One App. Every Woman.
One App. Every Woman.
Discover why appetite changes in girls and women with this comprehensive guide. Learn about common causes, expert insights, and practical tips to manage appetite fluctuations.
Maryam Mumtaz
Co-Founder & CEO
13 min read•9/29/2026
Marsa Empower · Women's Health & Everyday Wellness · For Girls & Women Aged 10 and Above · 13 min read
Appetite is how hungry you feel and how much you want to eat. It is your body's way of communicating its need for energy and nutrients. Unlike the physical sensation of hunger — which is driven primarily by falling blood sugar and an empty stomach — appetite also involves the brain's motivated desire to eat, influenced by smell, taste, emotion, habit, and social context.
Appetite and hunger are related but not identical. You can feel hungry (a physical signal from the stomach and blood sugar) without having much appetite (a desire to eat). You can also have strong appetite without intense physical hunger — as when you smell food you enjoy even after a full meal.
Small, day-to-day fluctuations in appetite are normal and expected. What you ate the day before, your activity level, your sleep, your emotional state, and even the weather all influence how hungry you feel. These normal fluctuations do not require investigation or management — they are simply the body's appetite regulation system responding to the circumstances of each day.
Persistent, significant changes in appetite — an ongoing increase that is driving noticeable weight gain, or an ongoing reduction that is affecting nutritional intake or leading to weight loss — are more worth paying attention to, understanding, and when appropriate, discussing with a healthcare professional.
Appetite is regulated by a complex interaction between the brain, hormones, the digestive system, and the body's energy sensing mechanisms. Several hormones and signals are central to this system.
Ghrelin — produced primarily in the stomach — rises before meals and when energy reserves are low, producing the feeling of hunger. It falls after eating. Leptin — produced by fat tissue — signals the brain when energy stores are adequate, reducing appetite. Insulin — produced by the pancreas in response to eating — plays a role in the post-meal satiety signal. Cortisol — the primary stress hormone — affects appetite in complex ways, increasing appetite for calorie-dense foods in some circumstances. Oestrogen and progesterone — female reproductive hormones — directly affect appetite regulation centres in the hypothalamus, producing the cyclical appetite changes many women notice across the menstrual cycle.
Any condition, medication, life circumstance, or nutritional state that alters these signals alters appetite.
Stress produces a bifurcated appetite response — different women respond differently, and the same woman may respond differently at different stress levels.
Acute, intense stress activates the sympathetic nervous system and suppresses appetite — the "fight or flight" response diverts resources away from the digestive system as non-essential in a perceived emergency. Many women notice that during very stressful periods or immediately following a stressful event, they feel no appetite.
Chronic, sustained stress elevates cortisol over extended periods. Prolonged cortisol elevation tends to increase appetite — particularly for high-calorie, high-carbohydrate, high-fat foods — through cortisol's effects on reward pathways in the brain. This is the biological basis of stress eating or emotional eating, which is a real physiological response rather than simply a failure of willpower.
Poor sleep or insufficient sleep disrupts the hormonal regulation of appetite. Sleep deprivation elevates ghrelin (the hunger hormone) and reduces leptin (the satiety hormone) — producing a physiological state of increased hunger and reduced ability to feel satisfied after eating. This is one of the most direct mechanisms through which poor sleep drives increased appetite and food intake, and it is measurably present after even a single night of inadequate sleep.
More physical activity increases energy expenditure — and the body typically responds by increasing appetite to compensate for the higher caloric demand. Women who increase their exercise level often notice their appetite increasing alongside. Conversely, a sudden reduction in physical activity (from injury, illness, or a change in routine) may reduce appetite as energy demands fall.
The regular timing and composition of meals influences appetite regulation significantly. Consistent meal timing trains the body's appetite regulation to anticipate food at specific times — producing reliable hunger signals before those meals. Changing meal timing, skipping meals regularly, or shifting from three regular meals to irregular grazing all disrupt these signals and can make appetite feel erratic.
Mild dehydration is often mistaken for hunger because the brain processes thirst and hunger through closely related systems. Women who are mildly dehydrated may experience a generalised low-level craving or appetite that resolves with water rather than food. Drinking water and waiting 15 to 20 minutes before eating when appetite seems inconsistent or unexpected is a simple, practical strategy.
Infections and illness reduce appetite through multiple mechanisms — inflammatory cytokines produced by the immune response directly suppress appetite, nausea reduces the desire to eat, and the body's diversion of resources toward immune function reduces the brain's prioritisation of feeding behaviour. Reduced appetite during illness is a normal physiological response and typically resolves when the illness resolves.
Travelling, changing work or study schedules, caring for a new baby, or any significant disruption to routine also disrupts the appetite-regulating rhythms that the body establishes around consistent daily patterns.
Teenage girls experience some of the most dramatic appetite changes of any demographic, driven by the exceptional biological demands of this life stage.
Growth and puberty. The combination of height growth spurts and the significant increase in body mass during puberty creates genuinely elevated caloric demands. A teenager in an active growth phase may need more calories per day than an adult woman — and her appetite should reflect this. Increased hunger during the teenage years is in most cases the body correctly signalling its elevated energy needs during development.
Hormonal changes. The hormonal changes of establishing the menstrual cycle introduce the cyclical appetite fluctuations described below, sometimes for the first time. The onset of premenstrual increased appetite can feel unfamiliar and confusing to girls who have not been prepared for this normal cyclical pattern.
School, stress, and sleep. Academic pressure, social demands, and the often-insufficient sleep of teenagers affect appetite regulation through the cortisol and sleep-deprivation pathways described above.
Increased physical activity. Teenage girls who are active in sports, dance, or regular exercise have elevated caloric needs that the body typically signals through increased appetite.
Changes in body image and eating habits. The teenage years are when concerns about body image and eating patterns first become significant for many girls. Appetite suppression from dietary restriction, anxiety about weight or food, or the early stages of disordered eating can all present as appetite changes during adolescence. Any significant reduction in appetite in a teenage girl — particularly one accompanied by significant weight loss, food avoidance, or distress around eating — deserves sensitive, non-judgmental attention from parents and, where appropriate, professional assessment.
The menstrual cycle produces predictable, hormonally driven changes in appetite across its phases that are normal physiological variations rather than a sign of something wrong.
In the luteal phase (the week or two before the period begins), progesterone rises and oestrogen falls. Progesterone increases metabolic rate, meaning the body burns slightly more energy at rest during this phase. Combined with the serotonin-lowering effect of falling oestrogen, this creates the well-known premenstrual increase in appetite — particularly for carbohydrate-rich foods, which temporarily raise serotonin.
The premenstrual hunger that many women experience is physiologically real and driven by specific hormonal changes, not a failure of self-control. Acknowledging and accepting this cyclical increase, meeting it with nutritious food rather than restriction, and understanding that it will resolve after the period begins is the most healthy response.
During menstruation, both oestrogen and progesterone are at their lowest, and prostaglandins drive uterine contractions and sometimes nausea and digestive changes. Appetite may remain slightly elevated at the beginning of the period and then normalise as hormone levels restabilise.
Blood loss during heavy periods directly depletes iron, which can affect energy metabolism and appetite in women with consistently heavy flow.
In the follicular phase (the first half of the cycle after menstruation), rising oestrogen improves mood, energy, and typically reduces appetite compared to the premenstrual phase. Many women notice they feel less hungry and have more stable food choices in the first half of their cycle.
The specific food cravings of the premenstrual phase — for chocolate, sweet foods, or carbohydrate-rich foods — reflect the brain's drive to increase serotonin as oestrogen falls. Dark chocolate (70 percent cacao or higher) provides magnesium that supports premenstrual muscle relaxation and is a nutritionally preferable response to chocolate cravings than highly processed sweets. Whole grain carbohydrates provide the serotonin-supporting tryptophan and blood-sugar-stabilising fibre that the brain is seeking when craving refined carbohydrates premenstrually.
Appetite in children naturally fluctuates with growth phases — children in growth spurts eat significantly more, and between these phases their appetite is naturally lower. This is normal and should not be forced in either direction.
As described above — elevated caloric demands during growth and hormonal development produce elevated appetite that is appropriate and should be met rather than restricted. Any sustained reduction in appetite deserves attention given the elevated nutritional demands of this period.
Appetite generally stabilises in the twenties as growth phases complete, but continues to fluctuate with stress, sleep, activity, and the menstrual cycle. Periods of high stress from career, relationship, or life demands are common appetite disruption triggers in this decade.
Metabolic rate gradually declines from the mid-thirties as muscle mass reduces unless actively maintained through strength training. Appetite may remain the same while caloric requirements have modestly fallen — a pattern that contributes to gradual weight gain in this decade without conscious dietary change.
The hormonal fluctuations of perimenopause produce significant appetite variability. Hot flushes, night sweats (which disrupt sleep), and the emotional challenges of this transition all affect appetite through their effects on sleep, stress hormones, and the hypothalamic appetite regulation that oestrogen influences directly. After menopause, consistently lower oestrogen stabilises these fluctuations but at a new hormonal baseline that changes metabolic rate and appetite regulation patterns.
Appetite typically decreases with advancing age — from reduced sensory perception of smell and taste that makes food less appealing, reduced production of digestive juices, reduced physical activity, and changes in the hormonal appetite signalling system. This age-related appetite reduction can put older women at risk of inadequate nutritional intake if it is not recognised and addressed.
Persistently increased appetite — feeling hungry more often or more intensely than previously without obvious explanation — has several possible causes.
Increased physical activity. The most direct and most common reason. If activity level has increased, caloric needs have increased. The appetite increase is appropriate and should be met.
Poor sleep. As described above — sleep deprivation elevates ghrelin and reduces leptin, producing increased hunger that is not related to actual energy deficit.
Stress. Chronic cortisol elevation drives appetite for calorie-dense foods in a pattern that can feel compulsive.
Hormonal changes. Premenstrual appetite increases, hyperthyroidism (which increases metabolic rate and drives caloric demand), and the hormonal changes of pregnancy all produce physiological hunger increases.
Not eating enough. Women who restrict calories, skip meals, or follow very low-calorie diets trigger the adaptive hunger response that the body produces when energy availability is insufficient. Persistent strong hunger is often the body's direct signal that intake is inadequate.
Certain health conditions. Hyperthyroidism, diabetes (particularly when blood sugar is poorly controlled), and certain medications can increase hunger independently of caloric need.
Reduced appetite — feeling less hungry than usual, having less desire to eat, or finding that food is less appealing — is one of the most common symptom presentations across a wide range of circumstances.
Stress or anxiety. Acute stress suppresses appetite through the sympathetic nervous system response. Chronic anxiety can suppress appetite by maintaining low-level stress activation that reduces the digestive system's activity and the brain's appetite signalling.
Illness. Infection, fever, nausea, and digestive upset all reduce appetite as expected physiological responses.
Stomach problems. Gastroparesis (delayed gastric emptying), acid reflux, inflammatory bowel conditions, and other digestive issues reduce appetite through the discomfort they produce with eating.
Lack of sleep. While sleep deprivation typically increases appetite through ghrelin elevation, exhaustion can also suppress appetite in some women — particularly when extreme tiredness overrides hunger signals.
Hormonal changes. The early weeks of pregnancy suppress appetite in many women through the nausea of the first trimester. The low progesterone of the follicular phase is associated with modestly reduced appetite.
Certain medicines. Many medications reduce appetite as a side effect — including stimulant medications, some antidepressants (particularly SSRIs in the short term), antibiotics, certain pain medications, and others.
Other health conditions. Depression significantly reduces appetite and is one of the most important medical causes of persistent reduced appetite, alongside chronic pain, hypothyroidism, liver disease, kidney disease, and other systemic conditions.
Persistent increased appetite that results in consistently higher caloric intake than expenditure produces weight gain over time. Whether this is driven by hormonal changes (PCOS, hypothyroidism, Cushing's syndrome, perimenopause), sleep deprivation, stress, or medication effects, the mechanism is the same — more calories consumed than expended.
Understanding the cause of the appetite increase is necessary for addressing the weight gain effectively. Generic calorie restriction without addressing the underlying hormonal or sleep driver tends to be unsustainable and ineffective.
Persistent reduced appetite that leads to consistently insufficient caloric intake produces weight loss over time. Whether from depression, illness, medications, or an underlying medical condition, significant weight loss from reduced appetite warrants investigation.
Unplanned significant weight change — gain or loss of five percent or more of body weight over six to twelve months without intentional dietary change — is a clinical indicator worth investigating. It suggests that something has changed in the body's energy balance system — appetite, metabolism, or absorption — in a way that may have a specific, identifiable, and treatable cause.
Hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid) significantly increases metabolic rate, driving genuine increased hunger as the body attempts to meet its elevated caloric needs. Alongside increased appetite, it typically produces weight loss despite eating more, heat intolerance, anxiety, and rapid heartbeat.
Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) slows metabolism and may reduce appetite or produce appetite changes alongside its characteristic weight gain, fatigue, cold intolerance, and other symptoms.
PCOS involves insulin resistance that affects the body's response to food — disrupting normal appetite signalling and often producing stronger cravings for high-glycaemic foods as the brain seeks quick glucose despite insulin resistance impairing cellular uptake. Women with PCOS commonly report persistent hunger and difficulty feeling satisfied after eating.
As described throughout this guide — the cyclical changes of oestrogen and progesterone across the menstrual cycle produce predictable appetite variations that are normal and expected.
Pregnancy hormones — particularly hCG in the first trimester and progesterone throughout — significantly alter appetite. First-trimester nausea and food aversions reduce appetite in many women. Later in pregnancy, increased caloric demands and reduced stomach capacity from the growing uterus create the characteristic pattern of more frequent but smaller eating.
The hormonal fluctuations of perimenopause produce appetite variability. After menopause, lower oestrogen changes the hypothalamic appetite regulation system and reduces the body's natural appetite suppression, contributing to the increased caloric intake many postmenopausal women notice alongside a simultaneously falling metabolic rate.
Yes — several specific nutritional deficiencies are associated with appetite changes.
Iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia are associated with both fatigue-driven reduced appetite and, in some women, unusual cravings (pica) — a compulsion to eat non-food substances including ice, clay, or soil. While pica is more dramatic than the appetite changes most women notice, even milder iron deficiency can reduce appetite through its effects on energy metabolism.
B12 deficiency produces the fatigue, weakness, and nausea that accompany its anaemia — all of which reduce appetite. Women following vegan diets or those with B12 absorption problems are at risk.
Significant vitamin D deficiency is associated with fatigue, low mood, and poor appetite through its effects on cellular function and the systems governing these experiences.
Zinc deficiency specifically impairs taste and smell perception — reducing the sensory appeal of food and producing a corresponding appetite reduction. Any state of general nutritional inadequacy — whether from restricted eating, illness, or poor dietary variety — disrupts the metabolic systems that regulate appetite normally.
Yes — this is one of the most common and most consistently underrecognised causes of appetite change.
Medicines that may increase appetite include: corticosteroids (prednisolone), certain antidepressants (particularly mirtazapine and some TCAs), some antipsychotic medications, cyproheptadine (an antihistamine sometimes used for appetite stimulation), and some hormonal contraceptives.
Medicines that may reduce appetite include: stimulant medications (used for ADHD), some SSRIs (particularly in the short term), antibiotics (which may cause nausea), metformin (used for PCOS and type 2 diabetes, which can reduce appetite), and many others.
If appetite changed significantly after starting a new medication, this connection is worth raising with the prescribing healthcare provider. Changes in appetite are a documented side effect of many medications and are sometimes manageable by adjusting timing, dose, or formulation.
Consistent meal timing — breakfast, lunch, and dinner at roughly similar times each day — trains the body's appetite regulation system and produces more reliable, predictable hunger signals. Irregular meal timing produces erratic appetite signalling.
Meals that include protein (which produces the strongest and most sustained satiety signal), fibre (which slows digestion and extends satiety), and healthy fat (which triggers satiety hormones and slows gastric emptying) produce more consistent satisfaction and more stable appetite between meals than meals dominated by refined carbohydrates and sugar, which produce rapid energy followed by rapid hunger.
Addressing dehydration — which is frequently misread as appetite — reduces appetite confusion. A glass of water before assessing hunger provides clarity about whether the sensation is thirst or genuine hunger.
Seven to nine hours of consistent, quality sleep per night normalises the ghrelin-leptin balance that regulates appetite. Addressing sleep as a direct appetite management strategy is more effective than willpower-based resistance to hunger driven by sleep deprivation.
Regular moderate physical activity normalises appetite signalling — exercise improves insulin sensitivity, regulates appetite hormones, and supports the metabolic balance that produces appropriate appetite for energy expenditure.
Addressing the psychological stress that drives cortisol-mediated appetite changes — through exercise, adequate sleep, breathwork, social support, and professional help where needed — is a direct appetite regulation intervention for stress-driven appetite changes.
Skipping meals destabilises blood sugar, elevates cortisol, and accumulates hunger that becomes difficult to manage appropriately when it catches up. Consistent eating prevents the extreme hunger that makes food choices difficult and drives overconsumption.
If hunger is persistent and seems disproportionate to what you are eating, consider the following.
Assess whether sleep is adequate — poor sleep is one of the most common and most correctable causes of increased hunger. Assess whether stress is elevated — chronic cortisol elevation drives appetite in specific ways that feel compulsive. Assess whether meals contain adequate protein and fibre — protein specifically is the most powerful satiety nutrient and insufficient protein intake reliably produces persistent hunger. Consider where you are in your menstrual cycle — premenstrual increased appetite is normal and temporary. Consider whether a medication recently started may be contributing. If hunger persists despite addressing these factors, a blood test including thyroid function and fasting glucose is appropriate to exclude medical causes.
If appetite is persistently low, consider the following.
Assess whether you are unwell — low appetite during acute illness is normal and typically resolves. Consider whether stress or anxiety is suppressing appetite. Consider whether low mood or depression may be present — appetite suppression is one of the most consistent symptoms of depression and warrants professional support alongside nutritional management. Even without appetite, the body requires nutrition — small, frequent, nutritionally dense meals or snacks are more manageable than large meals when appetite is low. Smoothies, soups, yogurt, eggs, and nut butters provide nutrition in forms that require less effort to eat when appetite is minimal. If reduced appetite has persisted for more than one to two weeks, is accompanied by weight loss, or is accompanied by other new symptoms, medical evaluation is appropriate.
Appetite changes in teenage girls occur normally from the causes described above — growth, hormonal cycles, stress, and sleep patterns. Parents and guardians do not need to be concerned about every appetite fluctuation in an otherwise healthy, growing teenager.
However, several patterns in teenage appetite change deserve attention.
Sustained, significant reduction in appetite accompanied by weight loss — particularly if the teenager is avoiding meals, expressing significant anxiety about food or weight, or showing other signs of disordered eating. A healthcare professional with eating disorder awareness is the appropriate first point of contact.
Very high appetite and significant weight gain that is not explained by normal growth or hormonal changes — which may reflect emerging PCOS, thyroid dysfunction, or other conditions worth assessing.
Appetite changes accompanied by other new symptoms — significant fatigue, menstrual irregularity, mood changes, or physical changes suggesting a medical condition.
The key principle for parents is sensitive, non-judgmental observation — noticing changes without commenting on body size or food quantity in ways that may amplify body image concerns — and seeking professional guidance when patterns persist or are accompanied by other concerning features.
Appetite changes are normal and do not require medical investigation in the following circumstances.
Increased appetite during growth phases in teenage girls. Premenstrual increased appetite, particularly for carbohydrates, in the week before the period. Reduced appetite during acute illness that resolves when the illness resolves. Appetite changes that correlate clearly with identifiable factors — stress, poor sleep, a change in activity level, a change in routine — and improve when those factors improve. Minor day-to-day fluctuations in hunger level without significant impact on weight or nutritional intake.
Arrange a medical appointment if any of the following apply.
Persistent increased or decreased appetite lasting more than two to three weeks without a clear, identifiable, resolving cause warrants investigation.
Significant unintentional weight loss alongside reduced appetite always warrants medical evaluation to identify the underlying cause.
Progressive weight gain alongside persistent increased appetite — particularly if not explained by lifestyle changes — warrants blood testing including thyroid function, fasting glucose, and hormonal assessment.
Appetite changes accompanied by significant fatigue may indicate nutritional deficiency (iron, B12, vitamin D), thyroid dysfunction, anaemia, or other conditions that benefit from blood testing and appropriate management.
Persistent nausea, stomach pain, or digestive discomfort accompanying appetite changes warrants evaluation of the digestive system.
Appetite changes alongside new irregularity or absence of periods point toward hormonal conditions including PCOS or thyroid dysfunction, and warrant gynaecological and endocrine assessment.
Any combination of appetite change with other new systemic symptoms — significant weight changes, mood changes, excessive thirst, changed bowel habits, or feeling generally unwell — warrants prompt medical evaluation.
Initial investigations for persistent appetite changes in women typically include:
Blood tests: full blood count (to identify anaemia), serum ferritin (iron stores), thyroid function (TSH and free T4), fasting blood glucose and insulin, vitamin D, vitamin B12, and depending on clinical context, hormonal panels for PCOS assessment or other endocrine evaluation.
Clinical history focusing on when the appetite change began, its pattern and severity, associated weight changes, menstrual cycle patterns, medications, stress and sleep patterns, and other symptoms.
A healthcare professional will interpret these results and the clinical picture together to identify the most likely cause and guide appropriate management.
Marsa's Health Hub allows women to track their menstrual cycle alongside appetite and hunger patterns, energy levels, mood, and other daily health indicators. Over several cycles, this tracking reveals whether appetite changes are following a consistent premenstrual pattern (normal), are unrelated to cycle phase (more likely to warrant investigation), or are correlated with specific cycle events that provide clinical context.
Marsa's Smart Nutrition resources explain the most significant nutritional factors affecting appetite regulation — protein, fibre, iron, vitamin D, sleep, and stress — in practical, accessible terms that help women understand and address the most modifiable contributors to appetite instability.
Tracking weight consistently at the same cycle phase, alongside energy and appetite observations, allows women to distinguish normal cyclical variation from progressive changes that warrant investigation.
Marsa's Health Hub tracking builds the long-term picture — across weeks, months, and cycles — that is most useful for both personal understanding and healthcare consultations. A documented pattern of persistent appetite changes with associated weight or energy changes is far more actionable than a general recollection that "my appetite has been different lately."
Marsa's educational resources explain the hormonal, metabolic, and lifestyle mechanisms that drive appetite changes in women and girls, helping users understand whether their experience reflects a normal physiological variation or something worth investigating further. AI health guidance through Digital Doctors provides educational information on appetite changes, their possible causes, and when professional evaluation is the appropriate next step.
Important note. Marsa Empower is a health education and wellness companion. Persistent, significant, or medically concerning appetite changes — particularly those accompanied by weight changes or other symptoms — require evaluation by a qualified healthcare professional. Marsa helps women understand and track their health; it does not diagnose or treat medical conditions.
What does appetite mean?
Appetite is your body's desire to eat — how hungry you feel and how much you want food. It is regulated by hormones, the brain, the digestive system, sleep, stress, and the body's energy sensing mechanisms. Small daily fluctuations are entirely normal.
Why does my appetite keep changing?
Appetite fluctuates in response to sleep quality, stress, menstrual cycle phase, physical activity, illness, medications, and hormonal conditions. The most common causes of day-to-day appetite variability are sleep quality and the menstrual cycle. Persistent, significant changes without these explanations are worth investigating.
Why am I hungry all the time?
Persistent increased hunger can reflect poor sleep (which elevates ghrelin), chronic stress (which elevates cortisol and drives appetite), not eating enough protein and fibre, premenstrual hormonal changes, hyperthyroidism, insulin resistance from PCOS, or the appropriate caloric demand signal of increased physical activity. Assessing sleep, stress, meal composition, and cycle timing is the most useful starting point.
Why do I suddenly have no appetite?
Sudden appetite loss is most commonly from acute illness, significant stress or anxiety, depression, medication side effects, or the first trimester of pregnancy. Persistent appetite loss lasting more than two weeks, or appetite loss accompanied by weight loss or other symptoms, warrants medical evaluation.
Can periods change your appetite?
Yes. The premenstrual phase (the week before the period) typically increases appetite — particularly for carbohydrates — from the hormonal changes of falling oestrogen and rising progesterone. After the period begins and hormone levels restabilise, appetite typically decreases.
Can stress change your appetite?
Yes — in either direction. Acute stress commonly suppresses appetite through the sympathetic nervous system response. Chronic stress typically increases appetite — particularly for calorie-dense foods — through elevated cortisol. The direction of the appetite change from stress is individual and may differ between circumstances.
Can lack of sleep make me more hungry?
Yes, consistently. Sleep deprivation elevates ghrelin (hunger hormone) and reduces leptin (satiety hormone), producing a physiologically driven increase in hunger that is present even when caloric needs have not increased. This is one of the most direct and most correctable causes of persistent increased hunger.
Can hormones affect appetite?
Yes, significantly. Oestrogen and progesterone across the menstrual cycle produce predictable cyclical appetite changes. Thyroid hormones govern metabolic rate and therefore caloric demand and appetite. Insulin, cortisol, ghrelin, and leptin are all hormonal regulators of appetite directly. Many medical conditions affecting these hormones — including hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, PCOS, and Cushing's syndrome — produce appetite changes as characteristic features.
Why do teenagers have changes in appetite?
Teenage girls experience elevated caloric demands from rapid growth and pubertal development, new cyclical appetite changes from establishing menstrual cycles, altered appetite regulation from the stress and sleep deprivation common in adolescence, and the onset of hormonal influences on appetite regulation. These changes are generally normal and expected, though significant sustained appetite reduction in a teenage girl deserves sensitive monitoring.
When should I see a doctor about appetite changes?
Seek medical evaluation for appetite changes that persist for more than two to three weeks without a clear resolving cause, that are accompanied by significant weight change, that are accompanied by other new symptoms (fatigue, menstrual changes, stomach problems, mood changes), or that are significantly affecting eating, nutrition, or quality of life.
Appetite is one of the body's most sensitive and most responsive communication systems. It changes across the day, across the menstrual cycle, across life stages, and in response to sleep, stress, illness, nutrition, hormones, and many other influences. Most appetite variation is normal and reflects exactly this responsive, finely tuned regulation system working as intended.
Understanding the most common reasons for appetite change — the premenstrual increase that is cyclical and normal, the sleep-deprivation-driven hunger that is correctable, the stress-cortisol appetite drive that responds to stress management, the insulin-resistance-related hunger of PCOS that responds to dietary and medical management — allows women to respond appropriately rather than attributing all appetite variation to personal failing or a complete mystery.
Track your patterns. Notice the connections. Address the modifiable factors. And when appetite changes are persistent, significant, accompanied by weight changes, or unexplained by the common causes described in this guide — seek the medical investigation that may reveal a specific, treatable cause.
Your appetite is telling you something. The goal is to understand what.
Educational Disclaimer
This article is for educational and awareness purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you have persistent or significantly concerning changes in appetite, please consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalised evaluation and guidance.
Marsa Empower | Care. Safety. Growth.
Visit marsaempower.com to track your cycle, appetite patterns, and health indicators, access women's health education, and explore wellness resources at every stage of life.
Medical Disclaimer
This article is for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of a qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of something you have read on MARSA Empower.
Written By
Maryam Mumtaz
Co-Founder & CEO
Co-Founder of MARSA Empower who leads the visual and strategic evolution of the platform. Maryam bridges technical complexity with human-centric design, architecting the team's official roadmap and ensuring MARSA effectively addresses the real-world needs of women. With deep expertise in agentic AI, full-stack development, and UI/UX design, she has delivered 50+ projects for 30+ satisfied clients.
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