The answer to this question, in the estimation of many people, would
be very simple: “I’m not!” They would contend that they are the
same height in the morning and at night, and may even think that the
question is more a joke than anything else.
And yet, if such skeptics would take the trouble to measure themselves,
upon arising, and again just before going to bed at night, they would
find that they are a goodly fraction of an inch taller in the morning!
This may be much more noticeable in some cases than in others, of
course; but the fact remains that an appreciable difference exists, and
can be clearly proved in very many instances.
And why? There seems to be no reason, at first sight; and yet, if true,
there must be some reason after all. What happens to make us taller in
the morning?
The human body is held erect partly by the skeleton and partly by the
muscles. The “backbone” (spine) is the main support which holds the
body erect. But the spine is not a solid bone; if it were, we should
never be enabled to bend in various directions at will. It is made up
of a number of small bones called “Vertebrae,” tightly bound together
by ligaments.
If these bones rested one upon another, they would tend to “grate,”
and the jarring to the human brain and body would be terrible. In
order to prevent this, Nature has provided a sort of soft pillow or
cushion between each vertebra, and this cushion becomes, as it were,
“puffed-out” at night, when the weight is taken off the spine. During
the day time, the little cushions become somewhat flattened. That is
why we are taller in the morning than at night. The little cushions
between the vertebrae made the difference in height!