For years adolescents asking for a coffee have been told that caffeine stunts your growth. Caffeine shows up in many beverages other than coffee but for some reason soda doesn’t get the same blame as coffee. Does drinking caffeine stunt the growth of adolescents and make them shorter?
In spite of the rumors that caffeine stunts your growth, it doesn’t seem to be true. Seeing growth from only the perspective of height, research has shown that caffeine consumption does not impact how tall a person eventually ends up. Even though research has shown there is very little truth to the idea that caffeine stunts your growth, they only evaluated it from a tangible numbers perspective.
But does caffeine stunt your growth in other ways? According to many professionals, it could. In 2019, growth is about more than height and weight, even though that is how this saying is traditionally taken. However, it could be interpreted in a more spiritual sense. Taking that into consideration – it could be true that caffeine stunts your growth.
Why do people think caffeine stunts your growth?
Most people believe this because of how quickly misinformation spreads. Years ago a study concluded that caffeine drinkers had a higher risk of osteoporosis. It was hypothesized that because caffeine can have a negative impact on calcium absorption it led to osteoporosis and the shortening of the bones. Once the news was out that caffeine impacted calcium absorption and increased risk for osteoporosis, the idea that caffeine stunts your growth was born.
After everyone already believed that caffeine stunts your growth it was proven that the impact caffeine has on calcium was minuscule and wouldn’t result in osteoporosis. Even though it was proven that caffeine does not stunt your growth, the belief still exists and is widely believed.
Does caffeine stunt your growth in other ways?
Even though it’s been proven that caffeine doesn’t stunt your growth in terms of height, that doesn’t mean that caffeine has no impact on overall well being. Caffeine is a stimulant and does have an impact on your nervous system. Since your nervous system is what controls everything that happens in your organs and your body, caffeine can have an impact on them too. Additionally, a nervous system that has become accustomed to stimulant drugs, like caffeine, can also prevent a person from achieving their goals and obtaining personal growth.
Increase consumption of caffeine can cause disruptions in sleep patterns. Insomnia and restlessness are common signs that caffeine is stunting your growth. Lack of sleep, nervousness and irritability often contribute to decreased productivity and drive. This means that too much caffeine does stunt your growth from a personal development standpoint.
Even though caffeine doesn’t keep people from growing taller, it could keep them from growing personally, professionally, spiritually and emotionally. When considering personal growth in terms of this old saying, it’s absolutely true that caffeine stunts your growth. To some people personal growth is more important than height and to those people caffeine is often not worth the risk.
