Mouth Ulcers Or Cracks In The Corners Of The Mouth
Lesions in and around the mouth may partly be linked to an insufficient intake of certain vitamins or minerals.
For instance, mouth ulcers, also commonly referred to as canker sores, are often the result of deficiencies in iron or B vitamins.
One small study notes that patients with mouth ulcers appear to be twice as likely to have low iron levels .
In another small study, around 28% of patients with mouth ulcers had deficiencies in thiamine , riboflavin , and pyridoxine .
Angular cheilitis, a condition that causes the corners of the mouth to crack, split, or bleed, can be caused by excess salivation or dehydration. However, it may also be caused by an insufficient intake of iron and B vitamins, particularly riboflavin (
17 ).
If you experience these symptoms, try adding the foods above to your diet to see if your symptoms improve.
Summary People with mouth ulcers or cracks at the corners of the mouth may want to try consuming more foods rich in thiamine, riboflavin, pyridoxine, and iron to alleviate symptoms.
What Is Hair Loss
The medical term for hair loss is alopecia. There may be associated scalp disease or scarring.
- Alopecia may be localised or diffuse.
- It can affect the scalp or other parts of the body.
- It may be due to hair shedding, poor quality hair, or hair thinning.
- There may be areas of skin that are completely bald.
- There may be associated skin disease or scarring.
Unfortunately, hair loss may not be easy to remedy.
A Lack Of Iron And Zinc
There’s a misconception that little white flecks in your nails may indicate a calcium deposit. According to Reader’s Digest, those spots might be a sign your diet is lacking in zinc. Both zinc and iron-found together naturally in red meats and some seafood-are essential to keratin formation, says Wu, so skimping on these can cause hair and nail problems. Getting enough can be challenging for vegetarians and vegans, she says. Luckily, both zinc and iron are found naturally in some beans.
More on Huffington Post Healthy Living:
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What Can Cause Brittle Nails And Hair Loss
As mentioned, hair thinning and weaker nails can be a part of the aging process. Yet it is important to stay on the lookout for other changes that occur, but understand that it may not be a serious problem.
If you regularly bleach, dye, or apply heating products to your hair, you might be damaging it to the point where it begins to thin and fall out. The same goes for getting too many manicures or artificial nails.
Aside from these general problems, there are three more serious issues that might be the culprit.
Medications And The Pharmaceutical Industry
The pharmaceutical industry has made many attempts at eliminating hair loss. Some products provide supplemental potassium in higher dosages than are allowed in the supplement world as evidenced when visiting local health food stores. Still others are available as creams or foam, eliminating the sodium that accumulates around the hair follicle in those with a potassium deficiency. Many of these products work in the short run, but require constant use until the potassium deficiency is eliminated, and the resulting hair loss is brought to a halt.
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Supporting Your Thyroid Back To Health
Proper Testing Completing a full thyroid panel once a year is an excellent idea for anyone struggling with the above symptoms. A full thyroid panel will include free T3, free T4, T3, T4, TSH, and TPO and I also like to run reverse T3. Reverse T3 is a good marker to see if stress coming from overworked adrenals is at the root of a thyroid issue. It is crucial to find a good practitioner who can review the results with you. Unfortunately, it is common to find that while your lab work is normal, you still have symptoms. We truly must be our own detectives and advocate for our health.
Check Ferritin Ferritin is the stored form of iron. Low ferritin is one of the most common causes of hair loss in women. Given that low ferritin is also a common problem for those with hypothyroidism, it is important to have your iron levels tested, including ferritinespecially if you are experiencing hair loss. It is not enough to be told by your doctor that your iron levels are normal. The range is wide , but you should at least be between 65-80. Liver Capsules are great for low ferritin, and I also love Gaia Herbs Liquid Iron. This type of iron, as opposed to many other forms and brands, tends not to constipate.
Adequate Carbohydrate Intake It is essential that we consume enough carbohydrates to support our thyroid. We have talked about this in-depth in our carbohydrates and stress blog this entire blog is dedicated to how to use carbohydrates strategically to support the thyroid.
What Healthy Nails And Hair Look Like
First let’s envision what healthy nails and hair look like. Healthy nails are evenly colored, smooth, strong, and have a pale pink or flesh covered nail bed. Hair is optimally shiny, without split ends. Baldness and pattern baldness are hereditary however, some cases of hair loss or thinning can indicate a health issue.
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Managing Autoimmune Conditions To Control Flare Ups
People suffering from symptoms, such as hair loss, rashes and nail deformities often overlook the role of his or her dermatologist in helping to diagnose, treat, and limit the spread of chronic diseases like lupus or psoriatic arthritis. Immune system disorders can happen to anyone at any age. The paradigm of these conditions is that a genetically predisposed person with hormonal imbalances encounters some environmental factor that triggers his or her autoimmunity. Physical and emotional stress may contribute to the development of a disorder. Unfortunately, the disease itself may cause significant stress, which can lead to a vicious cycle.
Once an autoimmune condition is correctly diagnosed, it can usually be managed with a combination of medications, therapies and lifestyle changes to arrest the spread of diseases to other organs. While conventional medicine continues to develop better methods of managing autoimmunity, you can work with your doctor and dermatologist to create a path to better health by focusing on factors that are completely within your control. In the past, medical providers stole medications from other specialties to treat autoimmune diseases. Finally, researchers are working at the cell level to design better treatments that work on the autoimmune conditions that need to be treated.
Role Of Micronutrients In Scalp Scaling Conditions
Passi et al. noticed a significant deficiency of serum vitamin E in patients with seborrheic dermatitis as compared with a control group . Of note, zinc therapy was found to significantly increase both the size of the sebaceous glands and cell proliferation in the sebaceous glands in an animal study .
A possible relationship between vitamin D level and psoriasis, including scalp psoriasis, is controversial. The authors of an observational casecontrol study investigated 561 subjects, of whom 170 had psoriasis , 51 had autoimmune bullous diseases, and 340 were healthy controls. The 25-hydroxyvitamin D blood level in each group was measured and found to be significantly different in all three groups, with psoriatic patients having significantly lower vitamin D levels than healthy controls . The authors of this study concluded that vitamin D level may correlate with psoriasis duration .
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What Brittle Nails Can Mean
If these techniques dont work to strengthen brittle nails, its time to see your primary care doctor or a dermatologist. Brittle nails can be signs of other health conditions, so be sure to let your doctor know of any other changes you notice.
Some health conditions that can cause brittle nails include:
- Raynauds syndrome: This disease causes circulation problems in the extremities, according to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. When the smaller arteries in hands and feet narrow, those extremities might feel numb or cold. Not surprisingly, this can affect nail health.
- Hypothyroidism: Low thyroid levels can cause more than just brittle nails. You might also notice fatigue, weight gain, dry skin, thinning hair, memory problems, depression, and constipation, according to Harvard Health Publishing.
- Anemia: Low iron levels can cause your nails to be brittle, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. You may also experience fatigue, shortness of breath, headaches, dizziness, cracks in the side of your mouth, or frequent infections. If blood work shows low iron, your doctor may recommend iron supplements.
- Cancer treatment: Brittle nails can be a side effect of cancer treatment, especially chemotherapy and other targeted therapies. If youre undergoing cancer treatment, talk to your oncology team about how to keep your nails and skin healthy and moisturized.
What Vitamin Deficiency Causes Hair Loss And Brittle Nails
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Page Contents
Wondering what vitamin deficiency causes hair loss and brittle nails? Were going to properly address that on this post but before we start, let me quickly ask you a question:
Whats usually your first reaction when you look at the comb after combing your hair?
Personally, I used to feel very sad and depressed after seeing the strands of tangled hair on the comb once I see how much hair we lost. It wasnt a happy experience. In fact, it was scary and depressing that was a long time ago though.
Hope youll gain from our experience and pass on the message to the others to benefit. And yes, theres one more thing weve to talk about, your nails.
So, our topic today is about brittle hair and nails vitamin deficiency.
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Amino Acids And Proteins
Protein malnutrition, such as in kwashiorkor and marasmus, can result in hair changes that include hair thinning and hair loss .
One study examined the role of L-lysine, an essential amino acid that may play a role in iron and zinc uptake. Addition of L-lysine to iron supplementation resulted in a significant increase in mean serum ferritin concentration in some women with chronic TE who failed to respond to iron supplementation alone . Although interesting, there is limited data available, and the role of L-lysine should be investigated further.
In terms of other amino acids and proteins, no clear conclusions may be drawn about the role of supplementation in hair loss. While trials of amino acid and protein supplements have been published, they are formulated with a variety of nutrients, and therefore it is unclear what role, if any, is played by amino acid and protein supplementation in the absence of known deficiency.
Your Hair Skin And Nails Are Trying To Tell You Something Are You Listening
Imagine if your body parts could talk, how creepy would that be? Well, we are glad they dont but they sure do give us hints of an underlying problem. Especially your hair, skin and nails reveal a lot about your health. Instead of blaming your genetics and skin care products how about you try and understand the root cause of your hair, skin and nail issues and address them once and for all?
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Banana Spinach And Lemon
We are aware of the health benefits of banana and spinach is rich in vitamins. This healthy drink will take care of your daily vitamin and nutrient requirement.
How to make it: Take a bunch of spinach leaves, three bananas and a juice of half a lemon. Put all three ingredients in a blender and add in 350 ml of water. Blend it to make a smooth drink.
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How Much Biotin Can You Take For Hair Loss
Biotin is present in many foods, including eggs, fish, meat, seeds, nuts, sweet potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower.
For supplementation, Cleveland Clinic dermatologists favor amega-B vitamin combination that includes:
- 3 milligrams of biotin.
- 200 milligrams of vitamin C.
- < 1 milligram of folic acid.
Occasionally, the mega B-vitamin combination gives somepatients minor gastric trouble, but switching them to biotin alone relievesit, Dr. Bergfeld notes.
And if you cant find the mega B-vitamin combination, youcan buy biotin, zinc and vitamin C separately, she says.
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Can A Supplement Make A Difference
The specific nutrients in hair, skin, and nail supplements include antioxidants like vitamins A, C, and E, or Coenzyme Q10, and also biotin, a B-complex vitamin. Hair supplements often contain manganese and selenium as well as fatty acids like fish oil and flaxseed oil.
Deficiencies of these nutrients, although uncommon, may cause a range of hairand, sometimes, skin and nailchanges. Over time, for instance, insufficient intake of vitamins A and E can cause rough, scaly skin patches. A deficiency of biotin may cause eczema and hair loss.
But for those with no clear deficiencies, experts say theres no good evidence that supplements can make a difference.
Im not aware of any robust data suggesting that any supplements can treat natural, aging-related hair loss or nail damage, or give you healthier skin, says Pieter Cohen, MD, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and an expert on dietary supplements.
Two 1990s studies did find that biotin supplements may help strengthen soft, easily breakable nails. But the studies were small and not rigorously conducted, and havent been replicated, Cohen says.
Its nothing that would ever lead me to recommend it to any of my patients, he adds.
A lot of hair supplements also have biotin, Katta says, but for people with normal levels, weve never actually shown that taking a supplement will increase hair growth.
How Diet Impacts Hypochlorhydria
Because Hypochlorhydria negatively affects a persons ability to digest proteins, the vast majority of people with this condition have difficulty digesting red meat products such as steak, roast beef and hamburgers. Other protein-rich foods like cheese and fish can also be irritating to those who are suffering from low levels of stomach acid. Unfortunately, avoiding protein-rich foods only masks the problem of Hypochlorhydria many people fail to make the connection between their intolerance for high-protein foods and a deficiency of stomach acid.
Some people with Hypochlorhydria have also found that their symptoms are minimized by avoiding foods and beverages which can cause spasms in the esophageal sphincter such as caffeine , peppermint, spearmint, and spicy foods, such as hot peppers and cured meats. Modifying dietary habits to include more high-fiber, plant-based proteins may provide some relief from post-meal symptoms of gas, bloating and constipation.
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