Testing Male Fertility
December 12, 2024
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The teenage years can be a tricky time. Teens have to navigate newfound independence, more responsibility at school and at home, and, of course, surging hormones. The hormonal piece of teenage life almost always comes with a few bumps. As hormones—like estrogen—rush through their bodies for the first time, a breakout or bout of big emotions will be normal.
Here’s the thing—
The teenage years don’t have to be a hormone roller coaster ride for young girls.
Intense cramping, horrible PMS, severe breakouts, intense emotionality, and heavy or irregular periods do not have to be an expected part of your teenager’s life—now or in the future. Through a few simple food and lifestyle tweaks, you can help your daughter feel better now and set her up for a lifetime of symptom-free periods.
When your daughter starts to show the signs of puberty for the first time it can be a confusing and emotional time so, as a parent, it’s helpful to have open and informative discussions with her about the signs and symptoms of puberty, what to expect, and how to manage her changing body (physical and emotional).
Because, let’s be honest, conversations around periods and hormones aren’t the same now as they were when we were growing up.
Of course, if you have serious concerns about your daughter’s menstrual cycle or other hormone symptoms, please always reach out to your primary medical practitioner first.
But, if you want to enter the hormonal years with a more functional approach to vibrant hormone health and wellness, then I’ve gotchu :).
Most females will start puberty between the ages of 8 to 13 years old. The hormones in her brain will trigger the start of puberty. These hormones tell the ovaries to begin making estrogen in larger doses, which triggers the growth and release of eggs (aka ovulation), and the growth and shedding of the uterine lining (aka menses).
The adrenal glands—a pair of glands that sit at the top of her kidneys—are responsible for making hormones including androgens: sex hormones that cause changes like the development of pubic hair, oily skin, oily hair, and body odor.
Given that girls as young as 8 years old are starting their periods, it makes total sense to start the conversation about hormones sooner rather than later, so that your daughter knows what to look out for as her body starts to change.
It is unlikely that your daughter’s period will arrive totally out of the blue, as her body is likely to offer up quite a few clues first. Her puberty-related body changes will tend to be quite slow and start several years before menstruation. The very first signs of puberty are stinky pits and skin eruptions like pimples or blackheads in the T-zone on her face—on the forehead, around the nose, or on the chin.
Most girls will have developed breasts, grown some pubic hair, and have some vaginal discharge before menstruation kicks in.
As puberty begins, here’s what you’ll be looking out for:
Initially your daughter will grow breast ‘buds’ and then her breasts may take three to five years to fully develop. It is not uncommon for her breasts to feel sore and tender as they begin to grow, and they may not grow evenly—it’s totally normal for one breast to grow bigger and faster than the other. Once her breasts have started developing, it’s usually around two years until her first period, but of course this will vary.
After her breasts have started to form, she will start to develop hair growth in her pubic area and underarms. Initially, her pubic hair will be thin and soft but over time will become coarser. Once pubic hair has started to grow, her first period may arrive within a couple of years.
As estrogen levels start to increase, your daughter is likely to experience vaginal discharge. It’s her body’s natural way of keeping her vagina healthy. The discharge is likely to be white or yellowish and can indicate that her period may start within the next few months.
Fun fact: the girls who experience early puberty, known as precocious puberty, may grow quickly at first and be much taller compared to their peers. These young women also seem to be quite mature for their age. Interestingly, once a young girl starts her first period, her growth naturally slows down, so you may notice that if she was once one of the tallest in the class prior to her periods starting, that the other girls now catch up with her in terms of height.
Yep, you read that right.
A young woman’s monthly hormone cycle is considered as important to health as heart rate and blood pressure—and clinicians are encouraged to use the menstrual symptoms as early warning signs of reproductive health issues like PCOS, thyroid disease, and endometriosis, which can be indicated by abnormally long cycles, excessive bleeding, or lack of periods entirely.
In the ACOG report, teenage girls are encouraged to track their periods and build awareness of their cycle.
My first tip for adults who want to help their teenaged girl escape period problems: talk to her about the importance of tracking her cycle so she knows if/when things go sideways with her hormones. This can be when a period comes late or is overly heavy, or when symptoms like acne are worse than normal. With knowledge comes power. When girls know their cycle, they can tell when their hormones are sneaking out of balance—and they can take steps to balance them.
There are so many benefits to tracking her cycle:
It’s empowering!
While I don’t love using an app to track your menstrual cycle when you’re trying to conceive, I’m a big proponent of period tracking for teenagers—so pick one that works for her, and encourage her to use it regularly. There are tons of free options out there, it doesn’t need to have any bells or whistles, it just needs to be one that’s intuitive and easy to use.
Helping teens have a healthy period—right now and for the rest of their lives—goes far beyond teaching them how to use a tampon or pad.
If you’re a mom, aunt, sister, godmother, grandmother, or loved one of a teenage girl, here are some tips ‘n tricks to help your girl thrive through puberty:
If you haven’t yet addressed your own hormonal issues, let her know what your issues are, and that you are embarking on this exciting journey of hormonal recovery for yourself. Talk about your period and how not knowing about how to take care of it affected your life.
The key here is just to TALK. Open up the conversation with honesty, vulnerability, and patience. This the first of many huge hormonal shifts in her lifetime—she’s going to be feeling all of the feels.
The next generation doesn’t have to suffer if we help them.
When young women experience period problems like heavy or irregular periods, severe acne, horrible cramps, and other PMS symptoms, many clinicians’ first instinct is to put them on the pill. But this “treatment” is really just a band aid—covering up the root causes of period problems instead of fixing underlying hormone imbalances—and it does a big disservice by masking symptoms.
While it can be tempting to reach for these drugs to put a stop to the problem, it’s important to know that doing so can set a young women up for a lifetime of side effects—including depression, low libido, anxiety, hair loss, cancer risk, and even life-threatening blood clots—and suppressed functioning of her endocrine, metabolic, and immune systems. Read up on the negative side effects of the pill and share those with your daughter.
Read more here: Hormonal Birth Control + Long Term Side Effects.
A main source of hormone imbalance in teenage girls is diet, with busy high schoolers eating sugary snacks on the run, indulging in late-night eating, skipping breakfast, and generally ignoring the food-hormone connection. Food is one of the most powerful levers we can pull to balance hormones and have better periods. If your teenage daughter is plagued by symptoms like acne and crippling PMS, shifting how she eats is key. Talk with your daughter about the food-hormone connection.
Emphasize the importance of eating plentiful amounts of dark, leafy, greens to support liver detox and the movement of excess hormones out of the body.
Make sure she knows that eating plenty of cruciferous veggies will help to decrease inflammation (and therefore period cramps).
That eating foods rich in key hormone-supportive micronutrients and eating enough (healthy) calories will help support her metabolic functions and optimal micronutrient levels. Think organic sources of protein (both animal and plant-based), healthy fats & oils, and lots of brightly colored fresh vegetables and fruit.
Show her how to make smoothies with flax seeds—they contain loads of fiber, protein, magnesium, and potassium. One of the best known benefits of flaxseeds is their ability to get your bowels moving—constipation and hard stools can exacerbate painful periods.
Talk about the dangers of too much processed sugar & ultra processed foods, and how caffeine can sabotage hormone health.
Educate her on how balanced blood sugar levels are essential for balanced hormones. Unbalanced blood sugar can influence her mood, anxiety levels, energy, can make her irritable and impact her sleep. Over time this can also lead to more significant hormone imbalances such as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. Therefore, reducing refined carbohydrates and sugar from her diet and increasing protein, healthy fats, and vegetables can help to lessen symptoms associated with dysregulated blood sugar.
Tell her about the importance of consuming Omega-3 fatty acids to help reduce inflammation and pain. Studies have shown that painful period cramps can be eased quite significantly by including dietary omega-3 foods such as salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, and nuts and seeds such as chia, flax, and walnuts.
And don’t forget about zinc! Zinc plays a critical role in the endocrine system and it’s often a mineral that gets overlooked. It can help regulate her cycles, it supports her stress response and helps reduce inflammation. It supports her thyroid hormones, helps her skin, regulates her appetite and balances her emotional wellbeing. It can also help with morning appetite, which can be a problem for teen girls.
The endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in many everyday products—from makeup and perfumes to household cleaners—are hormone disruptive for every woman, but they can be especially hard on young bodies that are still developing. Make sure your daughter has access to clean makeup, safe deodorant, and non-toxic soap, lotions, and body care products. Eliminate toxic household cleaners and other chemicals (like pesticides) for the health of the whole family.
We know—thanks to a recent study—that those tampons stashed in your bathroom may be harboring toxic heavy metals like arsenic and lead. Researchers from UC Berkeley and Columbia tested various types and brands of tampons and found metals in all the samples tested. Make sure that you provide your daughter with non-toxic, nothing inside her body, reusable, and better for the environment period protection. Thinx has innovative period underwear designed to absorb teens’ flow and prevent leaks all day for up to 12 hours. They look and feel just like regular undies, so teens can feel comfortable and confident any day of their cycle.
Check out My Clean Beauty & Home Favorites!
Low iron stores are normally associated with heavy periods; however many young women who have a fairly normal bleeding pattern can also become deficient. This is because at this life stage, a young woman needs to consume higher levels of dietary iron to support a healthy menstrual cycle.
Some of the day-to-day symptoms associated with low iron include a pale complexion, feeling moody and grumpy, and declining cognitive function.
Other symptoms of low iron that are usually associated with a heavy period include fatigue, constipation, feeling lightheaded and dizzy, overall weakness and shortness of breath.
To ensure optimal iron levels, be sure she’s eating plenty of organic grass fed red meat, beets, dark leafy greens, beans, and lentils.
Tampons as a source of exposure to metal(loid)s
Menstruation in Girls and Adolescents: Using the Menstrual Cycle as a Vital Sign
The impact of endocrine disruptors on endocrine targets
Iron Deficiency Anemia in Adolescents Who Present with Heavy Menstrual Bleeding
Omega-3 fatty acids in health and disease and in growth and development
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Sarah Jane Sandy is a certified nutrition therapist, and a fertility and women’s health expert. She has helped hundreds of women increase their fertility naturally and go on to have healthy full-term pregnancies. She has been working with women and couples trying to get pregnant for over 16 years and over 90% of the women who work with her get pregnant and have healthy babies.
She also works with women trying to fix their hormone imbalances, as well as supporting women through pregnancy and the postpartum period. Learn more about her own fertility and hormone journey here. To send Sarah a message, complete her Contact Form.
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