Spring is not only a time of love and blossoming, but also of a lack of vitamins. Last year's apples are already running out in the cellars, the berries in the freezer are also coming to an end, and the sun is starting to warm up with renewed vigor. After a hard winter, possible colds, antibiotics, our body is like never before needs vitamins , because it is thanks to them that we can feel better, freer, healthier. But where can you get these vitamins for spring, if summer is still far away and vegetables and fruits will not soon appear in the garden?

You need to know which foods contain certain vitamins and what their daily consumption per person is - this is how you can improve the condition of your body and improve your failing health. Well, if you can’t find some foods or simply don’t eat them, just go to the pharmacy and buy a complex of vitamins or individual vitamins to make up for their deficiency in the body.

What is vitamin deficiency?

Many people think that vitamin deficiency and vitamin deficiency are the same thing. But do not be mistaken in terms, because vitamin deficiency is a deficiency in the body of a specific vitamin, and avitaminosis is a disease caused by a long-term absence of a complex of vitamins in the human body. But even doctors vitamin deficiency“They call it a common lack of vitamins, so this is not prohibited for us ordinary people either.

Signs of spring vitamin deficiency

Many of us do not even realize that they have vitamin deficiency, since in most cases the symptoms of vitamin deficiency can be confused with ordinary fatigue or other illnesses such as colds, anemia, diabetes or obesity. Vitamin deficiency in children may manifest itself with symptoms such as constant drowsiness, headaches, frequent colds, muscle pain, lack of concentration, and it is difficult for them to perform seemingly easy daily work. These signs of vitamin deficiency can be found in every second family, since the immune system of each of us is actively fighting a bad environment, and there are fewer and fewer vitamins in fruits sold in supermarkets every year, and this cannot but affect our bodies.

Vitamin deficiency is often confused with a disease such as hypovitaminoh , but they are significantly different. With vitamin deficiency, the body completely lacks, for example, vitamin A and several other vitamins, and with hypovitaminosis, it is present in the body, but in small quantities. Vitamin deficiency is a very serious disease, and its independent treatment may lead to nothing. Therefore, if you think, based on the combination of symptoms (be it constant irritability combined with pustules on the skin or insomnia with seborrhea on the hands), that you have vitamin deficiency, then you need to go to the doctor and take a special blood test, which will determine whether you have this disease.

Vitamin deficiency manifests itself with many symptoms, namely:

We treat vitamin deficiency

Vitamin deficiency in the spring can be overcome if you know where to find certain vitamins. Of course, it’s easiest to get to the nearest pharmacy, but in the spring vitamins are also found in many of the foods we eat. In order to help your body recover, you need to introduce into your diet more of those foods that will provide it with the necessary vitamins. And since vitamin deficiency is a deficiency of a whole complex of vitamins, it means that all of them must be considered in the diet. Spring vitamins will help your body wake up after a long winter, and you will welcome summer in a great mood.

Basic rules for combating spring vitamin deficiency

Even if you really have vitamin deficiency, it is impossible to make up for it with food alone, because not every family eats exclusively dishes cooked in a double boiler (it is in them that most useful vitamins are preserved). In addition, many people have snacks in the nearest canteens or even take sandwiches with them, which not only does not add vitamins to the body, but also completely harms digestion.

In this case, the body needs help - buy vitamin and mineral complexes and drink them according to the instructions. Which vitamins should you take in the spring - choose depending on the symptoms of your vitamin deficiency (it is better to consult a doctor). There are also universal complexes that contain most vitamins, but their concentration in each capsule may not be sufficient for your body. Therefore, having identified the most striking symptoms of vitamin deficiency and traced which vitamin deficiency can cause it, buy capsules exclusively with these vitamins - this way you will quickly restore the vitamin imbalance in the body. But do not forget that our body needs all vitamins, and, having chosen one of them, make sure that there is no oversaturation and subsequently a lack of other vitamins. It’s better to take the advice of a pharmacist, and let him select for you vitamin complexes created specifically for men or women, for young people or older people - in general, the vitamin complex that is most suitable for you.

Prevention of vitamin deficiency

Like any other disease, it is better to prevent spring vitamin deficiency than to treat it, because it is not so difficult. You just need to monitor your diet and lifestyle, and then you won’t even have a question about how to prevent vitamin deficiency - you won’t even think about such a disease.

Yes, it's better in winter don't lean on for pasta, rice and meat, A eat more cereals (not just the old ones, but buckwheat, pearl barley, oatmeal, pearl barley, barley), fish, all vegetables, fruits and herbs. There are practically no vitamins in canned vegetables and fruits, because they undergo serious heat treatment, and those products that are sold in supermarkets in the spring also contain few vitamins, so it is best to eat frozen or dried fruits, berries and vegetables - when quickly frozen they preserve all its beneficial properties.

And vitamin deficiency occurs especially often in women who are constantly on diets. Often it is in those products that rejected, contains most of the important and beneficial vitamins. Therefore, leave your body alone at least for the winter-spring period. A separate diet is also very conducive to vitamin deficiency, since many vitamins are not absorbed by the body without creating certain conditions, and even if you eat all the foods that contain vitamins, they may simply not “linger” in your body.

Bad habits, as always, have a detrimental effect on the body, and can even lead to vitamin deficiency. If we add to all this a sedentary lifestyle, life in a big, smoky city and frequent colds, then the picture will be completely bad.

And don’t think that if you ate only vegetables, fruits and a balanced diet for a whole month, you protected yourself from everything negative, sat on , then you stocked up on vitamins for the whole year. Unfortunately, this does not happen, and it is impossible to stock up on vitamins and microelements for future use - they must enter our body every day.

After a long, protracted winter, we really want to finally breathe in the fresh spring air, hear the cheerful trills of birds in the trees, and look at the lush green grass! Indeed, with spring everything awakens to life, but the disadvantages also “pop up” to the surface. For example, lack of vitamins in the body.

Avitaminosis, and this is what the state of lack of nutrients and minerals is called from a medical point of view, “affects” almost every organism: young, elderly and children. If spring vitamin deficiency is not prevented or at least treated, it can have much more severe consequences for the body and lead to cancer or problems of the cardiovascular system .

How can you protect yourself from the hidden threat posed by a seemingly harmless enemy? First you need to determine the signs and symptoms of spring vitamin deficiency.

Signs and symptoms of vitamin deficiency in spring

Each of us at least once in our lives has felt the signs and symptoms of spring vitamin deficiency, even if we did not know their causes. Check how many of them you can mentally check off:

• poor performance
• constant forgetfulness
• distracted attention,
• lack of good mood,
• nervousness, causeless irritability,
• fast fatiguability,
• problems with nails and hair,
• vision problems,
• weight loss,
• gastrointestinal problems (vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, flatulence),
• protracted recovery period for respiratory viral diseases,
• frequent complications after ARVI, colds and runny nose,
• severe dry skin accompanied by peeling,
• long lasting hematomas,
• bleeding gums,
• rides of the corners of the lips.

This list can be supplemented and supplemented, because vitamin deficiency is expressed differently in everyone . If you notice at least a few of them, then you should contact a specialist so that he can determine what deficiency your body is suffering from and prescribe the necessary treatment.

Causes of spring vitamin deficiency

Still, why, when we talk about vitamin deficiency, even if we don’t add it, do we always mean that it is “spring”? In short, because of the previous winter, which “pulled” all the juices out of the body. In the spring, we have to replenish the reserves of the immune system.

Here's another several reasons notsufficient vitamins in our body:

• greenhouse vegetables and fruits that we eat in winter do not fully replenish nutrients;
• the presence of foreign chemicals in other foods and drinks;
• the need for heat treatment of products, which kills 70% of nutrients;
• poor metabolism in the body;
• diseases of the digestive system that interfere with the good absorption of minerals and vitamins;
• existing imbalance of intestinal microflora;
• age-related changes;
• diseases in children, due to which the body cannot fully function well;
• taking many medications
• special stress on the immune system that the body experiences during pregnancy, after surgery and during heavy training.

Knowledge of the causes of vitamin deficiency may prompt changes in daily routine or diet to prevent the main symptoms of vitamin deficiency.

Diseases due to vitamin deficiency

Spring vitamin deficiency brings a whole bunch of diseases: some are cured quickly, but others can become chronic. Only a doctor, after conducting tests, will be able to accurately diagnose and prescribe treatment.

Let's give an incomplete list of diseases according to vitamin deficiency:

• vitamin A (retinol): problems with vision, skin, immunity and nervous system,
• B-group vitamins: problems with energy metabolism throughout the body (proteins, fats, carbohydrates, minerals), difficulties with sleep, digestion, irritability,
• vitamin C: frequent incidence of respiratory viral diseases, decreased immunity, internal bleeding,
• vitamin D: problems with the musculoskeletal system, bones, diabetes, tooth loss, hypertension,
• Vitamin E: infertility, lack of erection, cirrhosis.

Of course, you cannot eliminate all the possible consequences of vitamin deficiency on your own, but something needs to be done to lead a fulfilling lifestyle.

Prevention and treatment of vitamin deficiency

Prevention is the best treatment. If you have ever done it, you know how true this folk wisdom is. Moreover, preventive measures are simple enough to follow , and if you weave them into your daily routine, you won’t feel any stress at all.

1. Diversify your diet: add more raw vegetables and fruits, preferably locally grown, eat legumes and nuts.
2. Cook less or skip cooking if possible.
3. Eat less, but more often, make healthy snacks.
4. Limit yourself to baked goods and sweets.

Treatment of spring vitamin deficiency occurs by taking vitamins of artificial origin. Entrust their frequency and composition to be determined by a specialist, because vitamin complexes that are very popular today may, at best, not bring benefit, and at worst, they will aggravate the situation . Only a doctor knows which vitamins and minerals are best taken together and which ones separately.

Your health is only in your hands. So do your best to keep it for as long as possible!

Strictly speaking, vitamin deficiency is an extremely serious disease, which is very difficult to develop. Enter the words “scurvy”, “pellagra” or, for example, “take-take” into the search bar - and admire what happens to people who have lived for a long time without vitamins C, PP and B1, respectively. Impressive, right? Fortunately, nothing like this will happen to you.

Helped us:
Shulamith Wolfson
Employee of the nutrition clinic of the Research Institute of Nutrition of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, pediatrician

Doctors call what usually happens to us at the end of winter and beginning of spring polyhypovitaminosis, or vitamin deficiency. There is a conflict between the desired and the actual: for the body to fully function, day after day, a certain amount of useful substances is required, but it receives a subsistence minimum, or even less.

But there is good news: it’s quite easy to make up for the lack of vitamins in the spring if you make adjustments - and not so global ones - to your diet and master some culinary tricks. Just keep in mind: one-time promotions, such as preparing a fruit smoothie - a glass a week, are not enough, operation “Fortification” should be carried out thoroughly and without interruption. Judge for yourself. Fat-soluble vitamins, for example A, D, E, accumulate - provided that more of them are supplied than required, but with water-soluble vitamins (these are all the beauties of group B, C) the situation is different: their excess is simply excreted in the urine. So you need to feed your body regularly.

Choose frozen fruits and vegetables

Unfortunately, beautiful and appetizing fresh fruits and berries “made in very far away” lose a significant part of their benefits during the long journey to our supermarkets. Therefore, at the beginning of spring, switch to frozen gifts from gardens and vegetable gardens. With rapid industrial cooling, up to 95% of the necessary substances are retained in native fruits and berries (vitamin C, of ​​course, is of particular value in the off-season).

Eat dried fruits

These healthy delicacies - yes: they contain a lot of B vitamins and provitamin A. However, too bright and elastic dried apricots and raisins are not suitable: in the process of proper drying, the fruits will certainly darken and shrink, and those that retain suspiciously smooth sides have probably been treated with something -not healthy. Ignore dates boiled in sugar syrup and look for dried fruits. Candied fruits from papaya, kiwi, watermelon or pineapple, although they look nice, are also absolutely useless for vitamin supplementation.

Bake and stew

Prolonged heat treatment of foods, and vegetables in particular, is the enemy of vitamins. Root vegetables - potatoes or beets - are best baked in their skins: valuable substances (vitamins C, PP and group B) will remain sealed under the skin (ideally, the fruits should be eaten with the skin on). Vegetables that need to be cut into pieces, stewed in a small amount of water, or cooked in a double boiler: quickly, and therefore with minimal vitamin loss.

Rose hip decoction

It would be considered a spring elixir of health, if not for the vagaries of vitamin C, for the sake of which everything is usually started. A valuable, but finicky frame has a habit of being destroyed upon contact with metals, chlorinated water, when heated - in short, with any careless movement.

Therefore you cannot:

• bring the broth to a boil;
• pour very hot water over the berries, as well as keep the drink in an open container (the vitamin will oxidize) and in a non-enamel container.

Prepare porridge

Keep in mind that semolina or, for example, refined rice, that is, white cereals, are almost useless for you in the spring - after processing, negligible vitamins remain in them. The same cannot be said about pearl barley, oatmeal, brown rice and, of course, buckwheat - they contain much more vitamins B, K, P, PP and E.

It’s quite possible not to cook the oatmeal: pour 2-3 tablespoons of oatmeal into a bowl, add hot water and cover with a saucer. In about five minutes the porridge will be ready, and all the beneficial substances will be preserved in it. With buckwheat, it is not forbidden to perform the same trick: in the evening, pour a couple of tablespoons of washed cereal with cold or lukewarm water and leave it on the table. Overnight, the moisture will be absorbed, you will receive a portion of ready-made porridge - and not a single vitamin will be harmed.

Pay attention to the cabbage

Canned vegetables and fruits are of little use in terms of vitamin content. Another thing is a valuable fermented, that is, fermented, product - sauerkraut. There is no need to rinse it. Brine itself is a very healthy thing - it contains the same vitamins as cabbage. Based on it, by the way, you can prepare a dressing for any vegetable salad: mix two tablespoons of brine and a spoonful of flaxseed oil, add a pinch of ground sesame seeds and any spices - and you're done. Seaweed (kelp) and nori seaweed, in which sushi and rolls are usually swaddled, also contain a lot of useful things - for example, provitamins A, C and many B vitamins. Dry crushed seafood can be used instead of salt or simply added to different dishes – from omelettes to salads.

Try the sprouts

Sprouts of soybeans, chickpeas, peas or wheat are a real storehouse of useful substances. Don't pass by if you see a plastic box with this goodness in the store. But keep in mind: this product is perishable and is not intended for long-term storage. I bought it, made a salad, and ate it right away. If you want to tinker, start sprouting at home. Place a glass of wheat grains in a deep plate, fill them with 2 glasses of water and place them in a dark place for a day or two. Then place the swollen grains on a wet cloth and forget about them again for a couple of days. Then wash the sprouted wheat and use it. That is, in the mouth.

Drink according to the rules

Green tea is the most suitable drink for an organism exhausted by hypovitaminosis (it is known that dry leaves contain vitamins C, P, B2, K, PP, A, D and E). But learn to brew it correctly. Pour some boiling water into a cup, cover and leave for a couple of minutes. Then pour it out, add the amount of tea you need and fill it with slightly cooled water. Cover the cup again and enjoy after 10 minutes.

Take care of microflora

Beneficial substances do not always enter the body from the outside - for example, B vitamins can also be produced by your own intestinal bacteria. True, for this the latter must be properly fed with fiber. Its excellent source is rye, buckwheat, wheat, barley and other bran. About 20 minutes before eating, pour a couple of tablespoons of hot water, wait a little, and eat (it’s delicious, by the way). Just be sure to drink the bran with water, the minimum required is a glass.

3 components of success

Many people begin to feel tired and sleepy in the spring, despite the fact that they try to rest as much as possible. Such manifestations may be signs of spring vitamin deficiency, which is often the cause of many health problems during this period of time.

Symptoms of spring vitamin deficiency

Currently, signs of a lack of vitamins and minerals are considered not only drowsiness and fatigue, but also deterioration in the condition of the skin and hair. For example, often a symptom of spring vitamin deficiency in women is the appearance of split ends on the hair, brittleness of the nail plate, peeling and dry skin. This is quite simply explained: with a lack of vitamins, the body begins to spend its available resources (minerals and minerals supplied with food) only on maintaining vital functions, and not on beauty.

Another clear sign of a lack of vitamins is rapid fatigue and the inability to maintain attention for a long time. Lack of vitamins B, C and D cause these symptoms.

How to cope with spring fatigue and vitamin deficiency?

In order to forget about this condition, you should not only take vitamin and mineral complexes, which are sold in pharmacies, but also change your diet and daily routine.

Try to include fresh milk, dairy products, lean meat and fish in your menu. For drinks, it is most preferable to drink green tea, herbal infusions, such as rose hips, and freshly squeezed juices, both fruit and vegetable.

You need to sleep at least 8 hours a day, while trying to go to bed no later than 23:00. If possible, try to spend at least 1 hour a day in the fresh air, and on weekends, get out into nature. And, of course, do not forget to please yourself with “various little things”; positive emotions are the best healer.

Vitamin deficiency is a disease that develops as a result of an acute lack of any vitamin in the body over a long period of time, which leads to serious consequences, sometimes fatal diseases.

Vitamin deficiency is a rather complex disease that requires examination and treatment by a specialist. Many people confuse vitamin deficiency with hypovitaminosis, which is characterized by a partial deficiency of a certain vitamin in the human body.

Vitamins are irreplaceable biologically active substances that serve as catalysts for enzyme systems or are found in numerous enzymes. In their absence, the necessary metabolism, tissue growth and renewal, as well as the biochemical support of numerous body functions are not possible. A lack of vitamins can lead to failure of enzymatic reactions. Vitamin deficiency is more common in the population of distant northern countries, which is quite rare.

As a rule, vitamin deficiency occurs in the winter-spring period, since at other times of the year the body is saturated with vitamins by eating fruits and berries, with which there are no problems in the summer. However, doctors believe that this disease is not seasonal and many people suffer from vitamin deficiency throughout the year.

Rosvit tablets

Alvitil tablets

Tablets Special Dragee Merz

Complivit tablets

Vitrum Junior tablets

Ginton tablets

Decamevit tablets

Elevit Pronatal tablets

Centrum tablets

Fenuls tablets

Selmevit tablets

Moriamin forte tablets

Causes of vitamin deficiency

The main causes of vitamin deficiency are a violation of the supply of vitamins and poor nutrition, problems in the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and digestion, long-term use of antibiotics, taking antivitamins (with excessive blood clotting), stressful situations and bad habits.

Smokers need to consume several times more vitamin C than a non-smoker. Children and the elderly suffer from vitamin deficiency due to age-related metabolism.

Symptoms and signs of vitamin deficiency

Manifestations of vitamin deficiency include lethargy and pallor of the skin, dry hair falling out, cracked corners of the lips, brittle nails, bleeding gums, apathy, irritation, chronic feeling of fatigue, frequent colds, relapses of herpes and fungus.

People suffering from vitamin deficiency are prone to difficulty waking up in the morning, depression, poor concentration and absent-mindedness. Vitamin deficiency becomes a common cause of vision impairment and problems with the digestive system.

In the case of acute deficiency of a certain vitamin, patients, against the background of characteristic manifestations, may suffer from the development of specific symptoms. With a lack of vitamin A, it is possible to develop night blindness (decreased vision at night), degenerative changes in the mucous membranes, skin and glands, as well as the appearance of pustules. With vitamin A deficiency, the likelihood of infectious lesions of the respiratory, urinary and digestive organs increases. A lack of vitamin A in children can lead to developmental delays and disorders of the nervous system.

In case of vitamin B1 deficiency, disturbances in the functioning of the cardiovascular system and peripheral nerves occur. Shortness of breath after exercise and rapid heartbeat are often a concern. Headaches, swelling, decreased blood pressure and fatigue appear.

With a lack of vitamin B2 (riboflavin), the patient experiences impaired twilight vision, decreased appetite, and deteriorated condition of the mucous membranes and skin. Aphthous stomatitis, conjunctivitis, or burning of the skin and pain in the eyes may occur. In the case of a prolonged course of the disease, a malfunction of the nervous system occurs, which can result in anemia.

With a deficiency of nicotinic acid (vitamin B3, B5 and PP), pellagra, Achilles, erosive gastritis, polyneuritis and even instability when walking and convulsions can develop.

If the body does not have enough vitamin C, anemia and scurvy can develop, which is characterized by general weakness, regular bleeding of the gums, high fragility of blood vessels and a depleted nervous system.

With a lack of vitamin D, children suffer from rickets, and adults suffer from muscle pain, joint pain and dental problems.

Diagnosis of vitamin deficiency

Before direct treatment, a specialist must conduct a diagnosis to identify the missing vitamin in the body using a blood test.

Treatment of vitamin deficiency

The basis for the treatment of vitamin deficiency should be a daily balanced diet, which will ensure that the body receives the required complex of fats, proteins and carbohydrates.

Throughout the year, you need to eat a lot of vegetables, fruits (canned, fresh, and frozen), herbs, poultry and fish baked in foil. These products contain many valuable components and easily digestible amino acids.

Before direct treatment, a specialist must conduct a diagnosis to identify the missing vitamin in the blood.

If you are deficient in vitamin B1, you must consume large quantities of peas, pork, wheat rye bread and yeast.

Vitamin B2 is found in various cereals and dairy products, niacin is found in nuts, fish, poultry, legumes, lean meats and whole wheat.

Beef liver, sour cream, and herring should be consumed by patients with vitamin D deficiency.

As a rule, in case of vitamin deficiency, the doctor prescribes the use of a vitamin-mineral complex, available in the form of powders, tablets, lozenges and dragees. However, the most acceptable form is a capsule. Moving through the intestines, losing one layer after another, it allows vitamins to be gradually absorbed inside.