“How can I help my child grow taller?” A Parent’s Wish
As parents, do you ever find yourself wondering, “How can I help my children grow big and healthy?” Physical growth, especially height, is a topic of great interest for many families.
I am 175cm tall, and my wife is 159cm-a very average build. Surprisingly, however, our eldest son grew to be 180cm, and our second son reached 182cm, far exceeding what one might expect from our genetics alone.
Looking back and asking myself, “Was there a special reason beyond genetics?” I truly feel that our daily habits, and especially “a certain staple on our dining table,” played a massive role. Today, I’d like to share our family’s story and delve into the lifestyle habits and our secret weapon, “bone broth (Gomtang soup),” that supported our children’s remarkable growth.
Growth Factor 1: Plenty of Sleep and Exercise
When we talk about children’s growth, the three essential elements are “sleep,” “exercise,” and “nutrition.” Looking back at my sons, I realize we consistently practiced these basics.
They Were Great Sleepers
Our second son, in particular, slept a lot from a very young age. There is an old saying that “a sleeping child grows,” and this is actually scientifically sound. Growth hormones are actively secreted during deep sleep.
Avoiding late nights and ensuring they got plenty of sleep served as the ultimate foundation for promoting bone and muscle growth.
A Habit of Moving Their Bodies
Both of them also exercised a lot. Playing energetically outside and dedicating themselves to sports created a healthy level of fatigue, which in turn led to high-quality sleep-a perfect positive cycle. The physical stimulation to their bones from exercise undoubtedly contributed to building strong bodies.
Growth Factor 2: My Wife’s Dedication to “Daily Meals”
Another indispensable factor was “diet.” Having two boys meant they ate a staggering amount of food. But rather than just filling their stomachs, my wife was incredibly particular about her daily cooking.
Growing children need a massive amount of nutrients like protein, calcium, and minerals to build their bodies. While considering nutritional balance and serving a variety of ingredients, my wife intentionally incorporated dishes made with “bone broth.”
Our Family’s Secret Weapon: Using “Bone Broth”
Bone broth is a soup made by slowly simmering beef or chicken bones over a long period. The “Gomtang soup” and “Seolleongtang” popular at Yakiniku restaurants are actually types of bone broth.
My wife didn’t just serve this bone broth as a standalone soup; she cleverly used it as a base for our everyday meals.
- Simmered with plenty of vegetables for a rich pot-au-feu
- As a base soup for curries and stews
- Instead of regular dashi for everyday miso soup
- As a broth for hot pot dishes during the colder months
By adding bone broth to various dishes like this, our children were unknowingly consuming an abundance of nutrients extracted right from the bones.
Why is Bone Broth Good for Growth? The Secret of its Rich Nutrients
So, why do I feel that bone broth so powerfully supported my children’s growth? It’s because the soup is packed with special nutrients that can only be obtained through the long, slow simmering of bones.
Highly Absorbable Amino Acids and Collagen
Slow-cooking bones, cartilage, and tendons releases collagen in a gelatinous form. This is highly digestible and is utilized as amino acids in the body. Amino acids are the crucial building blocks for muscles, blood, and bones.
During a growth spurt, the body needs massive amounts of protein (amino acids), but simply eating meat can sometimes burden the digestive system. Bone broth, smoothly absorbed in soup form, is gentle on the stomach and serves as an incredibly efficient nutritional source.
Essential Minerals for Bone Building
During the simmering process, minerals like calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus also melt into the broth. Needless to say, these minerals are absolutely essential for the skeletal development of children.
While you could supplement them, the beauty of bone broth is that you can consume these nutrients in a natural, highly absorbable state directly from real food.
Supporting Gut Health
Furthermore, the gelatin and amino acids (especially glutamine) in bone broth are said to help protect and repair the gastrointestinal lining. No matter how many good nutrients you consume, they won’t be absorbed if your gut is weak. I believe that conditioning their gut environment with bone broth enhanced their ability to absorb nutrients from other foods, ultimately leading to their healthy growth.
The Challenge of Making it at Home and the Wisdom of Using Pro Quality
In our home, we incorporated bone broth through my wife’s home cooking. However, buying beef bones from scratch, skimming the scum, and simmering them for over half a day is a very high hurdle for today’s busy parents.
Having cooked soup in the Yakiniku world for many years, I know firsthand that making a truly delicious bone broth (Gomtang soup) requires a tremendous amount of time, effort, and heat control techniques.
If you are thinking, “I want to try incorporating bone broth for my child’s growth,” you don’t necessarily have to make it from scratch. Simply ordering an authentic Gomtang soup or bone broth slowly simmered by professionals and using it as a base for your everyday curry or vegetable soup can yield great results.
Conclusion: Sleep, Exercise, and “Knowledge-Based Dining”
I believe it wasn’t just a coincidence that our children grew to over 180cm. While cherishing the instinctive healthiness of “sleeping well and exercising well,” I am convinced that the underlying support of a “diet utilizing bone broth” played a remarkably large role.
Eating delicious meat is wonderful, but incorporating a deeply nourishing soup drawn from the marrow of bones into your daily routine might just be the best gift you can give a growing child. Please, try making this magical “bone broth” an ally at your family’s dining table.
Experience Premium Wagyu and Authentic Gomtang Soup at “Yakiniku Kuro5”
At “Yakiniku Kuro5,” we offer not only carefully selected Black Wagyu beef but also an “Authentic Gomtang Soup” that we have been simmering without compromise since our founding.
Our pure white soup, slowly simmered for over ten hours from beef bones to maximize collagen and umami, has received tremendous support from our customers-not only as the perfect finish to a Yakiniku meal but also as a deeply nourishing source of energy. Along with our full-attendance Yakiniku, where our staff grills the best meat to absolute perfection, please come and taste the soul-warming soup of Kuro5.
Restaurant: Yakiniku Kuro5 Honten (Main Store)
Address: 1F Cima 100 Bldg., 2-46-3 Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo 171-0014
Nearest Station: 5-minute walk from JR Ikebukuro Station West Exit
Business Hours: 17:00 – 24:00 (L.O. 23:30)
Closed: Open year-round
Restaurant: Yakiniku Kuro5 Ikebukuro Higashiguchi (East Exit)
Address: 2F Need Bldg., 1-42-16 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo 170-0013
Nearest Station: 5-minute walk from JR Ikebukuro Station East Exit
Business Hours: 17:00 – 24:00 (L.O. 23:00)
Closed: Open year-round
Restaurant: Yakiniku Kuro5 Kabukicho
Address: 1F Sankei Bldg., 2-21-4 Kabukicho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 2-21-4
Nearest Station: 5-minute walk from Seibu Shinjuku Station / 7-minute walk from Shinjuku Sanchome Station
Business Hours: 18:00 – 5:00 next day (L.O. 4:00)
Closed: Open year-round
