What is Tempeh? Nutrition, Health Benefits, How to eat
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Ever found yourself struggling to get through the day even though you treated yourself to eight hours of undisturbed sleep the previous night? Ever begin to do a task but forget the purpose why you started doing it, midway? Ever find yourself feeling anxious and edgy without a significant reason? If you answered yes to all these questions, you could be suffering from vitamin B-12 deficiency. Vitamin B-12 is responsible for the production of healthy red blood cells, healthy nerve function and DNA synthesis. Since the human body is not equipped to synthesize B-12, you need to obtain it from food sources and supplements.It is critical that you enjoy a diet rich in vitamin B-12 foods like meat and dairy products for your overall good health and well-being. Old age, a vegetarian diet, certain indigestion and reflux medications and gastrointestinal disorders are common triggers of a B-12 deficiency.
Here are The Ten Greatest Signs of Vitamin B-12 Deficiency:
1. You Suffer from Chronic Fatigue:
One of the most common B-12 deficiency symptoms is fatigue. Since vitamin B-12 is responsible for the synthesis of the oxygen-carrying red blood cells, their deficiency can cause you to feel tired despite a peaceful night’s rest. Lack of oxygen flow in the body equals lack of energy.
2. Your Skin Seems Pale and Sallow:
If your skin has been appearing off-color lately, the lack of B-12 could have a role to play. The deficiency of B-12 causes the RBCs in the body to break easily, thereby resulting in the release of bilirubin - a pigment that causes the skin to turn yellowish.
3. You Experience Mood Swings :
Studies show that many patients who report depressive symptoms are low on vitamin B-12 levels. Vitamin B-12 helps synthesize the mood-regulating compound SAM-e or S-adenosylmethionine that aids the production of serotonin, a chemical that maintains mood balance.
4. You Have Nerve Problems:
Another symptom people often experience as a result of low vitamin B-12 levels is tingling and pain in their hands and feet. This tingling and stinging are often a result of low oxygen levels in the body (due to the lack of RBCs) that causes nerve damage.
5. You Face Digestive Issues:
Low levels of vitamin B-12 in the body can also impact your digestive health. A deficiency of this vitamin can paralyze the muscle tissue in your digestive tract’s lining. It can thus hinder the proper functioning of your intestines.
6. You Suffer from Vision Loss:
Vitamin B-12 is responsible for healthy nerve function, so its deficiency can lead to optic neuropathy - damage to the optic nerve. This can even result in vision loss. Research suggests that the lack of vitamin B-12 in the body can also contribute to other problems with the vision like glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, and cataract.
7. Your Tongue Becomes Smooth:
If you are a food lover, not being able to taste your food properly is the last thing you’d want. Turns out that a severe B-12 deficiency can also cause you to lose the papillae (bumps) on your tongue that contain taste buds. This is further associated with a burning sensation and pain on the back of your tongue.
8. You Experience Weakness:
Finding it difficult to move those boxes around the house? Your body could be lacking in oxygen, thereby causing your muscles to feel weak. Vitamin B-12 deficiency restricts the flow of oxygen in your body, causing you to feel drained easily.
9. You Become Forgetful:
Old age is associated with numerous health concerns and memory loss is one of the most common of them all. Studies report that low vitamin B-12 levels in the elderly could be responsible for reduced memory and cognitive decline. It could even lead to dementia.
10. You Lose Your Appetite:
As a consequence of not being able to sense the flavors of food, a deficiency of vitamin B-12 also leads to a loss of appetite in people. This can result in unhealthy weight loss and subsequent deficiencies of other nutrients.
Though the symptoms mentioned above point towards that fact that your body is deficient in vitamin B-12, they could also be associated with another health concern, so make sure you get an expert opinion on your health condition. We at Sehat, have some of the leading General physicians in Hyderabad so you can enjoy a lifetime of good health!
