The human musculoskeletal system truly has an amazing natural design. Our bones are relatively thin compared to other animals, but they are extremely strong and resilient. They are also capable of growing and renewing whenever they need to lengthen, or are damaged by injury. The body’s natural ability to grow is one of nature’s best contributions to the human species. And this point brings us to today’s discussion: how the body is able to grow its primary frame:our bones. In order to fully understand how a person can become taller, it is important that you become familiar with how your own bones actually work. Calcium is the main component of bones, which makes this mineral an extremely important determinant of bone growth. A person who has a calcium-deficient diet will have a tough time increasing his height, because calcium is used to maintain and lengthen bones. So, if there is not enough of the mineral, the body has no way to increase the size of the bone. The development of the skeletal system is slowed down dramatically. During infancy and childhood, our bodies produce high levels of HGH, or human growth hormone. This special hormone triggers the formation of new bone material. New bone material is accumulated over time, and the result is vertical growth. As a person ages, his bones become more and more ossified, or hardened. Ossification can be compared to the curing of concrete. When concrete has not yet cured, it is not set well, and you can still change its structure by adding more concrete. The same principle applies to our bones. When you are still young, vertical growth is relatively easy, because your bones have not completely set yet. But, as they become harder and harder, it becomes more difficult to change their physical structure, because they gain more permanent physical attributes (e.g. size, length, hardness, etc.)