We all know that sleep is very important to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Research has shown that the lack of sleep or the differences in our sleep cycles can affect our bodies in many ways. In the same way, your sleep plays a very important role in bones and muscle growth. But do you know that your sleep is also associated with your height? Let’s explore does sleep affects height?
Human body growth is a very complex process, and it requires a lot of effort and coordination from several hormones from your body. Growth in the human body happens in different stages of life, and the physical growth of your body can be affected by many factors like food, exercise, rest, etc. Let’s dig deep into how your sleep and growth are related.
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Human Growth Hormone
Human growth hormone is a protein hormone that consists of amino acids. Pituitary glands produce growth hormones in humans. This growth hormone is responsible for muscle mass, development of bones, growth of nails and hair, and physical growth in children. Many factors, including the food you eat, exercise, stress, and sleep cycle, affect growth hormone production in the body.
How is the Growth Hormone Related to Your Sleep?
Your brain releases one to two milligrams of the growth hormone daily when you are in your sleep. The growth hormones are mainly released at night when you are in a deep sleep. At an older age, we lose sleep quality, which directly impacts our body’s growth hormone production.
Does Lack of Sleep Affect Your Growth?
Since the growth hormone is mainly released during your sleep, lack of sleep may affect your height. Deep undisturbed sleep is very important for your brain to release the growth hormone to your body. When you don’t get proper sleep, the secretion of growth hormone will be affected. The production of growth hormone depends on various factors, but sleep is very important for your body to release the growth hormone from your brain.
Even though sleep affects everyone in different ways, the lack of sleep affects physical growth and height, mainly in children who are yet to finish their growth, children at the age of 10 to 18. So if your children are not getting enough sleep, then their body will not release enough growth hormone, which will affect the physical growth of your child. Lack of sleep can also affect the growth of muscle mass, bone and brain development, and your child’s other physical activities.
FAQ
You grow more when you are asleep than when you are awake. The human growth hormone is released only when you are sleeping, but that doesn’t mean that you only grow when you are asleep. Human growth happens all the time, but it occurs more during your sleep.
Your height does not only connected to your sleep; it is also associated with DNA inherited from both of your parents, the food you intake, and exercise. All these factors are responsible for the production of growth hormones in your body.
But, if you want your growth hormone to function properly, then the best time to go to sleep is around 10 PM to 11 PM since the growth hormone is mostly released at midnight to 3 AM when you are at your deep sleep.
Since the growth hormone is only released during sleep, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you will grow more if you sleep more. A lot of other factors determine your height. Sleep will only help you release the growth hormone, and your height is determined by the amount of sleep you get.
Final Thoughts
Does lack of sleep affect your height? Well, the answer is yes. One or two days of lack of sleep does not affect your health and height. But if you don’t get proper sleep for a long period, it may affect your body’s growth and height, especially for the children at the age of 10 to 18.
Other than your height, lack of sleep affects children in many ways, such as they enter puberty a little later, and sometimes, it can lead to obesity. For adults, lack of sleep causes tiredness, high blood pressure, depression, decreased brain function, etc. So all human beings need to get proper sleep every day.
