Clues you’re vitamin-deficient
OUR bodies are designed to set off alarms when things aren’t quite right. So the mysterious cramps, pain and strange marks possibly aren’t unexplainable — they could be messages that you are skimping on valuable vitamins.
According to nutritionist and dietitian Donovan Grant, the body can send signals of vitamin deficiency by various means.
“Being vitamin-deficient means that the body is lacking in essential vitamins, and the body could react differently based on the vitamin that it requires at the time,” Grant said.
He explained that addressing vitamin deficiency and the associated signs could be difficult and tedious because each vitamin deficiency is accompanied by its own unique symptoms.
“We cannot put a lid on particular signs and symptoms because they are so varied. However, there are common ones that have been identified as clues that a person is vitamin-deficient,” he said.
He said that these symptoms or clues could be described as sub-clinical, or mild to severe.
Grant said that people who are Vitamin A deficient could experience a number of symptoms such as reduced resistance to respiratory infections, poor night vision and conjunctivitis dryness, ichthyosis (fish-like scales), a reduction in healing time, and dry or cracked skin.
“In the case of Vitamin B (folate, riboflavin, B1, 6,9, 12, biotin), it is generally linked to peripheral nerves and where they end in the skin.
Common signs of deficiency include cracking and peeling of skin on the lips, cracking at the corner of the mouth and outer eye, pale, dry skin, hair loss, skin rashes, sore tongue, nerve damage, vaginal itching, emotional depression, redness in the nose and fatigue. It is also associated with weight loss, anaemia and hormonal imbalance.
Vitamin C deficiency, according to Grant, most commonly results in scurvy, which is often accompanied by bleeding gums, tooth loss, and nosebleeds. Other signs of a Vitamin C deficiency could also manifest through bruising, painful or swollen joints, a weakened immune system which makes you more susceptible to infections, and muscle pains.
“We see Vitamin D deficiency all the time but many times we mistake it other things. For example, people with rickets, we sometimes say they are bow-legged. Other signs in Vitamin D deficient children are delayed tooth development and soft bones. By now you would recognise that this vitamin is crucial to bone development and it is also equally important in adulthood,” Grant said.
He explained that in adults with Vitamin D deficiency, they are likely to develop osteoporosis, a condition that causes the bones to become soft, brittle and prone to fracture.
In the case of deficiency of Vitamins E and K, while there are not any notable physical signs associated, Grant said that the former causes an inability to absorb fat, while the latter causes difficulty with blood clotting.
Grant says that vitamin deficiencies could be avoided by ensuring that balanced meals are consumed daily or regularly. He said that where necessary, multivitamins should be taken, not as a replacement for balanced meals, but for additional vitamin support in cases where the body shows signs of deficiency.
