Eating a well balanced diet is critical to staying happy and healthy. In fact there are a number of general symptoms that happen if your body isn’t getting the correct nutrients it needs, such as:
Fatigue
Weakness
Lightheadedness
Constipation
The problem is that none of these symptoms are exclusive to having the wrong nutrients. There can be a variety of reasons why you may be experiencing these symptoms, such as consuming too much sugar or struggling with depression. Instead, many people will be asked to perform an expensive blood test which will require an appointment. All to know that you’re not eating the best diet. Thankfully there is an easier, cheaper alternative, all it requires is a mirror and knowing the 5 important signs that your face is telling you that you’re not eating enough of the right nutrients!
Here are the 5 facial signs that you should always keep an eye out for.
1. A Pale Complexion
If you find that your face just isn’t as vibrant like it used to be, there may be a number of vitamin deficiencies that are causing this. A loss of skin pigmentation and much paler complexion are often associated with lacking in these vitamins. The good news is that simply filling up on these vitamins will quickly bring back your beautiful complexion.
The vitamins that you are lacking in will be typically be ascorbic acid, better known as vitamin C. This vitamin helps your body produce collagen which is an essential protein to keeping muscle tissue, as well as your skin and nails, happy and healthy. Vitamin C is easy to come by, best known for being in oranges.
Folic acid, better known as vitamin B-9, helps maintain your body’s metabolism and helps supply energy all around the body, which plays a key role in developing red blood cells. If you lack the vitamin, then none of this happens and it results in folate-deficiency anemia which leads to visibly paler skin. vegetables like asparagus and broccoli, along with many fruits like avocados and citrus fruits, will give you the bump in vitamin B-9 you need.
Vitamin B-12, or cobalamin, helps your body break down nutrients for energy and contributes to the production of hemoglobin. Lacking in these nutrients can lead to pernicious anemia, which leads to a loss of skin pigmentation. Foods such as milk, cheese, meat and even fish are full of vitamin B-12.
2. Puffy Eyes
If your eyes seem to just be a lot puffier than normal, perhaps oven uncomfortable at times, this could be your body trying to tell you that you aren’t getting enough iodine.
Not having enough iodine in your body can cause your thyroid to not function properly. This leads to a wide variety of symptoms, but one of the easiest to recognize is puffy eyes.
On its own, your body doesn’t make iodine, so it has to be supplied through one’s diet. Not having enough iodine in your diet can cause problems with one’s metabolism as well as proper development and upkeep of one’s body.
Food like cranberries and organic yogurt are naturally full of iodine. Table salt also has a lot of iodine in it as well. Even foods that aren’t usually so healthy for us like ice cream can contain a lot of iodine.
3. Painful or bleeding gums
Your gums shouldn’t bleed or be very tender, almost to the point of being painful. Provided you’re keeping up on your dental work this might actually be caused by a lack of vitamin C.
As mentioned earlier, vitamin C is crucial to your body and a low amount of vitamin-C can actually result in bleeding gums. If left untreated for long enough, it can turn into gingivitis!
Unlike other vitamins, your body cannot store vitamin C for a long time because it is water-soluble. This means that daily consumption of vitamin C is important to making sure your body is never lacking.
The Institute of Medicine recommend that men who are over 18 years of age consume 90 milligrams of vitamin C per day and women who are above the age of 18 should consume 75 milligrams per day.
4. Hair Issues
Brittle hair, excessive dandruff or if your hair just isn’t as lively as it used to be, are all symptoms that your body doesn’t have enough biotin, or vitamin B7.
Biotin helps the body metabolize fats and proteins which help with hair growth. While a small dip of vitemin B7 can result in hair that doesn’t seem quite the same, going too long without vitamin B7 can be catastrophic resulting in hair loss and scaly red rashes around the eyes, nose and mouth. Certainly not the look you want before a big night.
Your body also uses biotin for many other bodily functions and is essential for your body to have. The U.S. Food and Nutrition Board suggests that all adult males and females who are above the age of 19 should be consuming around 30 mcg per day.
There are many vitamin supplements that will make sure you reach your daily dietary requirements, but if you want to stay all natural, there are many food groups that are rich in biotin such as eggs, almonds, whole grains and even some meats.
5. Pale Lips
If your lips are lacking in color and you find yourself having strange cravings for ice or even dirt, this may be a sign of your body telling you that you don’t have enough iron in your system.
Despite iron being critical for the body to create more hemoglobin, iron deficiency remains the most common nutritional deficiency among Americans.
Though pale lips may be the most noticeable symptom, the signs of iron deficiency can lead to the entire face becoming very pale when the body is low on iron.
There are many iron-rich foods for you to choose from, including foods like red meat, pork, poultry, seafood, beans, dried fruit. If none of those suit your tastes, then you can always go the route of vitamin supplements.
