Bottom Line/Health: Teens can go from being sweet as pie one second and then wham! The door’s getting slammed, they don’t want to talk to you or they’re screaming at you, and everyone goes, “All right, PMS.” But it’s not as simple as that. So what’s really going on, and how do we help kids get control of their own hormones?

Dr. Brooke Kalanick, ND: During this time, this is the first time they’re experiencing not only the big hormonal swings that are new, but also bigger emotions. We see that in little toddlers, and then we kind of get a break, and then in the teen years it all comes back. So they are experiencing major changes in hormones. For girls, they’re starting a cycle; for boys, they’re just getting a lot of testosterone, and with that comes erratic moods and new emotions that they’re not yet skilled enough to deal with.

Bottom Line: Is part of that actually that – I’ll call it the new mechanism or the newly utilized mechanism is just hypersensitive? Like in its newness, it hasn’t quite reached its mellowness yet?

Dr. Kalanick: When we think about hormones affecting various things, we forget what a huge impact they have on our brain. So they truly are freaking out, when we use that term. That’s how they’re feeling, and they don’t know how to handle it.

One thing you can help them do – and although this can be tricky, and I always see parents just give up as soon as I mention nutrition – but it’s worth trying, and it’s worth sticking with instilling some good habits. They’re going to want to eat at the mall, they’re going to want to eat with their friends, but really focus on vegetables, fiber. Eating regularly, even if it’s not the most stellar choice. Maybe it’s just an apple or just a protein bar, but getting their blood sugar a little bit more stable will go a long ways towards helping their moods.

Bottom Line: The teens, the emotions and the hormones are exacerbated by the teenage diet. And I think it’s interesting because there’s so much junk food that’s running around in kids’ diets, and there’re so many carbs and so much sugary stuff. I’ve even spoken to parents where they’ve said, “Oh, my kid’s not affected by sugar” or “They’re not affected by caffeine.” And yet, I don’t think they’ve ever seen their kid not on sugar or not on caffeine. So it’s helping the parents to bring in a proper nutritional diet. Again, proper vegetables, fats, proteins, minimal carbs.

Dr. Kalanick: Yeah, and find what they like. If they’ll only eat baby carrots, then that’s better than eating candy. So work with what they’ll give you, and demonstrate those behaviors in yourself. A lot of times, the hardest thing in my practice about working with teens and with kids is the parents, because we’ve got all our bad habits that we have to combat when we’re trying to feed our children better.

So it is important to not only demonstrate it, but be consistent and don’t give up on them. It might take a year until you really make some headway in changing their nutritional habits, but be consistent with mealtimes, ensure that they have some sort of healthy snack – like I said, even if it’s a protein bar. Sure, it’s a packaged food, but it’s better than packaged candy. Or any vegetable that they will eat, keep giving it to them.

Bottom Line: All right. Thank you, Dr. Brooke Kalanick.

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