6 signs of nutritional deficiencies

Signal 1: Dry, thin, brittle hair, and hair loss

Possible nutritional deficiencies: protein, energy, essential fatty acids, and trace element zinc.

Nutritional countermeasures: Ensure daily intake of staple foods to provide the body with sufficient energy in the most economical way. Ensure 3 taels of lean meat, 1 egg and 250 ml of milk every day to supplement high-quality protein and increase the intake of essential fatty acids. Eat marine fish 2 to 3 times a week and more oysters to increase the trace element zinc.

Signal 2: Reduced night vision

Possible nutritional deficiencies: Vitamin A. If not corrected in time, it may further develop into night blindness and cause corneal dryness, ulcers, etc.

Nutritional countermeasures: Increase the intake of foods such as carrots and pork liver. Both provide vitamin A in plant and animal forms respectively, with the latter being more efficiently absorbed. It should be noted that vitamin A is a vitamin that dissolves in oil but not in water. Therefore, the absorption efficiency of vitamin A can be greatly improved by cooking carrots with vegetable oil rather than eating them raw.

Signal 3: Glossitis, fissure tongue, tongue edema

Possible nutritional deficiencies: B vitamins.

Nutritional countermeasures: Washing rice, steaming rice, etc. can cause a large loss of B vitamins. Eating refined rice and noodles for a long time, eating a vegetarian diet for a long time, without any other supplements, can easily lead to a deficiency of B vitamins. To this end, the staple food should be a combination of coarse and fine, and meat and vegetables. If you are a vegetarian, you should supplement with a certain amount of B complex vitamin preparations every day.

Signal 4: Bleeding gums

Possible nutritional deficiencies: Vitamin C.

Nutritional countermeasures: Vitamin C is the most easily deficient vitamin because it has very demanding requirements for living conditions. Light, temperature, storage and cooking methods can all cause the destruction or loss of vitamin C. Therefore, you should eat plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits every day. It is best to consume about 1 kilogram of vegetables and 2 to 3 fruits. Among them, the best cooking method for vegetables is a combination of hot stir-fry and cold salad.

Signal 5: Loss of taste

Possible nutritional deficiencies: Zinc.

Nutritional countermeasures: Increasing the intake of shellfish, such as oysters, scallops, etc., is an effective way to supplement the trace element zinc. In addition, ensuring 1 egg, 3 taels of red meat and 1 tael of beans every day is also necessary to supplement the trace element zinc.

Signal 6: Dry corners of mouth

Possible nutritional deficiencies: Riboflavin (vitamin B1) and niacin.

Nutritional Countermeasures: The content of riboflavin (vitamin B1) varies greatly in different foods. Animal liver, egg yolk, milk, etc. are rich in it. To this end, you should supplement pork liver once a week (2 to 3 taels), and 250 ml of milk and one egg every day. It should be noted that processing cereal foods can cause a large loss of vitamin B1. For example, the vitamin B1 retention rate of refined white rice is only 11%, and the vitamin B1 retention rate of standard wheat flour is only 35%. Therefore, attention should be paid to the combination of coarse and fine staple foods. Niacin mainly comes from animal foods, especially pork liver, chicken liver, etc.