# Vitamins/Supplements for Teenage Girl?



## DWH Farm (Sep 1, 2010)

My 17 year old daughter has had low energy levels lately. She seems to get plenty of sleep, although some of her activities (sports, school functions) do keep her up later than I would like sometimes...As a family I think that we eat healthier than most, we cook from scratch every night, buy very few processed food items and have our own sources of free range/organic meats, eggs and dairy. I think that her diet could use a little improvement but is also better than the average teenagers. She is a healthy weight and very active physically with basketball, track and cross country. Right now she is taking a multi vitamin from Wal Mart, should that be changed? Anything that I should add? Yesterday she said that had one of those energy shots because "she crashes every day in the afternoon" so that kind of freaked me out...Any advice is appreciated.


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## marinemomtatt (Oct 8, 2006)

I feel that storebought vitamins are a waste of money...some people swear by them though.
I would consider feeding her some IRON rich meats and veggies, bone broths, seaweeds, molasses and also consider herbal infusions like Stinging Nettle, and Oatstraw.


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## FunnyRiverFarm (May 25, 2010)

how much sleep is she getting?? Teens have a tendency to skimp on sleep when they should be getting 9-10 hours per night.


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## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

As a teen of 17, I worked very hard and was very active. Had the same issue and it was IRON deficiency despite a good diet. The best way the doctor told me was to eat iron rich foods. I was getting dizzy at work and feeling very drained by the end of a shift suddenly. Iron is really hard for me to take in vitamin form as it constipates some people. If you try upping her natural iron intake it is more gentle and really worth it. Sounds like you feed her very well so think about the iron rich foods she already eats....then see if they are sufficient by a little research, then you might just find she may just need more


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

DWH Farm said:


> My 17 year old daughter has had low energy levels lately. She seems to get plenty of sleep, although some of her activities (sports, school functions) do keep her up later than I would like sometimes...As a family I think that we eat healthier than most, we cook from scratch every night, buy very few processed food items and have our own sources of free range/organic meats, eggs and dairy. I think that her diet could use a little improvement but is also better than the average teenagers. She is a healthy weight and very active physically with basketball, track and cross country. Right now she is taking a multi vitamin from Wal Mart, should that be changed? Anything that I should add? Yesterday she said that had one of those energy shots because "she crashes every day in the afternoon" so that kind of freaked me out...Any advice is appreciated.


What's her hemoglobin level/crit? I would have it taken at the health dept. She should also eat several times a day rather than just three big meals. An afternoon snack is a good thing, but not the "energy shots". Those are bad.


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## DWH Farm (Sep 1, 2010)

Thanks everyone. She averages 8 hours of sleep a night, sometimes a bit more sometimes less. Romy, I was thinking iron also and will focus on making sure that she is eating more iron rich foods.. Since the day of my OP I have really been trying to make sure that she is getting a good solid breakfast everyday and is packing healthy snacks that she can have in the afternoon. She is taking a multi for teen girls even though I know the effectiveness might be debateable, I figure that it cant hurt her. I have stinging nettle on order from Azure Standard and will try the infusion. From what I read it sounds great and I will probably use it myself.


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## acde (Jul 25, 2011)

a good website is earth clinic.com


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## Ruralnurse (Jun 23, 2011)

I would have her thyroid checked. My 20 year old daughter was tired all the time, would come home from school and sleep and then sleep all night as well. At 15 she went in for a sprots physical and the provider checked her thyroid and noticed it felt enlarged. He did a blood test and low and behold she was hypothyroid. It is not just for old people. No thyroid troubles in the family history either. 

She did not have all of they symptoms just some of them. Getting her on thyroid replacement made a HUGE difference. She felt so much better and her grades improved and she was more happy too. 

Ruralnurse


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