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Wellness Letter: Nutritional News April's Story — Does She Have a Mineral Deficiency? April has been feeling very lethargic and has noticed more hair in her comb after her shower lately. She just doesn’t feel like doing much of anything, even things she used to think were fun. She is worried that her thyroid is low, but her doctor told her everything was fine at her last check-up a year ago. April has been feeling so slow that it is becoming increasingly more difficult to exercise. She tells people that she has gained weight because her metabolism changed. The reality is she stopped going to the gym, to tired and too self-conscious about her body to go. She keeps telling herself she would start doing the yoga tapes that she bought months ago, but that just hasn’t happened yet. If only she wasn’t so exhausted all the time! Even though she’s sleeping more than 10 hours a day, she wakes up tired and achy and unmotivated… April is like many clients who come to me for help in improving their physical health. Often people forget that nutrition is one of the most important building blocks of well-being. With some education and fine-tuning of April’s diet, some of April’s physical symptoms can be solved. For example, hair loss, fatigue, and lack of motivation for exercise can be related to iron or zinc deficiency. Iron deficiency symptoms include fatigue, pale skin color, irritability, shortness of breath, and weakness to name a few. This nutritional deficiency can be caused by blood loss, ulcers, medication (i.e. aspirin or anti-inflammatory), cancer and poor dietary intake of iron. Zinc deficiency symptoms include hair loss, diarrhea, loss of appetite, and loss of taste. In addition, April may believe what might be called myths of metabolism. She may not understand that her metabolism is determined by gender, age, amount of muscle you have compared to body fat and the amount of exercise you do on a regular basis. Strict dieting is not the answer. If you want your body to work for you, here's how we can help. The dietitian at the Center for Optimal Health can educate you on iron rich and zinc rich foods as well as give you hints on how to absorb these nutrients the best. She also has plenty of iron rich recipes for you and your family. In addition, figuring out your individual metabolic rate can really help maximize your energy. Working with the dietitian, you can determine a meal plan that will work for you and only you —April 2006
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