Grow Taller Pills

We know that mechanical loading of cartilage and bone can help increase height.  We know that exercise can help to lower myostatin levels and increase insulin sensitivity and sensitivity to IGF-1.  We know that an increase in fluid flow in the bone can also help increase height.  We don't know exactly what the best exercises are increasing all those factors or what the best intervals/intensity levels to perform them are but we have some good ideas.

We also have a lot of potential tools to increase height but they are only available to people in the medical profession.  What are some pills to increase height that you can find at your local store or pharmacy?

We already know about Lithium.  Lithium increases stem cell proliferation and differentiation which is very, very good.  Lithium is available by prescription if you happen to suffer from depression or mood swings(like being prone to aggression).  It is toxic to the kidneys in one out of twenty individuals.  Lithium is also used in some batteries but I would not recommend sucking on batteries.

Dexamethasone is also something that could help...

Effect of dexamethasone supplementation on chondrogenesis of equine mesenchymal stem cells.

"To determine whether expansion of equine mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) by use of fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) prior to supplementation with dexamethasone during the chondrogenic pellet culture phase would increase chondrocytic matrix markers without stimulating a hypertrophic chondrocytic phenotype[This study was done in vitro but one can assume that fibroblast growth factor-2 would be available in humans]. MSCs [were] obtained from 5 young horses. First-passage equine monolayer MSCs were supplemented with medium containing FGF-2 (0 or 100 ng/mL). Confluent MSCs were transferred to pellet cultures and maintained in chondrogenic medium containing 0 or 10(7)M dexamethasone. Pellets were collected after 1, 7, and 14 days and analyzed for collagen type II protein content; total glycosaminoglycan content; total DNA content; alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity; and mRNA of aggrecan, collagen type II, ALP, and elongation factor-1alpha. Treatment with FGF-2, dexamethasone, or both increased pellet collagen type II content, total glycosaminoglycan content, and mRNA expression of aggrecan. The DNA content of the MSC control pellets decreased over time. Treatment with FGF-2, dexamethasone, or both prevented the loss in pellet DNA content over time. Pellet ALP activity and mRNA were increased in MSCs treated with dexamethasone and FGF-2-dexamethasone. After pellet protein data were standardized on the basis of DNA content, only ALP activity of MSCs treated with FGF-2-dexamethasone remained significantly increased. Dexamethasone and FGF-2 enhanced chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs, primarily through an increase in MSC numbers. Treatment with dexamethasone stimulated ALP activity and ALP mRNA, consistent with the progression of cartilage toward bone. This may be important for MSC-based repair of articular cartilage."

Again more stem cells = good.  Dexamethasone had positive benefits even in the absence of FGF-2. Dexamethasone is unfortunately a steroid.  It is available by prescription though.

Phosphate is needed for optimal mesenchymal stem cell differentiation but I'm not sure excess phosphate will take MSCs to the next level.

Promotion of stem cell proliferation by vegetable peptone.
"The study described here was conducted to investigate the proliferative effect of vegetable peptone[Peptones are small polypeptides that are intermediate products in hydrolysis of proteins.] on adult stem cells in the absence of serum, and its possible mechanisms of action.  Cell viability and proliferation were determined using the MTT assay and Click-iT EdU flow cytometry, respectively. In addition, changes in expression of cytokine genes were analysed. Viability of cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells (CB-MSC) and adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ADSC) increased significantly when treated with the peptone. In addition, median value of the group treated with peptone shifted to the right when compared to the untreated control group. Furthermore, quantitative analysis of the cytokines revealed that production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) increased significantly in response to treatment with our vegetable peptone in both CB-MSCs and ADSCs. Vegetable peptone promotes proliferation of CB-MSCs and ADSCs. Induction of stem cell proliferation by vegetable peptone is likely to be related to its induction of VEGF, TGF-beta1, and IL-6 expression."

The peptones were characterized mainly by their amino acid contents.

"Treatment with pea peptone induced production of 678 pg/ml (increase of 8.83 ± 1.689 fold compared to untreated controls), 485 pg/ml (an increase of 3.79 ± 0.195 fold), and 332 pg/ml (an increase of 2.55 ± 0.217 fold) of VEGF, TGF-β1, and IL-6, respectively, wheat peptone induced production of 1019 pg/ml (increase of 13.27 ± 1.447 fold) and 387 pg/ml (increase of 3.02 ± 0.234 fold) of VEGF and TGF-β1, respectively, in CB-MSCs"<-Wheat peptone did not induce production of IL-6.  Pea Peptone had 5 times as much Arginine as Wheat peptone and that could be the cause of the IL-6.

"Pea peptone induced production of 122 pg/ml (increase of 6.70 ± 0.280 fold), 194 pg/ml (increase of 5.78 ± 0.445 fold), and 166 pg/ml (increase of 1.11 ± 0.080 fold) of VEGF, TGF-β1, and IL-6, respectively, whereas wheat peptone induced production of 172 pg/ml (increase of 9.49 ± 0.896 fold), 170 pg/ml (increase of 5.07 ± 0.356 fold), and 192 pg/ml (increase of 1.28 ± 0.324 fold), of VEGF, TGF-β1, and IL-6, respectively, in ADSCs"

"VEGF is known to exert its proliferation-promoting functions via two tyrosine kinase receptors: VEGF-1 (Flt-1) and VEGF-2 (Flk-1/KDR)".  VEGF is also involved in stem cell survival.  IL-6 activates STAT3 and MAPK.  TGF-Beta induces IL-6 and VEGF.

Vegetable peptone is available but I'm not sure if it's safe for human ingestion. 

Hexadecanoic Acid from Buzhong Yiqi Decoction Induced Proliferation of Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells.

"Buzhong Yiqi decoction (BYD) is a well-known ancient tonic prescription in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The purpose of this study is to identify active components of BYD involved in promoting proliferation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and to investigate its mechanism. BYD was extracted with petroleum ether, ethanol, and water. Evidence provided by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide, bromodeoxyuridine, proliferation cell nuclear antigen immunoreactivity, cell cycle analysis, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry indicated that hexadecanoic acid (HA) in BYD extracted with petroleum ether is the active compound responsible for increasing proliferation of MSCs. Western blot analysis show that HA significantly increase retinoic acid receptor (RAR) levels of MSCs, but not estrogen receptor, thyroid hormone receptor, vitamin D receptor, glucocorticoid receptor, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction revealed that HA significantly increased RAR mRNA levels. Furthermore, the mechanism of HA action depends on RAR pathway and up-regulates expression of mRNA for insulin-like growth factor-I, the target gene of RAR. Our findings have now allowed for a refinement in our understanding of TCM with respect to pharmacological regulation of stem cells and may be useful to stem cell biology and therapy."

"Buzhong Yiqi decoction (BYD), a well-known ancient tonic prescription in TCM, comprises eight herbs: Radix atragali, Radix codonopsis, Radix et rhizoma glycyrrhizae, Radix angelicae sinensis, Pericarpium citri reticulatae, Rhizoma cimicifugae, Radix bupleuri, and Rhizoma atractylodis macrocephalae."

"HA occurs naturally in many Chinese herbal medicines such as E. prostrata, Reishi Houshi, and Astragalus."

BYD is only available by prescription and only in China. 

Effects of immobilized glycosaminoglycans on the proliferation and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells. 

"MSC proliferation and differentiation was studied on GAG-derivatized chitosan membranes. The GAGs[glycosaminoglycans] included heparin, heparan sulfate, dermatan sulfate, chondroitin 4-sulfate, chondroitin 6-sulfate, and hyaluronic acid. The covalent GAG immobilization method and amount of immobilized GAG were varied. It was found that MSC growth increased as much as fivefold on GAG-immobilized surfaces compared to tissue culture plastic and chitosan-only controls. The MSC growth rates increased significantly with increasing GAG density on the culture surfaces. The MSC proliferation rates on heparin, heparan sulfate, dermatan sulfate, and chondroitin 6-sulfate exhibited nonlinear increases with the level of fibronectin binding on these surfaces. In contrast, MSC proliferation on hyaluronic acid and chondroitin 4-sulfate was found to be independent of fibronectin or vitronectin binding on the surfaces, suggesting that these GAGs influenced MSC proliferation through different mechanisms. In conclusion, the results indicate that GAG immobilization on chitosan scaffolds provides an effective means of manipulating MSC proliferation." 

We already know about chondroitin sulfate.  Heparin is only available in clinical trials.  Hyaluronic acid is available in restylane which is used in cosmetics.