The Nutrient Deficiency That Makes You Short

Today , I'd like to discuss the most common micronutrient deficiency that can keep you on the short side .

Personally , growing up , I think my growth was stunted through wrestling .

I wrestled , junior high school , high school , and I started college until I fractured my neck .

But for about 3 years , I actually went through cycles of literally starving myself to make weight .

I think that's done on my growth .

And I'm only 6 2 .

Now you might say , well , you're only 6 2 .

Yeah , but my dad's 6 5 .

My younger brother is 6 7 .

My mom is 6 foot no .

I'm just kidding .

She's 5 8 .

So if you're a teenager and you starve yourself , you know , especially 3 years in a row , that can have an influence on your nutrition .

Most stunted growth is related to malnutrition .

It is so important in the beginning years of life that you have all the essential nutrients .

I'm talking about protein , I'm talking about vitamins , minerals , healthy fats , because as this relates to growth and development , not just your height , but organs and tissues .

If you're deficient in iodine for example , it can affect your cognitive function .

If you're deficient in zinc , you can definitely be shorter as well .

If you have some problem with your pituitary , that's gonna affect your height .

Because the pituitary controls something called growth hormone .

But generally speaking , girls generally have a growth spurt between 10 years old and 14 and boys between 12 and 15 .

But if we take a look at growth , we're gonna talk about all of the things .

We're gonna talk about the protein , talk about vitamins and minerals , and we're gonna talk about hormones .

Let's start with hormones .

Okay ?

In a child , growth hormone primarily helps you grow , helps your bones grow , helps your muscles grow , helps your height .

Then when you become an adult , growth hormone has other functions .

It keeps and preserves protein on your body .

It's antiaging .

It helps you with weight loss .

And there's several things about growth hormone I wanna talk about .

Number 1 , it's stimulated by amino acids , protein .

If you're not consuming enough quality protein , your growth hormone can be diminished .

If you have a high sugary diet , if you have high blood glucose , or you have insulin resistance , if you don't sleep enough , growth hormone is made by your pituitary , goes to your liver , and then your liver makes insulin like growth factor number 1 .

Now this hormone , if deficient , can definitely make you shorter , and this hormone is also triggered by a good amount of amino acids and zinc .

You know , how could you become deficient in zinc ?

Number 1 , not consuming enough foods high in zinc .

And of all the foods that are high in zinc , we have red meat , other animal meats , we have fish , shellfish , and there's not a lot of zinc in plant foods , especially grains , and especially corn , especially cassava , especially rice .

And if we just take a look at the country that has the highest zinc deficiency , that would be in Africa , the Republic of Congo .

And I'm primarily talking about children and mothers .

Now why would that be ?

Because if you look at their diet , it's mostly composed of rice , corn , grains , and cereals .

Okay ?

Now what's the common denominator of all of those ?

It's phytic acid .

It's a certain chemical that blocks zinc , creating a massive zinc deficiency , which can affect the immune system .

Okay .

What are some other things that can create a deficiency of zinc ?

Stress , sugar , eating junk food , that was me .

Now I also mentioned something related to sugar , insulin resistance .

Most of the population has insulin resistance , and that can create an effect on your growth as well because the insulin receptor has another function that goes beyond just the regulation of blood sugars .

It helps you absorb nutrients .

This is why when someone goes on the ketogenic diet and starts to repair this insulin resistance and now insulin becomes more sensitive , they start having a healing effect with their muscles .

Another important nutrient is vitamin d .

Vitamin d is another really common deficiency , simply because , first of all , kids don't go outside much anymore .

It's almost impossible to get from your diet .

All the junk food inhibits it and the inflammation in our guts block the absorption of vitamin D .

All of these things influence your growth hormone and your IGF number 1 , which is the insulin like growth factor .

So if you have a child that has stent and growth , I would definitely , implement some of these strategies .

And there's one more , thing that I used in practice that seemed to work very well because your pituitary is at the heart , and anything you can do to support the pituitary would be a good thing .

There is one product that Standard Process , sold when I was in practice that seemed to really work .

It seemed to help children grow a lot more in a short period of time , and it's called pitotrophin PMG .

I would definitely recommend that , maybe one before bed for maybe 3 months just to optimize the potential for a child's growth .

Now since we're on the topic of zinc , there's a lot more to learn .

If you have not seen this very interesting video on zinc , I put it up right here .

Check it out .