Does DHEA Dehydroepiandrosterone Help People Grow Taller and Increase Height?

One of the regular readers of the site asked us whether the compound known as Dehydroepiandrosterone would have the benefit of increasing a person’s height. I personally have never done much research on this compound, but I do know about its intended effects based on the Body Building forums and other people talking about it for muscle mass gains.

Years, ago Tyler had said that the compound would in fact have a negative effects on growth. The post was “New Growth Spurt by inhibiting DHEA?”. The study referenced would be “DHEA suppresses longitudinal bone growth by acting directly at growth plate through estrogen receptors“. In that post, he argued that there was a 2nd study that showed that by using a type of compound known as ACE Inhibitor, it would lower the level of DHEA in older men. Certain cheese types with this bacteria known as Lactobacillus helveticus is supposed to be a good easy way to obtain a form of ACE Inhibitor.

That is Tyler’s arguement on the effects of DHEA. However, there are a few claims on the internet which claim that DHEA is supposed to help with height increase. The main source to these claims was some guy named Ray Peat. His claim on getting 1.5 Inches of height from using it, as well as many other benefits was something that many people talked about. It would be referenced even in the LSJL Forums. Refer to the thread “46 year old man grows 1.5 inches taller while testing DHEA.“. I don’t know anything about this Ray Peat guy or anything he wrote but most people say that Peat would not try to lie or scam people. He has some crazy claims but he is being genuinely honest about those assessments.

Supposedly…

• His wisdom teeth which was being impacted rotated
• He gained 1.5 inches in height
• His waist shrunk
• One of his moles dropped off
• Gray hair reversed to younger hair color

The PubMed studies that are referenced have said this about DHEA…

• It has similar effects like HGH, where it can sort of make the body act younger
• There is a sort of reversal of age phenomena with this compound
• It is supposed to have beneficial effects on depression and cognitive function
• It increased the level of sexual energy in men who have low libidos
• It seems to have inflammatory inhibitory effects, and has some benefit towards the symptoms of arthritis.

My Personal Educated Guess

This compound that both Tyler and others talk about, seem to be on the surface have contradicting information. Tyler says it inhibits growth, while other people say it promots growth. How can such a compound exist?

It actually makes a lot of sense, when you remember that HGH therapy makes young kids reach bone maturity faster. This compound known as DHEA is just like HGH.

So why & how did this Ray Peat guy end up taller at the age of 46 from taking DHEA?

DHEA seems to lead to bone growth, but only in the form of bone mineral density (BMD) increasing. This is similar to HGH. If an older person took HGH, they would notice a BMD increase as well.

Most people who are in their 40s are already starting to loss height from poor posture and low BMD. It is actually shown that low BMD levels in bones will not just cause osteoporosis but also height loss in later in life. Japanese women is especially prone to this. When I visited Japan a few years ago, I lost count on the number of older Japanese women I saw who had completely hunched backs or curved spines, due to a diet of low Calcium and VItamin D. If you took compounds that could reverse that bone mineral density loss, the lost height can be gotten back.

Remember: I like the readers to remember the one story about the women who took Vitamin K2 at mid-age (58 years old) and ended up 4 cms taller too. (Refer to “Increase Height And Grow Taller Using Vitamin K2 aka Menaquinone (Important!)”)

What most likely happened to Ray Peat is that he got back some of the height he lost due to getting older.

Questions Answered

So does DHEA have benefits for looking and feeling younger? – There seems to be enough PubMed studies which validate this idea. You get a boost in sexual desire, energy, youthful look, etc.

Does taking DHEA make a person taller? – Similar to HGH, it might if the person has already suffered height loss from BMD decreases due to older age, and poor posture. If you are a teenager, or early 20s, it probably won’t work on you.

Does DHEA help with depression and cognitive functions? – There is so far some evidence for this. Do a search on PubMed about the effects.

Does DHEA have a bad or good effect on the growth plates? – It seems to make young bones reach bone maturity faster. In the long run, it has a negative effect. It increases the level of testosterone in the body system, so if you are young enough, you will actually reach puberty faster and ultimately end up shorter in adult height.

Like progesterone and other estrogen stimulating/increasing chemicals out there, DHEA seems to increase the level of estrogen in the body. Increases in estrogen is correlated to increases in BMD. That is why you find that for women who go into menopause, where estrogen production is dropped almost completely and grandmothers start to get facial hair like moustaches, the onset of osteoporosis goes up dramatically.

Conclusion

DHEA is not good for the body for height increase in the long term. There is a small minority of people where DHEA would make them taller, by increasing bone mineral density which would fix their osteoporosis likelihood and maybe improve their posture and spinal curvature. It has similar effects as HGH, where the older person taking it will have some age-reversal effects to them.

Only if you are in your 40-60s, have low BMD, and suffer from some level of spinal curvature will the DHEA have height increasing effects.