Hunger problem

[Cuddleczar]

My 15 YO DD has had a problem with hunger for years now--it seemed to start with the onset of puberty and it's still happening. She can eat a large dinner and within 30 mins of eating it she is ravenous again. It's worst at night, just before bed time...to the point that she gets all ready for bed, then has to go downstairs and eat again, do teeth again etc etc or she will lie awake unable to sleep because of hunger. She gets to the point where she feels hungry but is sick of eating. Her stomach rumbles very loudly at school (v. embarrassing for her) and she often feels she can't concentrate on school work because she feels faint with hunger. We have been to the drs about it but the dr says she thinks her food intake is normal. She's had blood tests, urine tests etc and nothing seems to be wrong metabolically. Does this ring bells for anybody else? Any advice anyone???

Feed her more calorific food?

Is she on a low fat diet#? Thismight not be appropriate for her needs right now. Is she the right weight for her height?

At 15, she should be eating more than her mother, and closer to a man's calorie intake.

www.weight-loss-center.net/calorie-needs-teens.htm

And if she ios haveing a growth spurt, she will need even more.

She is a big strapping girl, normal height and weight, but just in the last 6 months or so she seems to have been putting on more weight than she would like. We started off thinking it was a growth spurt thing but it has just gone on and on. She is often in tears about it, says no one understands (yes, I know that sounds like teens but usually about emotional probs, shurely?), and says "If this is normal, then it would be as big a deal as periods"...!

calorie check what she eats in 3 days. You might be surprised. And don't forget she's supposed to eat about as much as her dad.

Thanks colditz. We did keep a list of what she ate for a few days while on holiday but as I mainly cook from scratch we found it time-consuming to work out the calories. I will try to do some research for good websites to help with that now we are back--I took a look at yours but didn't see any pages that help you work out what your calorie intake actually is.

i read an article years ago about a teenage lad who was always hungry...

the advice was that we tend to give carbs to fill up...plenty of potatoes, pasta etc, when actually, protein will keep you feeling fuller and less hungry...

so, if she's hungry, snacking on protein rich foods will satisfy more than carbs alone...tiredness makes you feel hungry...is she sleeping enough? loads of kids sort of "bulk out" sideways in their teens before growing upwards...maybe she's getting ready to overtake you in height!!

Yes, protein is definitely the answer.

Does she have toast or cereal for breakfast? If so, add in some eggs or beans, or do a cheese toastie. This will keep her blood sugar stable for most of the morning and also help avoid descending into tearfulness.

Every meal should contain a decent portion of protein, and if she needs a snack, make it include nuts, cheese, slice of ham, peanut butter, etc.

Unrefined white carbs (especially sugar) cause an immediate spike in blood sugar levels, but then a corresponding dip in time which causes feelings of dizziness, hunger, headaches, mood swings.

It's not just a matter of calories in.

When she's feeling hungry again soon after eating a meal, is it a sensation of hunger or more like stomach-ache pretending to be hunger? I have a reason for asking.

A good website for working out calories in home cooked food is foodfocus.co.uk. It is a free 'diet' website but pretty easy to input your own recipes

Sorry no answer on the hunger thing though, but hope you can find a reason/solution

Thanks so much for all these tips. I think what I need to do now is check what her calorie intake is (thank you for the website Crispy). I have also noticed that it's worse before her period. I will try to up the protein and encourage her to eat brown bread etc tho she is not keen (and we tried porridge but it caused a lot of wind!).

I was intrigued to hear that fruit juice in the morning may not be a good idea because of the sugar high and subsequent low--I have always understood that one glass a day is one of your five a day fruit and veg so my girls are limited to one, usually in the mornings. Maybe I should reschedule that...

DandyDanyour question is interesting because I have often wondered if it is something else that she interprets as hunger, because she often says, when she tries to eat again to stop the hungry feeling, that she is full up and doesn't really want to eat...even feels sick. I have an idea about what it could be...but I am intrigued to know what you are getting atdo tell!

Do you think she might be mistaking thirst for hunger? Sometimes a drink of water is enough when you just feel like your stomach 'needs' something.
And it can help to suggest she waits 10 minutes to see if she still is hungry then - a friend of mine uses this technique when her DS automatically asks for seconds, and he often realises what he thought was hunger has gone away.

Well, just in the last few days, possibly a week, our daughter - older teens - has said she was getting incredibly hungry, even half an hour after eating. Especially in the morning. Now, she used to eat very little breakfast a couple of years ago, but now always eats cereal or toast, with a hot drink, and she has been fine with that.

At school she was telling her biology teacher about feeling so hungry so quickly and the teacher said that the pain in her tummy could be trapped wind - that you can get into a pattern of stomach pains feeling as hunger, eating to put food on top of them, and it makes the pain worse or at least doesn't lessen it. She is keeping an eye on it and trying not to eat inbetween meals. She really is a bit old for growth spurts but it's not impossible. But the biology teacher said it was quite a common thing - just that people don't like to talk about it. Thankfully my daughter is quite okay about talking about such things - is heading towards studying medicine etc.

Anyway, that could be a reason; but I think the idea of eating proteins at breakfast is definitely a good one too. Carbs at bedtime because they make you sleepy, proteins at breakfast because they wake you up and keep you going.

Thank you to all of you. Maryzyes, I have wondered if it is sometimes boredom/anxiety. She is not a good sleeper so I have often thought that the bedtime hunger pangs might be related to anxiety about going to bed. Plus if she is occupied with something she likes, hunger seems to take second place. Might persevere with the porridge as winter draws on. Thirst, yes, I have considered that but she is quite good about drinking. DandyDanthanks for explaining...but I had wondered also about lactose intolerance. I don't know much about that, but while on holiday in France my partner bought some lactose free milk (by accident!) and it caused me to have a similar and quite severe reaction of rumbling, cramps and pain in the stomach (though I don't know whether that happened when I first had the lactose-free milk or after having had lactose-free milk and then going back to ordinary milk). And my DD's hunger problem seemed to reduce during the few days while we used that milk up...so I am going to run that idea past the dr. I'll let you all know where we get to with that!

I think you'll find you won't get far down that route with your dr. They're just not trained to consider nutrition as 'medicine' and don't seem keen to exclude a food group ime, unless it's a true life-threatening allergy. Yours may be different, though .

Re. the porridge; by all means offer it for breakfast, but know that it isn't a protein and, in terms of 'staying power,' is not much better than a sugary cereal.

What I mean is, it needs eggs or nuts or whatever to make it truly sustaining. For me, it's about one hour maximum before I'm climbing the walls looking for something sustaining to eat.