shorter than their native European counterparts, but if we really think of height in an evolutionary point of view, we can see that there is no valid evolutionary reason for people of different countries to be of different height. The only idea that can back up the idea that certain people of certain ethnicities (thus different genes) are held to determined maximum height potential is over the Anthropomorphic Principle Bergmann’s Rule which I had written before in an old post entitled “Bergmann’s Rule, Appplication On The Human Species“. To refresh the memory of the reader, Bergmann’s Rule states the idea that in general people who are from ethnic groups who are traditionally from countries closer to the equator of Earth will be shorter than people who orginated from nations further away from the equator. Of course this rule means that one’s geography is the main reason for one’s height. Thus it implies this causality.

Geography –> Influences Genetics –> Evolution results and body gets adapted –> Increased/ Decreased stature.

Besides, this idea, the other idea is that the laws of physics, specifically the force of the gravitational force exerted on each cell’s surface puts a limit to the the maximum potential height any human can reach. I wrote about this idea in another old post entitled “What Is The Highest Theoretical Height Of The Human Species?“.

So there is two factors that can determine human height, one is from physics (gravitational force) and the other geography, which is also indirectly physics based. From a completely objective point of view, it doesn’t make any evolutionary sense for people to have a genetic maximum for their height. We saw in past eras like the Jurassic and Cenozoic period that reptiles can grow to insane sizes. The fact that we stand on two limbs, and not four limbs which would distribute weight load out like the largest land animals, the long necked dinosaur sauropods, should still not restrict our maximum height since the two legged Tyrannosaurus was over 20 feet tall. The physicists have proven  from using elementary physics principles that an insect with a exoskeleton shell can not be over a certain size (unlike crazy science fiction movies like Godilla Vs. Mothra) because the weight of the hollow shell would crush them. The physicists however show that there is no limit to how tall bipedal mammals can become, as long as the cartilage or non-bone connective tissue  of the leg joints is strong enough to hold up the weight above it.

In conclusion, it  shows that the height of a person with tall parents and relatives can not be guaranteed to be tall due to the factors of malnutrition, pathologies, and even psychological stress. It also shows that the height of a person of short parents and relatives can not be held below a certain height level due to better lifestyles and nutrition. The genetics argument is not accurate and only valid in certain parts.

When I think back to the large number of people in my own family who have some form of regret over their turnout in height in life, I wonder whether we are normal or crazy in our obsession with height. I know that this desire to find a solution to short stature is something that most people in my core family has desired. Here is a list of of what I can remember off of the top of my head right now.

Father – He is probably 5′ 5″-5′ 6″. He has two main regrets in life, one of them being that he never got to enough to eat when he was younger being born and raised in a 3rd world country back then. When I was younger he told me stories of going days without food and experiencing hunger pains all the time. He blames the lack of nutrition and food for his short size which at this point he doesn’t care much anymore.

Mother – She is 5′ 5″ -5′ 6″. She seems to have a strong affinity to tall men (well most females do anyway) and she often joked that her main regret in marrying my father was that he was not as tall as she wanted. In the end, everything worked out and she is content now with how her offspring came out in height.

Sister – She is probably 5′ 4″. Like I said in a previous post she has a strange complex with height and always needs to wear high heels.

Female Cousin #1 – 5′ 2″ – 5′ 3″. She doesn’t care much anymore since she is older now and married but if there was a solution, she would take it for her and also use it for she future children.

Former Girlfriend #1 – 5′ 1″- 5′ 2″. She was insecure over her short stature which was caused by a thyroid issue. That was never problem for me.

Former Girlfriend #2 – 5′ 0″ – 5′ 1″. She has an irrational desire to be taller. She said that she would rather choose to be taller than have $$$. She was one of the people who planted the idea for me initially to start the website.

Former Girlfriend’s Mother – Probably 5′ 0″ – 5′ 1″. She also didn’t like being short and always had to wear high heels. She joked that the main reason she dated her husband originally was because he was tall.

So that is a list of people in my own life who had some type of regret of their size. How many people do you know which has a similar psychological issue?