Vitamin B12 deficiency is particularly common and can result in fatigue, weakness, and low energy. B12 is essential for red blood cell production, and so low B12 levels can also lead to anemia.
Possible culprit: A vitamin or mineral deficiency
One possible reason for feeling tired, anxious, and weak is having low levels of iron, vitamin D, or B12. Many experts believe that a significant percentage of the U.S. population is deficient in vitamin D.
Vitamin B3 (Niacin)
Tiredness is a common symptom that can arise when thyroid hormones are low. If there's not enough B3 in your diet, you may start to feel tired.
4 Most Common Vitamin Deficiencies. The four most common vitamin deficiencies include vitamin D, B6 and B12, and folic acid. Other common nutritional deficiencies include iron, iodine, magnesium, and calcium.
Micronutrient deficiencies can cause several serious health issues. A lack of iron, folate and vitamins B12 and A can lead to anaemia. Anaemia is a condition in which there is a reduced number of red blood cells or haemoglobin concentration, causing fatigue, weakness, shortage of breath and dizziness.
Common deficiencies include potassium, zinc, magnesium, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin B12, iodine, and vitamin K2. But the most common vitamin and mineral deficiencies worldwide are vitamins A and D3 and iron.
Vitamin D deficiency can lead to a loss of bone density, which can contribute to osteoporosis and fractures (broken bones). Severe vitamin D deficiency can also lead to other diseases: In children, it can cause rickets. Rickets is a rare disease that causes the bones to become soft and bend.
Symptoms of vitamin D deficiency may include:
Fatigue. Not sleeping well. Bone pain or achiness. Depression or feelings of sadness.
In most cases, there's a reason for the fatigue. It might be allergic rhinitis, anemia, depression, fibromyalgia, chronic kidney disease, liver disease, lung disease (COPD), a bacterial or viral infection, or some other health condition.
Magnesium helps to reduce fatigue and exhaustion. The mineral plays an important role in maintaining normal nervous system activity. A magnesium deficiency can interfere with the transmission of nerve impulses. It may also reduce circulation.
It is caused by factors that can include stress from significant life events, or changes to your sleep schedule. Or it could be secondary insomnia, which is linked to health conditions like mental health issues, other sleep disorders, illness, or pain — and it can be acute or chronic.
Therefore, conditions that affect the gut and digestion, like celiac disease, chronic pancreatitis, Crohn's disease, and cystic fibrosis, can reduce vitamin D absorption.
In general, the two main causes of vitamin D deficiency are: Not getting enough vitamin D in your diet and/or through sunlight. Your body isn't properly absorbing or using vitamin D.
Muscle weakness due to vitamin D deficiency is predominantly of the proximal muscle groups and is manifested by a feeling of heaviness in the legs, tiring easily, and difficulty in mounting stairs and rising from a chair; the deficiency is reversible with supplementation (15–18).
Fatigue. Megaloblastic anemia due to vitamin B-12 deficiency may lead to a person feeling fatigued. Without enough red blood cells to carry oxygen around their body, a person can feel extremely tired.
The most common way to treat B12 deficiencies is by adjusting your diet. If this is unsuccessful, vitamin supplements may be recommended. If you're looking to boost the amount of vitamin B12 in your diet, you should eat more animal products, like meat, seafood, dairy and eggs.
Iron deficiency is the most prevalent nutritional deficiency, with young children and premenopausal women at the highest risk of iron deficiency [21, 22].
The good news is, most healthy people get plenty of Vitamin K directly through their diet. But, it is often referred to as “the Forgotten Vitamin” because it doesn't seem to get talked about nearly as much as the rest of its vitamin family.
Blood tests can be used to evaluate a person's nutritional status, measuring the amounts of essential nutrients in the body to detect nutritional deficits, including vitamin deficiency.
These include, but are not limited to, Protein Energy Malnutrition, Scurvy, Rickets, Beriberi, Hypocalcemia, Osteomalacia, Vitamin K Deficiency, Pellagra, Xerophthalmia, and Iron Deficiency.
Dizziness is a common symptom of vitamin D deficiency, along with fatigue and brain fog. If you are feeling dizzy all the time, it is worth checking your vitamin D levels. Insufficient vitamin D can cause dizziness because it plays a role in maintaining blood pressure and fluid balance.