Has fatigue and tiredness become your constant companions? Do you feel like being tired is part of your personality now? Don’t stress anymore. It’s not you; it’s the deficiency of vitamins and minerals acting on you. You need to check your diet for the mistakes you might have been making. Similarly, if you observe the same signs in your child, you should focus on changing his/her lifestyle. It will include your child’s eating and sleeping habits and daily physical activities.
Is Vitamin Deficiency Dangerous for Health?
Vitamin deficiencies have to be taken very seriously. Fatigue and tiredness are how your body tries to warn you of upcoming potential threats that could arise due to a lack of these essential vitamins. Every vitamin has its particular function. Therefore, you need a continuous recharge of vitamins and minerals to carry out those functions. An insufficiency in any vitamin type makes your energy levels go down, affecting you in other areas. Primarily, your immune system could deteriorate, causing many diseases to attack and take over your body in the absence of your little guards.
Vitamins are responsible for converting your food into energy used for carrying out daily activities. In case of a shortage of any vitamin, the food eaten can no longer be converted adequately, making you sluggish and tired all day.
In today’s fast-paced world, there is so much competition that to stay in the game; you have to perform your best. You have to make your vitamin levels sufficient to accomplish all that you need to do. It’s not just about being able to work efficiently. It is also your health that cannot be compromised at any cost.
Following are the four essential vitamins commonly found deficient that cause fatigue and tiredness. These are:
Vitamin B Group (B12)
The B Group of VItamin has a direct impact on the production of your red blood cells and your DNA. These are also responsible for the functioning of your nervous system. When your body doesn’t get enough vitamin B12 to produce adequate amounts of red blood cells, the efficient transportation of oxygen to the cells of your body gets interrupted. As a result, you feel weak and tired.
This vitamin deficiency is commonly found in the elderly, diabetes patients, vegetarians, and people on antacid drugs over a long time. The chief reason for its commonly found deficiency is that our bodies do not make vitamin B12. These have to be consumed from supplements or animal-based foods. Also, they have to be consumed regularly as our bodies are incapable of storing them for long.
You can increase your vitamin B12 levels by increasing the consumption of meat, fish, eggs, poultry, and dairy products. They are also found in mushrooms. Vegetarians can get advice from their nutritionists regarding good vitamin B12 supplements.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is a powerful energy booster that acts as a hormone. Every cell in our body has a receptor for vitamin D. It is a unique vitamin that is difficult to get from diet alone. Our skin’s cholesterol produces vitamin D in the presence of sunlight, which is why it is also called the sunlight vitamin.
The primary role of Vitamin D is to build up our immune system. A deficiency may cause you to be sick often as it fights infection. Also, it makes it possible for our body to absorb calcium, minerals, and micronutrients, making our bones stronger. Increased deficiency of vitamin D can cause cardiovascular diseases too.
To replenish vitamin D, you need a minimum of 20 minutes of exposure to sunlight every day. You can also take vitamin D supplements for the treatment of vitamin D deficiency.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is another essential antioxidant important for the growth and repair of skin, tissues, and bones. It also helps in maintaining healthy gums and teeth. Iron is absorbed in the body with the help of vitamin C. For the health of blood vessels and the healing of wounds and burns, vitamin C is vital.
A deficiency of this important nutrient can make adults feel irritable, tired, and weak. Insufficiency also causes weight loss and joint and muscle aches. A prolonged deficiency is linked with scurvy, which is a condition causing anemia, gingivitis, weakness, and skin hemorrhages.
To treat vitamin C deficiency, increase intake of tomatoes, citrus fruits, potatoes, sweet pepper, broccoli, and strawberries.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is a fat-soluble compound stored chiefly in your liver. It is essential for vision health, skin health, and tissue health. It also helps your body in fighting infections. Vitamin A is also called retinol. Muscle strength is associated with vitamin A, and a deficiency causes them to become weak, which is why people feel weary and tired.
Severe vitamin A deficiency can cause vision loss and can also be fatal. Sources of vitamin A include milk, papaya, carrots, spinach, sweet potato, mangoes, eggs, fish-liver oil, liver, and leafy green vegetables.
Many of us do not stick to a perfect diet every day and struggle to get enough sleep on a regular basis. To help bridge these gaps , we need to add more fruits and vegetables to our family’s diet to fill the nutrient deficiencies. And to regulate the sleep cycles, implementing more physical exercise to our daily routine as well as taking dietary supplements to increase nutrient intakes, such as valerian tea, magnesium supplements, melatonin gummies for kids and adults, etc.
