Vitamins And Your Health
Those who are keen to maintain good health have found that changes to their diet, sometimes including specific supplements, can make them look and feel better and provide extra protection against illness or injury.
Are you wondering, which vitamins should I take? if so, here are five important vitamins that are essential for good health and wellbeing:
Vitamin A
Babies get their vitamin A from breast milk while children and adults get theirs from vegetables and fruits such as carrots, broccoli, sweet potatoes, peaches, papaya and apricots. Crucial for a range of important functions, such as promoting a good vision and boosting the immune system against infections and managing a proper reproductive health for both male and female, the World Health Organization has found that deficiencies in vitamin A is the leading cause of blindness in children. They also explained that pregnant women who are vitamin A deficient have higher infant mortality rates. As with other vitamins, a blood test can measure the amount of retinol and, indicate if your bodys levels are too low or not.
Vitamin B6
Symptoms of mild deficiency of vitamin B6 include irritability and sometimes patches of itchy, scaly skin. A more serious lack can cause anemia and convulsions. Taking the correct dose is important as too much can cause nerve damage.
Vitamin B12
Vitamin C
Vitamin D
Vitamin Deficiencies And Nutrition Levels From Blood Testing
Last Reviewed Date: Dec 23, 2018 Dec 23, 2018 Aug 22, 2017
Chapter 1: Healthy Body: Nutrition Basics Chapter 2: Dieting and Your Health Chapter 3: Hormones and Your Weight Chapter 4: Trending Diets: What You Should Know About Them Chapter 5: How to Avoid Hitting the Wall: Nutrition Guide for Athletes Chapter 6: Vitamins and Your Health Chapter 7: Gluten Testing: What You Need To Know Chapter 8: Vitamins and Your Weight: Are They Linked? Chapter 9: Dietary Supplements: Friend or Foe? Chapter 10: Overdosing on Vitamins: Too Much Of A Good Thing Is Possible Chapter 11: Commonly Asked Questions about Nutrition and Vitamin Supplements
About Our Vitamin Mineral & Nutritional Tests
Vitamins and minerals are considered essential nutrients. These nutrients are the raw materials that the body needs to perform important functions like healing wounds, supporting the immune system, and even converting food into energy. If the body has too many or too little vitamins and minerals, it can severely throw off daily functions and create health issues.
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Vitamins: Why Should You Get Tested
Over the past few decades, a body of clinical evidence has emerged showing a close association between nutrition and health. Through that accumulated evidence, it has become abundantly clear that providing the body with nutritious foods containing vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients is important to the maintenance of optimal health and well-being, and that poor nutrition can have detrimental effects on the body, increasing a person’s risk of developing a long list of diseases and health conditions. Many have started to measure the levels of nutrients and vitamins through testing the levels in their blood.
Does that mean that you should be taking vitamins to ensure optimal nutrition? Not necessarily. Physicians and nutrition experts agree that getting your nutrients from foods is best, and that a well-balanced diet can provide everything we need for good health. However, they also agree that supplements can be beneficial when specific vitamin deficiencies or other nutritional deficits exist. So how is the average person to know if they have nutritional deficiencies? 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.
Why Knowing Your Nutritional Status Matters?
Common Nutritional Deficiencies
Blood Testing to Detect Vitamin Deficiency
Where Can I Get Vitamin And Nutrition Testing Near Me
Here are the states you can order blood tests for vitamin levels and nutrition tests. You can also search for convenient locations near you using our Lab Locator.
Laboratory conflict
ATTENTION: You are trying to add a test that is not able to be combined with what you have in yourcart.
- There are some tests only available at LabCorp or Quest.
- Also, test kits can’t be ordered on the same order as lab collected blood work.
Please review what you are trying to order and what laboratory you have selected. Be sureonly one type of testing from one lab has been selected.
Give us a call at 877-511-5227 if you need assistance.
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What Nutritional Supplements Should I Take
Most people dont need to take supplements because a diet rich in carbohydrates, a variety of fruit, vegetables, beans, and pulses as well as good sources of protein should provide your body with the nutrients it needs.
However, it is recommended that everyone in the UK should take a vitamin D supplement, particularly during the winter months because of the lack of sunlight.
You can find out more in our blog on supplements.
Healthy Body: Nutrition Basics
Sometimes feeling tired or low in spirits, with mild aches and pains, or just generally feeling unwell, is considered insignificant. While from time to time some of these symptoms are minor disturbances of your daily life other times, they could be a sign of an illness/malfunctioning that can range from a simple cold, to some vitamins deficiencies. Occasionally, these symptoms can be more serious and indicate a chronic disease in progression. For your body to be well, you have to make sure that you are eating the right food choices for you and delivering to your body all that it needs from macro and micronutrients. Everyone has heard of colds and viral infections or even chronic diseases but very few truly understand the meaning of vitamins deficiencies. Many believe that a low level of a given vitamin could only be the burden of poor countries that suffer from poverty and famine. But, the truth is far beyond such a hypothesis. Even the richest countries or people could have vitamin deficiencies. Although the Western world has plenty of food, many people are suffering from nutrient deficiencies due to changes in the quality of the food that we produce, pick or eat. Vitamin deficiency can have many causes:
1- You could be eating the wrong kinds of food that do not offer a proper nutrition to your body
2- Maybe you are following a certain diet that does restrict you from a certain group of food, which could lead to deficiencies in both macro and micronutrients.
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What Happens If There Is A Deficiency
When a lack of micronutrient occurs, depending on which one it is, the patient suffers from a deficiency disease. The effects of these diseases can sometimes be crippling as seen in the cases of Rickets, which is a lack of Vitamin D and Scurvy- a lack of Vitamin C.
Additionally, certain nutrients are required to be present in an expectant mother while a fetus is forming, a lack of which causes serious birth defects. There are many forms of supplements that can be taken to alleviate the symptoms.
Minerals such as folic acid have been used in the prevention of birth defects, in particular, Neural Tube Defect which occurs during the formation of a fetus. According to a study on NCBI consumption of foods rich in folate as well as a dosage of 0.4mg a day of the iron supplement preconception, significantly reduced the occurrence of birth deformities.
Some studies show, however, that these dietary supplements should be taken in measured doses as overconsumption does affect a persons health in the long term. In fact, these studies show that over-consumption of some of these supplements could lead to an increased risk of developing cancer.
Doctor, author and fitness enthusiast, Ahmed Zayed, MD, is a surgery resident with a passion for helping people live a happy healthy life. He is the author of numerous health-related books and contributor to several medicine, health and wellbeing websites.
Why Get Nutritional Testing
Nutrients play a vital role in almost every physiological process in the body, from metabolism and immunity to digestion and hormone regulation. Over time, nutritional imbalances can lead to symptoms such as weight gain or loss, muscle mass and/or bone density loss, muscle and joint pain, fatigue, poor memory and focus, insomnia and even life-threatening diseases.
All too often, patients suffering from these ailments have their concerns brushed aside by physicians. In reality, they may be on track to developing chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension or heart disease. A simple blood test is a powerful tool that can help identify nutritional problems early and prevent the development of disease.
Even patients who do not suffer from uncomfortable symptoms may be deficient in certain essential nutrients. Iron, Vitamin D, Vitamin B12, calcium, and magnesium are among the most common nutrient deficiencies in the United States and can be easily identified with a blood test for nutritional deficiencies. Modifying your diet or adding in supplements is an easy way to correct deficiencies and achieve optimal health.
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Is There A Home Test For Vitamin Deficiency
Vitamins and minerals are vital for energy production, blood clotting, boosting the immune system and our overall health and wellbeing. So when vitamin levels are low, it can result in a number of unfavorable signs and symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath, muscle weakness, or irregular heartbeats. Its worth noting that these symptoms may be subtle at first, and will escalate as the deficiency progresses – which is why its so important to keep an eye on your levels.
A vitamin deficiency test is typically a blood test and can be carried out by your healthcare provider. This test can check if your vitamin levels are within a healthy range and can potentially rule out any underlying health conditions or explain any symptoms you may be experiencing. If you would prefer to take a test from home, this can be done with an at-home test.
LetsGetCheckeds range of at-home Vitamin Tests can help identify key deficiencies in vitamin B12, vitamin D, or both with online results available within 5 days.
If you cant make the visit to your local doctor, you can check your vitamin levels from the comfort of your own home with an at-home vitamin deficiency lab test.
LetsGetCheckeds range of at-home Vitamin Deficiency Tests identify key deficiencies in Vitamin B12, Vitamin D or both with online results in just 5 days. Our range of at-home Micronutrient Tests can also provide insights into your diet and identify any deficiencies in other key vitamins and minerals.
Vitamin D Production Can Vary Significantly
The ability of each person to produce vitamin D through sun exposure or to increase the vitamin D level by taking vitamin d supplements, can vary significantly and depends on age, body weight, skin colour, sun exposure, and life style.
It is not said, that each person can reach the same vitamin D level by taking the same amount of vitamin D or having the same sun exposure. Some people may need more or less vitamin D per day to achieve the same level.
Therefore, the recommended rules for calculating the optimal vitamin D dosage are only indicative. To know your personal vitamin D level, a 25D blood test has to be performed. It shows you exactly how your vitamin D level is changing depending on the vitamin D intake and sun exposure.
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How To Test Your Vitamin D Levels:
Lets Get Checked is my go-to provider for at-home testing kits for myself and clients. You just order them online, have the kit shipped to you, then do the tests at home and send the kit back in the mail.
One and done.
And after processing, their team of physicians will review your results and a member of their nursing team will call you to deliver the results and discuss treatment options.
I recommend this Vitamin D test from them:
At home Vitamin D test identifying Vitamin D deficiencies with online results in 5 days.
Biomarkers covered:
- Vitamin D
Looking For Reference Ranges
You may be able to find your test results on your laboratorys website or patient portal. However, you are currently at Lab Tests Online. You may have been directed here by your labs website in order to provide you with background information about the test you had performed. You will need to return to your labs website or portal, or contact your healthcare practitioner in order to obtain your test results.
Lab Tests Online is an award-winning patient education website offering information on laboratory tests. The content on the site, which has been reviewed by laboratory scientists and other medical professionals, provides general explanations of what results might mean for each test listed on the site, such as what a high or low value might suggest to your healthcare practitioner about your health or medical condition.
The reference ranges for your tests can be found on your laboratory report. They are typically found to the right of your results.
If you do not have your lab report, consult your healthcare provider or the laboratory that performed the test to obtain the reference range.
For more information, please read the article Reference Ranges and What They Mean.
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How To Get More Calcium
Adults should receive 1,000 mg of calcium each day from food sources and supplements.
Calcium-rich foods include as salmon and sardines , broccoli and bok choi.
And, of course, dairy products including skim milk, and nonfat or lowfat yogurt. Try swapping one daily sugary beverage for an 8 oz. glass of milk. And keep a few yogurts in the fridge at home or work for midday snacks. You can also use the milk and yogurt to make homemade smoothies, with fresh or frozen berries.
How To Avoid Hitting The Wall: Nutrition Guide For Athletes
Most athletes, especially endurance athletes, have had the experience of hitting the wall in terms of performance during a sporting event or while training. So, what doeshitting the wall mean? It is a physiological reaction to long periods of strenuous exercise when the body starts rebelling against itself in one or more of several ways. Your body does not like to be pushed to its limits. Here, we will get into the details of this frustrating problem, including what happens when athletes hit the wall, what can cause it and how to avoid it.
What Is Hitting the Wall?
The term hitting the wall means a lag in performance that cannot be resolved at that moment, no matter how hard one pushes the body and mind. It is the reason that many marathon runners take an average of two minutes longer to complete the second half of a race than they do the first half. So, what happens when an athlete hits the wall? For some athletes, it is about the muscles rebelling, where the mind is still willing but, the body gives out. For others, mental exhaustion could take hold, impairing coordination and performance.
What Can Cause It?
How to Avoid Hitting the Wall
Common nutritional deficits Low intake or poor absorption of B-vitamins, which are essential to energy metabolism, can cause endurance issues, as can low levels of vitamin D, which can cause muscle weakness. Getting vitamin levels checked can detect these issues.
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The Role Of Vitamin D In Our Bodies
So can you test your own Vitamin D levels at home? Absolutely. But why would you want to? Join us for a closer look at the role of vitamin D plays in your health
On the whole, vitamin D helps our bodies use calcium. It is a crucial element for growing and maintaining healthy bones and teeth. In addition, vitamin D boosts our immune system by regulating how calcium and phosphorus are absorbed into our bodies.
Unfortunately, according to the CDC, three-quarters of Americans are suffering from a vitamin D deficiency. The American Academy of Pediatrics report that deficiency rates for infants, children and adolescents are even more worrisome. Lower levels of the D have been linked to a number of medical conditions.
Additional Vitamin Deficiency Symptoms
As informed by the Mayo Clinic, vitamin deficiency symptoms may include:
- Fatigue
- Mental confusion
- Forgetfulness
The Mayo Clinic also informs that vitamin deficiency symptoms often develop slowly over time, so they may be difficult to identify at first.
If any of the above are experienced, a medical professional should be contacted, as they will be able to advise on the best course of treatment.
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How To Prevent Deficiency
A study published in January 2018 in the Nutrients Journal confirmed that the best way for vitamin deficiencies to be prevented is through a balanced diet that incorporates all of the necessary vitamins the body requires.
A further study, also published in the Nutrients Journal in 2017, advises that multivitamin supplements are also a highly effective way of minimizing the risk of vitamin and mineral deficiency.
Burning Sensation In The Feet Or Tongue
“If you’re experiencing this, it should definitely sound an alarm,” Graham says. Talk to your doctor, who will likely order a blood test to check your B12 levels. You almost might have issues with balance, constipation and dry skin.
B12 plays an essential role in your health by producing hemoglobin, part of your red blood cells that helps the cells in your body receive life-giving oxygen. The vitamin is needed for a variety of systems, like your digestive tract, to work properly.
In addition, B12 deficiency can create mild cognitive impairment, so if you’re experiencing any changes in memory, thinking or behavior, see your doctor. Over time, B12 deficiency can permanently damage your nervous system, traveling up the spine and into the brain.
Vegans take special note: Plant-based diets eliminate most foods rich in B12, increasing the risk of deficiency. But you can get your daily dose from almond milk, nutritional yeast, and fortified soy and coconut milk.
“It can take a long time to become deficient in B12 as long as three years to deplete the liver of this important vitamin,” she says. “But over time, not having enough B12 can seriously damage vital functions and it must be addressed.”
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