You’re taller in the morning

Gravity is an essential force on Earth: It keeps the planet in orbit at a safe and comfortable distance from the sun, and even holds our atmosphere in place. It does have a downside, however: It weighs down the human body, making us a tiny bit shorter by the end of the day. From the moment we climb out of bed in the morning, gravitational forces push down on us, applying downward pressure on our joints, compressing our spines, and causing our organs to settle. All that strain adds up, enough to shrink a body by 1 centimeter. Gravity is at work whether we’re sitting or standing, but at bedtime, our bodies get a slight reprieve as lying down redirects the force. Sleeping horizontally gives our spines and joints time to decompress and gain back the height lost during the day, making us once again slightly taller by morning. 

Even though this ebb and flow is a normal process our bodies endure, over time humans tend to shrink in stature. The human body constantly breaks down and replenishes its bones to keep them healthy, though by age 35, that process tends to slow, with bones breaking down faster than they rebuild. The aging process also causes the cushions between our bones to retain less water and deteriorate, which makes the bones settle together. These processes slowly chip away a few millimeters of height at a time, which can eventually add up — on average, men tend to lose an inch of height between 30 and 70 years old, while women can lose up to 2 inches