Are you tired of being short? Do you feel like you’ve tried everything to look taller? Don’t grow discouraged. Here are some useful tips on growing taller naturally that will not only improve your appearance but drastically boost your health as well.

First, in order to understand how these tips are relevant in growing taller naturally, it’s essential to know how our bodies and bones grow in the first place. Did you know that you had more bones when you were a baby than you do now? It’s true! As an infant, some of our bones consist of a substance called cartilage. As we grow older, this cartilage fuses and ossifies into solid bone. During our adolescence, this process is still going on. Growth plates located at the ends of our long bones are still gradually stretching and lengthening, which contributes greatly in the growth spurts we experience.

However, don’t believe any advertisement you see or hear that claims to sell certain exercises that lengthen and stretch your bones. Bones simply don’t work that way. Once they’ve stopped growing, nothing will make them grow again. Any organization that claims this is trying to cheat you out of your money. Additionally, avoid scams that boast hormone supplements or vitamin supplements that claim to make you taller. These simply don’t work.

This doesn’t mean that exercise is completely irrelevant when it comes to getting taller naturally. Performing regular exercise routines with lots of stretching is extremely useful in enhancing our growth spurts and making us grow faster. Once we’re finished growing, continuing to exercise can be effective in making you seem taller—you are more slender, for one, and your muscles will give you an additional confidence boost.

Supplementing regular workouts with height enhancing clothing is a wonderful way to get taller naturally. Wearing dark, solid colors or pinstripes makes your legs and arms seem taller, while adding big shoes such as boots or clogs helps your feet look bigger, subsequently making you taller. Your posture is also important—not only will it make you look taller, but it is better for your back, neck, and feet as well.