4 common foods causing early puberty in girls

(NaturalHealth365) Puberty is a milestone in a boy’s or girl’s life that occurs when he or she becomes sexually mature. Boys usually reach this milestone between the ages of 12 and 16, while girls attain it a little earlier between 10 and 14 years old. The major landmarks of puberty for boys include pubic hair, genital growth, and the first ejaculation. For girls, it is comprised of pubic hair, breast development, and the onset of menstruation.

As children already grow quicker than their parents want them to, recent research is revealing American girls are entering puberty earlier than ever before. The average age for breast development is now 9 years old. However, some rare cases are showing girls as young as four years old are precociously entering puberty.

Why are young girls entering puberty at such an early age?

This precocious puberty is triggered by a premature hormone release. Studies indicate that endocrine disrupting chemicals are the contributing factor.

Additionally, experts say that starting puberty earlier can be metabolically dangerous. For girls, starting menstruation early “is a risk factor for depression during adolescence and breast cancer during adulthood.”

Caffeine and aspartame blamed for early onset puberty in girls

According to a recent longitudinal study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a high consumption of caffeinated soft drinks are the culprit to early onset puberty in girls.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and Healthy Study followed 1,988 American girls for 10 years. Approximately half were Caucasian, and the other half were African American. Researchers examined prospective associations between caffeinated and non-caffeinated sugar, as well as artificially sweetened sodas, and early menstruation. They also examined the link between early onset puberty and intakes of caffeine, sucrose, fructose, and aspartame.

The findings of the research determined that consumption of caffeinated and artificially sweetened drinks with aspartame were positively associated with the risk of early puberty in both races of girls.

Sugar-sweetened beverages associated with early menstruation

Published in the journal of Human Reproduction, another study found that sugar-sweetened beverage consumption was linked to early menstruation in girls.

The Growing up Today Study, a prospective cohort study analyzed 5,583 girls (also pre-menarche at baseline) from the ages of 9 and 14 in the United States between 1996 and 2001. Consumption of non-carbonated fruit drinks, sugar-sweetened soda, and iced tea were also reported.

Girls who consumed more sugar-sweetened beverages were found to begin early menstruation. Girls who reported consuming greater than 1.5 servings per day were 24 percent more likely to begin puberty at an earlier age when compared to girls who drank less than two sugar-sweetened beverages per week.

Recent study indicates high salt triggers early puberty in girls

Recently, the first study was published in Medical Hypotheses on linking salt intake and puberty induction girls. Scientists hypothesize that a high salt diet (such as consumed in westernized diets) can result in early onset puberty through three mechanisms which are not mutually exclusive:

1. High salt activates a hormone (neurokinin B) that is involved in both the reproductive axis and salt regulation.

2. High salt releases a hormone (vasopressin) which stimulates gonadotropin releasing hormone and subsequently luteinizing hormone secretion – triggering ovulation and the corpus luteum.

3. Salt induces metabolic changes that affect the reproductive axis.

Consequences of early puberty in girls

As mentioned earlier, girls with early onset menstruation early are at risk for depression and breast cancer during adulthood.

A recent study in January 2016 published in Psychoneuroendocrinology, declared the timing of adrenarch (the first phase of puberty) is linked to depression and immunity in a person. When immune markers were measured in children going through puberty, researchers determined positive associations for late developers and negative associations for early developers.

Further, a study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health determined early puberty to be associated with a 30 percent higher risk for estrogen-sensitive breast cancer. Also, the risk was decreased for every year menstruation was delayed. Premenopausal breast cancer was reduced by 9 percent, while postmenopausal breast cancer was reduced by four percent.

Keep your children away from endocrine disrupting chemicals

Caffeine, aspartame, sugar-sweetened beverages, and salt are not the only endocrine disrupting chemicals that cause girls to enter puberty early. Chemical additives, genetically modified foods, and hormone and antibiotic induced meat proteins are also contributors. Even environmental pollutants play their parts.

Therefore, it is important that you protect your children by limiting their intake of harmful chemicals and feeding them a healthy organic diet, probiotic foods and supplements, as well as vitamin C. It’s never too late to start.

About the author: Abby Campbell is a medical, health, and nutrition research writer. She’s dedicated to helping people live a healthy lifestyle in all aspects – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Abby practices, writes, and coaches on natural preventive care, nutritional medicine, and complementary and alternative therapy.

References:
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/puberty.html
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/puberty.html
http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0306-9877(15)00248-0
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=26178725
http://humrep.oxfordjournals.org/content/30/3/675.long
http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0306-4530(15)00936-1
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4037133/pdf/nihms582008.pdf