Vitamins are essential fuel for the body's organs to function properly. With the prevalence of refined and processed foods, the body may not be getting enough vitamins, either because you're not consuming enough nutritious foods or because vitamin absorption is impaired due to digestive issues. With vitamin deficiencies, your body may tell you in unusual ways, but you need to recognize these signs and listen carefully to what your body is telling you.
Body Signal #1: Cracks at the corners of the mouth
Vitamin Deficiencies
Iron, zinc, and B vitamins such as niacin (B3), riboflavin (B2), and B12. Iron and vitamin B12 deficiencies are common among people following a vegetarian diet.
Treatment
Eat more poultry, salmon, tuna, eggs, oysters, mussels, sun-dried tomatoes, Swiss chard, tahini, peanuts, and legumes like lentils. Also, vitamin C enhances iron absorption and helps fight infection, so combine the above foods with vegetables like broccoli, red bell peppers, and cauliflower.
Body Signal #2: A scaly rash on your face (and elsewhere) and hair loss
Vitamin Deficiency
Biotin (B7), also known as the hair vitamin. While your body stores fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K), it doesn't store most of the water-soluble B vitamins. Eating raw eggs can make you susceptible to this because a protein in raw eggs called avidin prevents your body from absorbing biotin.
Treatment
Eat cooked eggs, salmon, avocados, mushrooms, cauliflower, soybeans, nuts, raspberries, and bananas.
Body Signal #3: White or red bumps on your cheeks, arms, thighs, and buttocks
Vitamin Deficiency
Essential fatty acids and vitamins A and D. Treatment
Reduce your intake of fats and trans fats and increase your intake of healthy fats. Eat more salmon and sardines, nuts such as walnuts and almonds, and seeds such as flax seeds, hemp seeds, and chia seeds. Eat more leafy greens and colorful vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes, and red bell peppers.
Body Signal #4: Tingling, numbness, and prickling sensations in the hands, feet, and other areas
Vitamin Deficiency
B vitamins such as folic acid (B9), B6, and B12. This problem is directly related to the peripheral nerves, which terminate at the skin. These symptoms can be accompanied by other symptoms such as anxiety, depression, anemia, fatigue, and hormonal imbalances.
Treatment
Eat more spinach, asparagus, beets, black-eyed peas, kidney beans, green beans, eggs, octopus, poultry, oysters, and mussels.
Body Signal #5: Sudden, sharp pains in the toes, legs, arches, and backs of the feet.
Vitamin Deficiency: Magnesium, calcium, and potassium. If these symptoms occur frequently, these are the vitamins you are deficient in. If you engage in physical activity, you may be losing many nutrients, including water-soluble B vitamins, through excessive sweating.
Treatment: Eat more bananas, almonds, hazelnuts, pumpkin, cherries, apples, grapefruit, broccoli, and leafy green vegetables like spinach.