Thursday, September 24, 2009

Vitamin B12 Levels Affected by Vegan Diets

Vegan and vegetarian diets both rely exclusively on vegetables as the main source of nutrition, although well… this is a personal choice, you need to know that these diets can contribute greatly to the development of a vitamin B12 deficiency. This vitamin is commonly found in animal food, yet, it is rarely found in good quantities in vegetables, so sooner or later your B12 levels will start to drop, deteriorating your health.

Luckily, there is no need to make a change in your diet and beliefs, rather you need to acquire vitamin B12 through the help of B12 supplements, or by adding fortified cereals to your diet. By preventing a deficiency, you’ll be preventing symptoms such as anemia, confusion, weakness, diarrhea, fatigue, constipation and more.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Help Your Kids Get Vitamin D

The symptoms of a vitamin d deficiency can have an incidence in your children and this in turn causes a terrible effect in them, since we need this vitamin for a good muscular and bone development. When a child has this type of deficiency, it will lead to the appearance of rickets.

Rickets is a disease that causes in children the development of bowed legs as a result of lack of strength in the bones. It is important that we provide our children with good amounts of D vitamin; but this vitamin is not acquired through food, but from Sun exposure. Even the use of sunscreen can interfere with our bodies’ natural ability to absorb and process the vitamin, so in reality we shouldn’t be afraid of the sun unless there is too much exposure.

Check out his video for a great explanation on how to help our kids:

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Can Vitamin Deficiency Cause Hair Loss?


Few people are aware that hair loss can be one of the signs of vitamin deficiency. As a matter of fact, we lose about 100 hairs per day normally, but they grow back; the problem arises when these hairs never ever grow back and we start developing “sterile zones” in the scalp. For women hair loss can even be traumatizing, so it is good to avoid this by getting a proper nutrition and diet.

In the case of women a deficiency of vitamins can be a leading factor that causes the loss of hair. The primary factor in women is stress and tension which causes changes in the body. If you suspect you are having vitamin deficiency hair loss, it would be a great idea to undergo proper testing with the help of a doctor.

Meds and Vitamin Deficiencies

Medications are great to treat some conditions and diseases, but did you know that some of them can hinder your ability to absorb and process the vitamins in your body? Of course this is a problem that will lead to a vitamin deficiency if you continue taking the medication.

This is nothing new, we’ve all heard before of the side effects of lots and lots of medications. Even important treatments such as chemotherapy to treat cancer leave people weak, sad and depressed and there’s no guarantee it will work!

So the best advice is to try and opt for natural options. You see, we don’t even need supplements each morning if we get al the necessary vitamins through a good diet and lifestyle.