23 Signs Your Body Needs More Nutrients: How to Address… — Transcript

Learn 23 signs of nutrient deficiencies and how to address them with Dr. Eric Berg DC, focusing on zinc, vitamins, and essential fatty acids.

Key Takeaways

  • Zinc plays a crucial role in multiple bodily functions including skin health and hormone regulation.
  • Consuming too much sugar and refined foods depletes essential nutrients like zinc and vitamin C.
  • Balancing omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids is vital for healthy skin and overall wellness.
  • Vitamin D deficiency is common and linked to various symptoms including depression and musculoskeletal pain.
  • Improving nutrient absorption and choosing nutrient-dense foods are key to preventing deficiencies.

Summary

  • The video explains 23 signs indicating your body lacks vital nutrients and how to identify them.
  • Three main causes of nutrient deficiencies are gut malabsorption, poor nutrient density in foods, and consumption of refined foods and sugars.
  • White spots on nails indicate zinc deficiency caused by high sugar intake.
  • Oily skin is linked to androgen imbalance regulated by zinc and insulin levels, especially in females with PCOS.
  • Cracking at mouth corners and heels is related to vitamin B2 and D deficiencies.
  • Flaking skin often results from an imbalance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.
  • Yellow eyes signal liver or gallbladder issues, often linked to bile salt deficiency.
  • Chronic cough may indicate calcium deficiency and excessive omega-6 fatty acid consumption.
  • Vitamin D deficiency is associated with low back pain and depression due to its role in serotonin production.
  • Zinc deficiency can cause low testosterone and other hormonal imbalances.

Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

00:00
Speaker A
Today we're going to talk about the 23 different signs that your body is deficient in vital nutrients. Now, the problem with me teaching you this is you're going to pretty much evaluate everyone you know, so you're going to have to withhold that temptation because people will be offended if you start explaining why they have these little white specks on their nails or why they might have erectile dysfunction.
00:14
Speaker A
have to withhold that temptation because people will be offended if you start explaining why they have these little white specks on their nails or why they might have erectile dysfunction all right now let me first just tell you the
00:27
Speaker A
All right, now let me first just tell you the three reasons why people are deficient. Okay, number one, their guts are damaged, so they can't absorb nutrition. So that's called malabsorption. It's a digestive barrier. Now, it could also be that you're missing a gallbladder or you're lacking bile, and you can't pull in the fat-soluble vitamins: vitamin A, D, E, and vitamin K. Or it could be you're not eating enough of the right foods, or the foods that you're eating are not nutrient dense, which is a big problem.
00:44
Speaker A
you can't pull in the fat soluble vitamins vitamin a d e and vitamin k or it could be you're not eating enough of the right foods or the foods that you're eating are not nutrient dense which is a big problem
01:00
Speaker A
Because the soils, unfortunately, are really, really poor quality, so if you're growing food on soil that's not soil but it's actually dirt, you might get a really nice looking tomato, but it's going to be tasteless. Why? Because the flavor chemicals are tied in with the nutrient density.
01:18
Speaker A
tied in with the nutrient density so we get these beautiful looking like vegetables that tastes like nothing and then you're going to be craving doritos and wanting other spices to try to flavor them up when in fact they
01:34
Speaker A
So we get these beautiful looking vegetables that taste like nothing, and then you're going to be craving Doritos and wanting other spices to try to flavor them up when in fact they should normally come there with nutrition. So unfortunately, the farmers sell these products based on weight and volume, not nutrient dense type foods.
01:51
Speaker A
nutrition so let's just go through the list number one white spot on your nail what does that mean that is a zinc deficiency but it's not really a zinc deficiency it is consuming too much sugar that robs you
02:03
Speaker A
And then the third way that you become deficient is consuming refined foods and sugars that deplete you and rob you of nutrition. So let's just go through the list. Number one, white spot on your nail. What does that mean? That is a zinc deficiency, but it's not really a zinc deficiency. It is consuming too much sugar that robs you of zinc.
02:16
Speaker A
huge birthday party and you ate the whole cake and that depleted zinc from your body creating that little white speck so you have two options you can stop eating sugar or you can take some zinc all right number two oily skin this is
02:30
Speaker A
So if you look at your nail and you see this little white speck about halfway down the nail, you know about three months ago you had a lot of sugar or refined carbohydrate. Like let's say you had this huge birthday party and you ate the whole cake, and that depleted zinc from your body, creating that little white speck.
02:42
Speaker A
androgens which is the male hormone and so one really key nutrient to regulate androgens is zinc okay so oily skin can be greatly improved if you start taking trace minerals specifically zinc now if you're female and you have too many androgens
02:59
Speaker A
So you have two options: you can stop eating sugar or you can take some zinc. All right, number two, oily skin. This is usually a problem with the oil glands of your body called sebaceous glands that make something called sebum, which is a type of oil. And that usually occurs when you have an imbalance with androgens. You're producing too many androgens, which is the male hormone.
03:17
Speaker A
situation so with oily skin you just need to take some zinc and you need to make sure that your sugar is not very high so as you can see zinc is involved with quite a few things all right number
03:27
Speaker A
And so one really key nutrient to regulate androgens is zinc. Okay, so oily skin can be greatly improved if you start taking trace minerals, specifically zinc. Now, if you're female and you have too many androgens, you may have something called polycystic ovarian syndrome, and in that case, that's coming from too much insulin because the carbs are too high.
03:45
Speaker A
important in preventing like these small fissures okay on your skin and so if you have enough b2 or b3 you won't get them now you see a lot of people in the winter that get these fissures in their
03:58
Speaker A
And of course, the combination of that sugar depleting zinc as well as lacking zinc and having an uncontrolled androgen situation. So with oily skin, you just need to take some zinc and you need to make sure that your sugar is not very high. So as you can see, zinc is involved with quite a few things. All right, number three, cracking on the corners of your mouth right here or cracked back of your heels.
04:15
Speaker A
used to have as a kid and it could be very easily handled by taking vitamin d or vitamin b2 in the form of nutritional yeast all right next one is flaking skin a lot of times you'll see that around
04:29
Speaker A
Okay, so that is a vitamin B2 deficiency. It could also be a vitamin B3 deficiency, but it definitely involves the B vitamins. So the B vitamins are very, very important in preventing these small fissures on your skin. And so if you have enough B2 or B3, you won't get them.
04:45
Speaker A
our body needs because the body doesn't make it is both omega-3 and omega-6 so if your ratios are off because you're doing too much six in nf3 that's what happens with the skin it becomes dry flaky white little flakes
05:01
Speaker A
Now, you see a lot of people in the winter that get these fissures in their skin, and that normally comes because they don't have enough vitamin D because they're not in the sun. And vitamin D feeds the microbes, and your microbes make the B vitamins. So that is a connection between cracked heels, cracked corners of your mouth, which I used to have as a kid, and it could be very easily handled by taking vitamin D or vitamin B2 in the form of nutritional yeast.
05:22
Speaker A
all are very high in omega-6 like corn oil soy oil cotton seed oil and you need to eat more fish sardines and cod liver oil in fact cod liver oil would be the quickest thing to handle this flaking skin all right
05:36
Speaker A
All right, next one is flaking skin. A lot of times you'll see that around the nose or even the forehead where the skin is kind of like a scaling flakiness. That is a deficiency of omega-3 fatty acids, and that occurs because you're consuming too much omega-6 fatty acids.
05:53
Speaker A
these red blood cells have a yellow color okay and so if your skin or your whites of your eyes are yellow that is definitely a backup of the liver and the gallbladder and that is usually a deficiency of bile salts okay so bile
06:10
Speaker A
And so the essential fatty acids that our body needs, because the body doesn't make it, is both omega-3 and omega-6. So if your ratios are off because you're doing too much six and not enough three, that's what happens with the skin. It becomes dry, flaky, white little flakes, usually around the nose or the forehead.
06:29
Speaker A
purified bile salts to open up this kind of clogged drain plug to allow the body to eliminate the byproduct of red blood cells all right number six chronic cough if someone has a chronic cough they usually have a calcium deficiency
06:44
Speaker A
So you need to do two things: you need to start cutting down the omega-6 fatty acids. That means reduce the amount of nuts or peanut butter or chicken or fried foods or going out to restaurants or fast food, all are very high in omega-6 like corn oil, soy oil, cottonseed oil. And you need to eat more fish, sardines, and cod liver oil. In fact, cod liver oil would be the quickest thing to handle this flaking skin. All right,
06:58
Speaker A
basically it helps something called laryngeal spasm or this tightness in the structures of your throat okay so you might want to try that the type of calcium i would recommend is calcium lactate okay not calcium carbonate and you don't need much maybe 200 milligrams
07:13
Speaker A
number five, yellow eyes. That is a jaundice situation. It's a liver problem. It could be a gallbladder problem where the byproducts of your red blood cells are backing up through the system, through the liver, and into the blood. And the byproduct of these red blood cells have a yellow color.
07:29
Speaker A
the vitamin c complex we have different parts and one part is vitamin p which is the bioflavonoids and they don't call it vitamin p anymore they that was an older term but that p stood for permeability and or vascular permeability so in other
07:47
Speaker A
Okay, and so if your skin or the whites of your eyes are yellow, that is definitely a backup of the liver and the gallbladder, and that is usually a deficiency of bile salts. Okay, so bile salts allow the flow of stuff through the liver and through the bile ducts, and if you don't have enough bile, this thickened cholesterol sludge tends to back up, and you develop these yellow eyes.
08:02
Speaker A
is classic vitamin c deficiency so you need to consume more leafy greens as well as avoid sugar because the chemistry of sugar is almost identical to vitamin c and if the body has sugar any vitamin c that you're
08:19
Speaker A
So a simple remedy would be to take some purified bile salts to open up this kind of clogged drain plug to allow the body to eliminate the byproduct of red blood cells. All right, number six, chronic cough. If someone has a chronic cough, they usually have a calcium deficiency.
08:35
Speaker A
and you're just having a hard time you know seeing clear that is a classic vitamin a deficiency or night blindness now are people usually deficient in vitamin a well around the world they are so there's a lot of people that have a
08:48
Speaker A
So a little calcium, especially at night, works like magic for these chronic coughs. Calcium both improves the immune system, but it also relaxes the throat and the larynx, just like you might want to take for cramping in your calves. So basically, it helps something called laryngeal spasm or this tightness in the structures of your throat.
09:04
Speaker A
of vitamin a called retinol retinol usually comes from animal products like dairy or butter or fish fatty fish definitely cod liver oil and animal liver like beef liver for example has a lot of vitamin a and so if you're
09:23
Speaker A
Okay, so you might want to try that. The type of calcium I would recommend is calcium lactate, okay, not calcium carbonate, and you don't need much, maybe 200 milligrams before you go to bed. All right, number seven, bleeding gums or reddened swollen gums.
09:38
Speaker A
retinol just eat some egg yolks and you will definitely get enough and then you'll start seeing better the other thing to look at with vitamin a is your ability to absorb it because maybe you don't have enough bile or maybe your
09:50
Speaker A
Okay, in your mouth, that is a classic vitamin C deficiency. Another term would be subclinical vitamin C or a very mild version of scurvy. Okay, now in the vitamin C complex, we have different parts, and one part is vitamin P, which is the bioflavonoids. And they don't call it vitamin P anymore; that was an older term, but that P stood for permeability or vascular permeability.
10:06
Speaker A
the cause of chapped lips is the same cause as cracking in the corners of the mouth or on the heels it's a vitamin b2 deficiency and so what would create a b2 deficiency it's either you're consuming too many
10:19
Speaker A
So in other words, the blood that goes through the capillaries leaks. Okay, and if it leaks, you get all sorts of issues, and one being bleeding gums. And you can also get nosebleeds as well, but bleeding gums or red gums is classic vitamin C deficiency.
10:36
Speaker A
to do is start taking nutritional yeast with nutritional yeast i would always get it unfortified you'll get a complete spectrum of the b vitamins and you'll notice your skin much much better i mean if you take a look at some of the b vitamin
10:50
Speaker A
So you need to consume more leafy greens as well as avoid sugar because the chemistry of sugar is almost identical to vitamin C, and if the body has sugar, any vitamin C that you're getting from foods or a supplement will not go in. The body will always take up glucose or sugar before vitamin C.
11:10
Speaker A
it's nice and soft a lot of times people will start using chapstick or certain type of lotions or oils on their lips but what they find is that maybe an hour later it's right back if not worse to being chapped because
11:24
Speaker A
Okay, number seven, number eight, night vision issues. So let's say you can't see in the dark or you're driving when it's raining, and you're just having a hard time, you know, seeing clearly. That is a classic vitamin A deficiency or night blindness.
11:37
Speaker A
the pitting edema on the top of your foot or your ankles this is a deficiency of potassium okay when you don't have enough potassium or the ratios of potassium versus sodium like sodium is way too high and potassium is way too low and by the way
11:56
Speaker A
Now, are people usually deficient in vitamin A? Well, around the world, they are. So there's a lot of people that have a vitamin A deficiency simply because they're eating a lot of cereals and refined grains, and they may even be eating plant sources of vitamin A, but those are...
12:11
Speaker A
your finger into the foot or the ankle it leaves a dent okay now believe it or not when i had blood sugar issues a long ago in my mid-30s i used to have pitting edema and i didn't even know what it was i would
12:23
Speaker A
press into my ankle i'm like what is that dent that was a severe potassium deficiency so you want to start eating foods high in potassium okay and that would be any of the leafy greens but you need volumes you need large salads
12:37
Speaker A
things like that that will give you enough potassium versus consuming more salt okay salt's okay as long as you have enough potassium or you might want to get a quality electrolyte with a lot of potassium but that will push fluid out
12:51
Speaker A
of the ankles very very quickly now next one is craving ice okay if you're craving ice chances are you're deficient in iron okay you see this with kids sometimes you see this with females who are going through their menstruation where they're
13:07
Speaker A
losing blood and iron and they're becoming anemic they start eating more ice they're trying to get iron but unfortunately ice doesn't give you iron so you end up still deficient the best sources of the iron that you need is red
13:20
Speaker A
meat you can get it from liver you can get it from eggs and for some reason if you can't eat any of those products you can also get them in a supplement but not an iron supplement i would recommend
13:30
Speaker A
a supplement that is either a grass-fed liver extract or believe it or not there are spleen extract products that are loaded with iron okay so that's one way to get it all right next one is angina that's chest pain
13:47
Speaker A
so that is where the heart is cramping and your heart is having an attack and usually it's referred down the left arm that is a classic vitamin e deficiency there's two things you need to know about vitamin e what creates a
14:04
Speaker A
deficiency usually is refined grains okay as in the breads the pasta the cereal the crackers the biscuits when you consume those products that normally have a good amount of vitamin e in it but when they add chlorine to
14:19
Speaker A
bleach it they oxidize it and they kill all the vitamin e when they when it sits on the shelf all that vitamin e is lost and then when you consume those products it creates a vitamin e deficiency the
14:30
Speaker A
most important tissue for vitamin e is the inside of your arteries and if you don't have enough vitamin e you get a lot of rusting and oxidation and you start getting clots the formation of calcium and all sorts of things that come in there so
14:48
Speaker A
vitamin e is very very important and so the best way to prevent vitamin e deficiency is to stop doing the refined grains and if you want a very good vitamin e i would get the type that's a tocotrinol
15:00
Speaker A
not a tocopherol the tocotrienols work about 50 times stronger than the tocopherols and so it really is great for angina type chest pain all right number 13 leg or calf cramps that is a magnesium deficiency okay where do you get magnesium well
15:20
Speaker A
it's at the heart of chlorophyll where do you get chlorophyll from green plants okay so again we're coming back to that salad where you get good amount of magnesium there's also potassium in there chlorophyll other things but when
15:34
Speaker A
you get light cramps chances are you're probably missing magnesium you need more and they usually go away there's other deficiencies that might lead to cramps like potassium even sodium vitamin b1 and i've done videos on that but the most common one is the magnesium
15:49
Speaker A
deficiency all right number 14 irritability excessive thinking feeling nervous tension even grouchy or angry is a b1 deficiency if you take a little nutritional yeast if you're irritable boy it just chills you out you'll feel really calm you'll be nice to be around people will
16:12
Speaker A
like you a lot better also before you go to bed if you have excessive thinking just take some nutritional yeast before you go to bed and that you can get it in tablets as well i'll put a link down
16:21
Speaker A
below for more information but you talk about turning off that excessive mind thinking solving all the problems of the world which prevents you from sleep it's really nice to be able to go to bed and not have to solve a million problems so
16:35
Speaker A
you can drift off and sleep all right 15. asthma asthma is a situation where you have inflammation in the lungs and this can be greatly improved with vitamin d so if you're deficient in vitamin d which most asthmatics are boy that can
16:54
Speaker A
just reduce inflammation and help you breathe this is why during the summer months when kids that have asthma they're outside they're exposed to the sun their symptoms go away there's a very very important video on a breathing method that can help asthma i'll put
17:09
Speaker A
that down below if you haven't seen it but there's a really important way of breathing to pull someone out of an asthmatic attack you know within minutes so you can check that out 16 loss of the outer eyebrows okay
17:21
Speaker A
this is usually a thyroid problem or an iodine deficiency situation where they're not able to make the thyroid hormones because when you get to like t4 t3 you're really looking at the number of iodine molecules in that thyroid
17:37
Speaker A
hormone t4 is an inactive thyroid hormone t3 is the active form because the body strips off an iodine molecule so if you don't have enough of either t4 t3 then you could potentially lose the outer eyebrows as one of the symptoms so
17:52
Speaker A
if you don't have eyebrows or you don't have the outside just take some iodine in the form of seek help that's one of the best sources tightness in the right trap area right through here okay all the way through
18:05
Speaker A
here if you have tightness right there suspect gallbladder and suspect a lack of bile salts if you don't have the bile salts things get all kind of stuck underneath the right rib cage there's a little nerve called the phrenic nerve
18:19
Speaker A
that goes right up to the right side and so if you take purified bile salts that thins the bile allows the drainage okay and all of a sudden your right trap feels loose and it feels better okay i
18:33
Speaker A
have additional information on that i will share that in the description but tightness in the right trap 9 out of 10 times it's totally gallbladder related because you don't have enough bile and it's getting all stuck and jammed up it's backing up into
18:48
Speaker A
the system showing up in your right trap 18. nightmares one of the best ways to get rid of a nightmare is to take b1 nutritional yeast there's this little thing in the brain called the amygdala which regulates the emotion of fear okay
19:02
Speaker A
so it's involved in this fear response and so of course nightmares involve fear and its function is very very similar to what the adrenals are all about which is like a stress gland but it's mainly involving that emotion of fear and
19:17
Speaker A
there's receptors for thyamine and if you take more b1 thymine uh boy does that just chill a person out and they feel better and they don't have nightmares anymore so if your kids have nightmares give them a little nutritional yeast but the real
19:32
Speaker A
question is why are they deficient because they're consuming refined carbohydrates in the form of all the refined grains the breads the pasta the cereal the crackers those things as well as sugar so you need to handle that as well
19:46
Speaker A
19. craving for salty chips at night if your body is deficient in sodium okay you're going to crave salt but if you're exercising a lot and sweating the need for sodium goes up and so one of the symptoms or signs of a salt
20:05
Speaker A
deficiency or a sodium deficiency is craving for salt okay so if you're craving for salt at night in the form of chips the next day i would start to increase the amount of sea salt and not sodium chloride in your
20:19
Speaker A
diet okay so start beefing that up putting on your food maybe even putting some in some water and drinking that where you get to the point at night you no longer crave salty chips okay then we know you have
20:31
Speaker A
enough and so for years i had this false idea that salt was bad and i rarely consumed salt so i always ate foods lacking salt lacking fat of course at night i was downing all these chips and salty popcorn and salty
20:48
Speaker A
doritos but during the day i was pretty much salt free so i had no concept of nutrition or this whole idea that salt was not bad if it was in the form of sea salt and if i had enough potassium okay
21:00
Speaker A
i didn't know that at the time but if you're craving salty chips at night you need to balance out your electrolytes by adding more sea salt and make sure you have enough potassium as well but you will find those cravings will go away all
21:14
Speaker A
right number 20 stiff low back or low back pain is usually a vitamin d deficiency especially if it's in the winter and all you need to do is take some good amount of vitamin d or you can even make your
21:27
Speaker A
own vitamin d i'll put that link down below if you haven't seen my recent video but vitamin d is one of the best things to get rid of inflammation fast anywhere in the body especially in the lower back i would recommend taking
21:41
Speaker A
at least 10 000 international units per day and it might be beneficial to take it right before bed or at a meal because if you take it right before bed it actually enhances your sleep and if you take it
21:54
Speaker A
with meals it's better absorbed and the type of vitamin d i recommend is my own brand and of course i'm not biased but i am sarcastic but in my vitamin d i have i put the k2 in there i put the mct
22:07
Speaker A
oil so that way you don't have to take extra oil everything gets absorbed nicely all right the next one is 21 you're craving dirt okay now normally most people don't crave dirt but sometimes kids crave dirt okay or
22:22
Speaker A
even women that are menstruating losing blood anemic are craving dirt what they're trying to get is iron even if you're animals like even your dog crave starts eating dirt they need iron okay and the best source of iron is red meat it gives you the the
22:39
Speaker A
best form of iron that's bio-available versus consuming spinach things like that so if you have anemia or you need iron red meat would be the best thing to take or some liver with onions of course all right number 22 erectile dysfunction
22:56
Speaker A
that's low testosterone that is a deficiency of zinc zinc is one of the best things to increase testosterone and handle this symptom and lastly 23 depression if someone's depressed they're usually vitamin d deficient vitamin d greatly boosts serotonin which is a neurotransmitter
23:19
Speaker A
and so it's like a natural form of prozac without the side effects so if you're depressed or know someone that's depressed boy just give them a little vitamin d and just see how fast their mood elevates another thing to try as a
23:32
Speaker A
side note is to start to do more fasting that really elevates the mood as well now if you haven't seen my video on how to figure out liver problems check that out i put it right here
Topics:nutrient deficiencyzinc deficiencyvitamin Domega-3 fatty acidsvitamin B2malabsorptionnutrient dense foodsrefined sugar effectsPCOScod liver oil

Frequently Asked Questions

What causes white spots on nails according to the video?

White spots on nails are linked to zinc deficiency, which is often caused by consuming too much sugar that depletes zinc in the body.

How does zinc affect oily skin and hormone balance?

Zinc helps regulate androgens, the male hormones that can cause oily skin. Taking zinc supplements and reducing sugar intake can improve oily skin and hormonal imbalances.

Why is vitamin D important for preventing depression?

Vitamin D boosts serotonin production, a neurotransmitter that influences mood. Deficiency in vitamin D is commonly associated with depression.

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