How Vitamin Deficiency Can Leave You Feeling Cold

One of the frequent experiences is shivering, which is perceived to be mainly due to the weather or an individual's metabolism. However for some individuals, persistent experience of cold could be warning signs of critical health conditions characterized by vitamin deficiency. Generally, vitamins perform a wide range of functions in the body among them regulating temperatures and supporting metabolism. The article has explored how individual vitamin deficiencies cause coldness sensation, symptoms, and how individuals can correct them.

 

Body Temperature Regulation

The human body is set with an internal stable temperature regulated by the actions of a very small part of the brain called the hypothalamus. This region is often compared to the thermostat in a home, maintaining a balance of heat production and heat loss by the use of various metabolic processes, blood flow, and hormonal regulation. Provided the body is performing at its best, it should then be able to sustain such a balance and keep one warm in colder climates.

On the other hand, vitamins play a very significant role in such processes, and when they are in short supply, they impede normal functioning of the body. Some are important for energy while others in the health of the blood vessel and circulation. The deficiencies of vitamins will leave the body so that it is unable to generate and maintain heat that will make individual experience coldness, especially in the limbs.

 

Important Vitamins in Maintaining Body Temperature

 

1. Vitamin D

Vitamin D aids in the development and maintenance of bones and teeth also in controlling calcium and phosphorus in the body and as immunomodulation. These other functions include muscle movement and inflammation fighting.

 

How Deficiency Affects You:

It results in muscle weakness and fatigue when vitamin D levels are below normal. Low levels of the vitamin can also cause decreased muscle performance, such that the body does not get enough time to warm itself in winter seasons. This causes a person to feel much colder due to a slow metabolism.

 

Common Signs and Symptoms of Deficiency

• Fatigue and weakness
• Bone pain or ache
• Muscle cramp or spasm
• Susceptibility to infections
• Mood changes, depression, or anxiety

Sources of Vitamin D:

Make preventive measure increase vitamin D like food, specifically oily fishes such as salmon and mackerel; fortified products of dairy; egg yolk; mushrooms. Sunlight is the other direct source of vitamin D hence way of vitamin D level building throughout-door exposure

 

2. Vitamin B12

 

Work in Body:

It is crucial in synthesizing red blood cells, DNA production, and nerve functions. Vitamin B12 also maintains nerve cells and provides an essential building block for myelin-the protective sheath around nerves.

 

How Deficiency Affects You

The primary effect of vitamin B12 deficiency is to cause anemia, which is a condition of the lack of red blood cells. Blood has a low oxygen-carrying capacity if someone has been diagnosed with anemia. A condition that results in tissues and organ functioning at lower levels produces cold feelings such as hands and feet because the body favors the necessary organs more than the extremities.

Some of the symptoms of the disease are as follows:

• Weakness
• Fatigue
• Anemia (pale skin and shortness of breath)
• Nerve problems (tingling, numbness, lack of balance)
• Cognitive impairment (amnesia, disorientation)

Food sources of Vitamin B12:

Add food items like meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, and fortified cereals to your diet to increase vitamin B12 intake. Vegetarians and vegans should look for fortified foods or supplements as B12 is found in animal products.

View More: Cold vs the Flu whats the Difference

3. Iron

 

Function in the Body:

It also contains an essential mineral for the synthesis of hemoglobin, which will carry oxygen in the bloodstream. The mineral is equally required for energy production and general metabolic processes.

 

How Deficiency Affects You:

Due to the deficiency of iron, the same symptoms arise because of vitamin B12. When your body lacks an amount of iron, insufficient production of hemoglobin will persist. Thus, this reduces the oxygen transport in human bodies. The feelings thus dwindle since your body can perform nothing less than at its absolute capacity.

 

General Symptoms

• Muscle weakness
• Pallor complexion
• Pastly feel
• Cold hands and cold feet
• Dullness during physical exercises
• Fatigue or dizziness

Sources of Iron:

Increase iron intake with red meat, poultry, fish, beans, lentils, spinach, and fortified cereals. Food sources of vitamin C like citrus fruits can enhance the absorption of iron when consumed with iron-containing foods.

 

4. Vitamin E

 

What it does

Vitamin E is an antioxidant that helps cells to fight off oxidative stress. It participates in immune function and helps keep your skin healthy. Vitamin E is necessary to ensure blood vessels are healthy.

 

How Deficiency Affects You:

This leads to decreased flow and may result in poor regulation of temperature because of possible hypothermia due to exposure. Your hands and feet might feel cold. Since vitamin E helps to have normal blood vessels, poor levels of it can only hinder the flow of this blood that will have effects on how it controls own body temperature.

 

Symptoms

• Muscle weakness
• Eye problems- Blurred eyes
• Poorly functioning immune system (an easy prey to infection)
• Poor peripheral circulation of blood

Source: Food for Vitamin E

Other Causes That Influence Cold Feelings

Add more vitamin E to your diet by including nuts and seeds, spinach, vegetable oil, and fortified cereals.

Other causes that occur, which affect the body in handling temperatures include:

• Poor circulation: Any such condition as peripheral artery disease or Raynaud's phenomenon where blood flow is affected can cause cold hands and feet. In case the blood vessels constrict, then the blood flow towards extremities gets restrained, and thus extremities feel cold.
• Thyroid Disorder: Hypothyroidism An underactive thyroid makes the person feel cold since his or her metabolic rate decreases. In case of nonproduction of a certain amount of hormones from the thyroid gland, then normally the person feels chilled.

Few Calories Intake: Also, a person feels chilled when the body does not acquire proper amounts of nutrients. Due to inadequate energy in the body caused by nutrient deficiency, then definitely a person will feel chilly. Chronic Disease Some diseases are diabetes, kidney disease and anemia, which cause coldness in limbs. Because of circulatory disorder and metabolic disease caused due to the diseases themselves the individual suffers from feeling the cold in the limbs

 

Overcoming Vitamin Deficiency

 

1. Diet Change

Intake of foods full of the above-mentioned vitamins will overcome the deficiency. Some of the food sources are listed below:

• Vitamin D: Fatty fish (salmon, mackerel), dairy products fortified with vitamin D, egg yolks, and mushrooms.
• Vitamin B12: Meat, fish, eggs, milk, and fortified cereals.
• Iron: Red meat, beans, lentils, spinach, and fortified cereals.
• Vitamin E: Nuts, seeds, spinach, and vegetable oils.

2. Supplements

If these diet changes are inadequate, consider a consultation with a physician regarding supplementation using vitamins. Certain deficiencies may be diagnosed with blood tests; thus guiding supplementation: for example vitamin D supplementation may be given to people that have less sunlight exposure, or reside in areas of high northern latitudes.

 

3. Periodical Checks

Routine check-ups identify deficiencies at the earliest, so intervention can be taken well in time. Any such symptoms of coldness and fatigue must be discussed with your healthcare provider. Blood tests might be recommended for your doctor to assess vitamins and minerals so that the deficiency is pinpointed.

 

4. Lifestyle Changes

• Keep Yourself Warm: Dress warmly and keep your habitation warm. Wearing socks and gloves might help preserve warmth at the extremities, especially during cold days.
• Exercise Regularly: Physical exercise increases blood flow, by which warmth from the body is distributed. Overall flow of blood, as explained by exercising, keeps a person fit.
• Reduce Stress: This means that stress has an impact on overall health, and more importantly, the way nutrients are absorbed, so try and minimize stress. Examples are use of Yoga, meditation, or deep breathing exercises in order to lower stress.

Conclusion

Cold may be related to vitamin deficiency states which reduce the client’s heat production and heat conserving mechanisms. Some appreciation of what vitamins and minerals do for you and what they do in your bodies, then proceed towards meeting your requirements. If you experience recurrent cold or other symptoms, consult healthcare professional concerning possible tests. The above approach can be helpful if you maintain your body heat and live comfortably throughout. Taking control of health by actually correcting vitamin deficiencies would reasonably be expected to improve a sense of energy, enhance mood, and expand one's general sense of well-being.

Please book an appointment with the best General Physician in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, and all major cities of Pakistan through InstaCare, or call our helpline at 03171777509 to find a verified doctor for your disease.