Augment your height with boron

Boron is a chemical element that may have height increasing effects.

Effect of Additional Boron on Tibias of African Ostrich Chicks

"Ostrich chicks [were] fed with 0 mg/l[Group A], 100 mg/l[B], 200 mg/l[C], and 400 mg/l[D] of additional boron in water. We analyzed the apoptosis status of paraffin sections and examined serum levels of leptin and estradiol (E2){leptin stimulates the proliferation and differentiation of growth plate chondrocytes, estrogens like estradiol can increase or decrease height based on the levels already present in the body}.  Compared with the control group, group C had a very high BMD. The serum levels of leptin in groups C and D were significantly higher than control values, and the levels of E2 fluctuated{so the height increasing effect of boron could be indirectly due to increasing leptin levels}. The perimeter, length, weight, and ash content of ostrich tibias all increased significantly with increasing dosage of boron. The cross-section analysis revealed that the bone marrow cavity shifted closer to one side in group D, which was observed on a macro-scale. This shift may be related to the toxicity of excessive boron, as indicated by the apoptosis status. Additional boron was helpful for ostrich chick bone development, and 200 mg/l supplement boron in the drinking water appeared to be the most beneficial{this amount may vary for humans of course}."

The effect of Boron on bone length has only been studied once more on rats in this study "Influence of boron supplementation on vertebral and femoral bone mass in rats on strenuous treadmill exercise. A morphometric, densitometric, and histomorphometric study."  This study found that exercise lowered bone length but that Boron rescued some of the bone effects.  This could be leptin related as leptin levels lower during caloric restriction and exercise raises caloric requirements.  Thus Boron may have rescued leptin back to levels needed to maximize height.

"Compared to the control group, the perimeter, length, and weight of the ostrich tibias were all increased significantly, and ash content increased slightly in group B. The perimeter, weight, and ash content of tibia kept on increasing further in group C, but the length decreased slightly. However, in group D, the perimeter and ash content increased with the boron addition, but the length and weight decreased significantly with the increased boron supplement in group D"<-So 100 mg/l of boron was actually best for bone length.  It's possible actually that anymore between 50 or so mg/l to less than 200 mg/l of boron is optimal for length as we don't know what amount of boron caused length to peak.

Length from Group A to B increase from 25 to 26cm so about 4% increase.  A 4% increase on a 5'9" individual is to 5'11 3/4".

"The leptin levels of the ostrich serum in groups A and B were 3.37±0.32 ng/ml and 4.35±0.53 ng/ml, respectively. In groups C and D, the levels increased to 6.70±0.51 ng/ml and 7.30±0.93 ng/ml, respectively[so leptin likely doesn't keep increasing height above a certain level]. The level of E2 fluctuated among the different treated groups. The E2 level was 24.04±2.47 ng/ml in group A and then peaked in group B (47.74±0.88 ng/ml).  The E2 level decreased to 26.73±0.83 ng/ml in group C and increased again to 33.62±0.67 ng/ml in group D"<-The group with the most height was the group with the highest level of E2.  However, length continued to decrease between group C and D despite an increase in E2 levels.

"Boron plays important roles for bone metabolism in terms of cell survival, proliferation, mineralization, and mRNA expression of mineralized tissue-associated pre-osteoblastic cell protein (MC3T3-E1)"

"During the development of bone, cartilage matrix is located in the center of bone trabecula, by calcifying into bone matrix. During this period, the chondrocytes would degenerate and apoptose, and leave larger cartilage lacunae. The apoptotic cell number increased in groups B and D. Boron could improve the cartilage matrix calcification and chondrocytes degeneration process. The chondrocytes just began to degenerate in group A, were degenerating in group B, and have degenerated in group C. So the apoptosis status in group B showed a peak. A high dosage of boron showed a toxic effect on cells in group D."<-So chondrocyte apoptosis may increase height by leaving larger cartilage lacunae.  Too high levels of Boron caused cells to die by means other than apoptosis which is why height was reduced.

The potential for optimizing Boron levels to increase height up to 3 inches makes it a promising height increase candidate.  Unfortunately, the need for optimal levels and lack of human studies means that Boron can not be implemented as a height supplement at this time and rather more research needs to occur in this field.

If you want to experiment with Boron: Life Extension Boron Caps 3mg Capsules, 100-Count.  I'm not sure how to take a guess at optimal levels for human height.