Vitamin Deficiencies: Most People Have A Few.

Wishing you a very Happy Fourth of July!

Subclinical deficiency can be used to describe a nutritional deficit not yet far enough advanced to produce obvious symptoms. In lay terms, however, the phrase has become a handy explanation for common but hard-to-pin-down symptoms, such as fatigue, irritability, nervousness, emotional depression, allergies, and insomnia.

The good news is that the nutritional Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs) are broad enough to prevent most serious vitamin deficiencies for those who eat a reasonably balanced diet.

Your body sends you signals when there is a vitamin deficiency. Here are some examples:

Vitamin A: A deficiency in Vitamin A can produce poor night vision; dry, rough, or cracked skin; dry mucous membranes including the inside of the eye; slow wound healing; nerve damage; reduced ability to taste, hear, and smell; inability to perspire; and reduced resistance to respiratory infections.

Vitamin D: Lack of this vitamin in children can result in weak muscles, delayed tooth development, and soft bones; adults can suffer from soft, porous bones that fracture easily.

Vitamin E: If you do not absorb enough vitamin E, you can lose your inability to store fat.

Vitamin K: Without this critical vitamin, blood fails to clot.

Vitamin C: Insufficient levels of vitamin C can result in bleeding gums, tooth loss, nosebleeds, bruising, painful or swollen joints, shortness of breath, increased susceptibility to infection, slow wound healing, muscle pains, and skin rashes.

Vitamin B1: A shortage of vitamin B1 can lead to poor appetite, unintended weight loss, upset stomach, gastric upset (nausea, vomiting), mental depression, and an inability to concentrate.

Vitamin B2: Look for inflamed mucous membranes, including cracked lips, sore tongue and mouth, burning eyes; skin rashes; and anemia if you have a vitamin B2 deficiency.

Come into Vital Plus Pharmacy, we carry a full line of nutritional supplements that will help almost everyone because we know that as we enter different phases of growth or life, our nutritional needs change and subtle deficiencies can start to affect your health. Drug interactions, physical exertion, and lifestyle changes can all affect how our bodies absorb or do not absorb critical vitamins. Stop in, and we will recommend the right nutritional supplement specifically for you.