EP 37 – Eat This: Symptoms of deficiency you probably don’t know about (Part 1)

There you are, going about your day, the sun is shining or it’s grey with a sky full of cloud cover. You’ve woken up in a pretty good mood, feeling rested from a deep enough sleep that you’re ready to take on the day. Maybe you meditate before you jump out of bed. I know you drink that glass of water that I’ve suggested that you put beside your bed–hopefully, with half a juiced lemon in it, you drink that down before you even think about doing anything else. If journaling is part of your morning routine, you put your thoughts to paper to set intentions for the day, share your feelings and emotions with your notebook, and feel clear-headed with a light heart. You say to yourself: “It’s a new day, let’s do this…” 

But as you step out of bed, you feel that something off. There’s that reminder that all is not tip-top in your body, but you just aren’t sure what to do about it. What you’re experiencing isn’t earth-shattering, it’s not enough for a 911 call, a worthy of a hospital or emergency doctors visit, but it’s a symptom that is still there nagging, and it has been for a few days or more.

Deficiencies show up that way. One day you’re good, then open your mouth to speak, drink your coffee or take a forkful of dinner and all of sudden the corner of your mouth splits like you just ate off a knife. Or what about that painful crack in your heel that’s felt with every step lately. Or the cluster of warts that won’t go no matter what you’ve tried. And then when all your tongue wants to do is find that bobble in your mouth that bursts into an open sore that you’d love to put a band-aid on, but hey, it’s inside your mouth so it just won’t stick. 

Today on EAT THIS with Lianne – signs and symptoms of vitamin deficiency that I’ve seen lately, that I thought you might not know about and what you can do about them.

I get it, the processed and packaged food has made its way into the kitchen and it’s become the norm. Unfortunately, a diet of more processed than wholefoods, makes it easy to become vitamin-deficient, either by not eating enough of the right foods or not absorbing them properly because of other issues like compromised digestion. Let’s not forget about stress, lack of sleep, and one too many drinks that use up vitamins faster than you can eat them, leaving you deficient. 

There are signs and symptoms that show up when you’re lacking a particular vitamin or mineral. It can be serious and contribute to a heart attack. We will save that for another episode… but today I want to talk about what I’ve seen lately, and had to recommend protocols for because of uncomfortable, painful, or even leave the sufferer embarrassed. In this episode, I’m going to talk about the cracks in the corners of the mouth, canker sores that are also known as mouth ulcers, and cracks in your heels or even fingers, what I recommend to my clients, and the results. This is by no means a cure-all episode, but this is how I approach these issues and have seen results from. And this does not take the place of medical attention, so please know that. I come at this in a holistic way, which isn’t for everyone. 

Cracks in the corners of your mouth

Let’s start at the top with your mouth. I don’t know about you but I notice things in people have a discerning eye that leads me to wonder as I look at someone. I think it’s my analytical brain or something. When I see someone with cracks in the corners of their mouth, I restrain myself from passing them a B complex and probiotic, say take 2 and come see me in the morning…  is that what the doc says about aspirin or something? Those cracks can hurt for days, right? And just as it seems to heal, and you think you’re ok, you open your mouth to take in a mouthful and OUCH there it goes again. According to WEB MD online, the cracks come because of a build-up of saliva. Chris, I’m looking at you on Zoom and have never seen a build-up of saliva in the corners of your mouth. WHAT are they talking about? Sure dry lips happen that can crack, and that’s because you’re dehydrated so go have a glass of water, swiftly followed by another 8, and watch your lips improve, but the cracks are there because of deficiency of iron, zinc, and B vitamins like niacin (B3), riboflavin (B2), and B12.  In my experience B2 is the main culprit, that’s the vitamin that makes your pee go fluorescent when you take a multivitamin or B complex. It’s common if you’re a vegetarian to not get enough iron, zinc, and B12, but it’s not only vegetarians who suffer with this. There’s a fungal connection here too, known as Candida or yeast and that has to do with an unbalanced of the microbiome or bacteria in your gut. It’s the perfect example of what’s happening on the inside, even in your gut, showing on the outside. 

If you’ve been under a lot of stress (well who hasn’t lately), know that stress uses up B vitamins and vitamin C first. And that nightly glass of wine to ease the stress, yep also burns through B and C to detoxify it, so that doesn’t help and adds to the deficiency. Dealing with stress is another episode, so let’s stick with what you can eat and take to help this. 

Eat more iron and zinc-rich foods like poultry, salmon, tuna, eggs, oysters, clams, sun-dried tomatoes, Swiss chard, tahini, peanuts, and legumes like lentils and chickpeas found in hummus. Iron absorption is enhanced by vitamin C, that’s also needed here, so combine colourful vitamin C rich veggies like broccoli, red bell peppers, kale, and cauliflower with the poultry, salmon, tuna, and eggs. I had oysters for dinner last night and missed out on the broccoli on the side. Tisk tisk me. 

A supplement is also needed to speed up healing. I’m picky about the B vitamins that I recommend because some people who are poor methylators can take b vitamins and their body not use them. (sidebar: with you in mind Chris: methylation is it is an amazingly simple biochemical action that takes place in every cell of the body. Put simply, methylation is the addition of a methyl group to a molecule and is a switch that keeps turning off and on billions of times a day and allows the biochemical gears of your body to turn smoothly. It’s become a more widely known issue and deserves its own episode)

So the Vitamin B Complex that you’ll find on SproutRight.com is my go-to because of this. While you’re there add the Bio Boost probiotic to your cart because that’s what’s going to help deal with the fungus, yeast, and candida that’s also contributing to your less than balanced microbiome. The most healing cream that I’ve found is what I‘ve used for years and we call Boo Boo cream. No, it’s not packaged with that name, but it’s called Citrasane Cream and it heals anything and everything from scars post-surgery to burns, acne, and sore lips. Add that to your cart too. 

Protocol: Vitamin Coenzyme B Complex, Bio Boost, Cicatrisane Cream, optional Olive Leaf Intrinsic

Mouth Ulcers, Canker Sores

Ok now let’s go inside your mouth. Canker sores or ulcers. My sister gets these and then they multiply to the point that it’s a cluster, and she finds it too painful to eat. Even if you have one in your mouth, it’s all you can think about as your tongue becomes like a magnet to it. 

They can crop up after you’ve bitten your cheek or lip, or they come because of something deeper. Just like the cracks are a breakdown in tissue causing an open wound, my first thought is always vitamin C because its what heals everything including skin. But in this case, food sensitivities often play more of a role here. Gluten is top of my list, sorry anyone who is still in the bread baking phase. For some, mouth ulcers can be a first symptom of celiac disease so don’t ignore them for too long. Dairy in all forms can also be an issue, so look at what you’ve been eating more of lately. Some say that chocolate, spicy foods, coffee, peanuts, almonds, strawberries, and tomatoes are also to blame. Stress plays into this once again, and because the B and C’s are inhaled to buffer stress, you need to eat more and take a supplement for faster healing. 

As an aside, check out your toothpaste – if it contains sodium lauryl sulfate, the stuff that makes it bubble, try one without. Ladies, notice if they crop up around your period because there can be a hormonal connection here too. With that said, we have to look at the fact that it can come back to being deficient too.

My recommendation here is again the Vitamin B Complex that you’ll find on SproutRight.com, the Alka C for skin healing and Bio Boost probiotic to address gut issues and the fact that you have a food sensitivity and it’s showing up in this way. Of course, talk to your doctor if this persists, but sometimes trying something different to an over the counter product can help more. 

Protocol: Vitamin B Coenzyme Complex Liposome, Alka C, Bio Boost

Warts

Let’s move right down the body to your feet and talk about warts. 

This is a rabbit hole that we can go down, but I’m going to keep it simple here. Warts are a virus and can show up mostly on your feet but also other parts of your body, but I’m going to talk feet here. For whatever reason lately, I’ve seen clusters of these that cover larger areas of the bottom of the foot and it’s been in young, old, and every age in between. My youngest daughter suffered with these for years and no matter what we did, they wouldn’t go. She’s attracted to sugar as most people are, and I know that didn’t help but it’s a tough one to avoid, even when your mom is a nutritionist. We tried duct tape, used the inside of a banana peel at night time, nitrogen sprays and all that the doctors offered and nothing worked. Nothing got rid of then to the point of seeing the skin back on her foot. Her immune system needs to contain the virus but couldn’t. So we upped her zinc which is crucial for viral infections, vitamin D and C, and I read that warts also can be from a B12 deficiency, but we didn’t go there as it was too much for her to take. They all helped but it wasn’t until we tried a homeopathic combo called ViruTox and combined it with an antiviral Olive Leaf Extract. 

It took about 3 weeks of remembering to take the Olive leaf and Virutox twice a day, internally, but then also applied a couple of drops of ViruTox to her feet before bed. When my daughter started taking the ViruTox and Olive Leaf, I dosed her with my Alka C which also has zinc in it, and sprayed 5 sprays of Sunshine D3+K2 in her mouth daily – that’s about 5000iu. Increasing garlic intake as it’s antiviral, watching the intake of sugar and refined foods, eating more whole foods, yes, all that will help. Usually, when someone has a cluster going on, they’ve tried it all, changed the diet, and used topicals, but they just haven’t worked. I’ve used this with many clients lately, who knows why it’s I’ve seen it so much in the past months, but it has and they can’t believe that it has completely gone. My daughter has one that has come back so she’s back on the Olive Leaf and ViruTox again and also knowing that the Olive Leaf is one that I have a lot of people taking for their immunity, I also know that her body is stronger for it. 

Protocol: VIR-Tox, Olive Leaf Intrinsic, Sunshine D3+K2, Alka C, Bio Boost, optional Vitamin B Coenzyme Complex Liposome 

Cracks on your heels

While this one is absolutely linked to fungal issues and yeast or candida, it’s also linked with a B3 or niacin deficiency. I know that you read that on the side of your cereal box and think that you’re alright, but it’s not enough. B3 is needed for so much in your body and while your cracked heels may not be all about B3, it’s quite likely. First, let’s deal with the yeast or fungus issue with taking a probiotic, you’re starting to see a theme here aren’t you? Yes Bio Boost, the fungus can also be treated with Olive Leaf Extract that I mentioned for warts. Increasing your B vitamins from fish, chicken, turkey, pork, beef, mushrooms, brown rice, peanuts, green peas, and avocados you can also take the Liquid B Complex that has come up in most of what I’ve talked about here. Use a pumice stone to get rid of the excess build-up of skin on the heels and apply either tea tree oil which is anti-fungal or Boo Boo cream every night and morning to ease that deep pain that can be felt with every step. I know you want that evening drink along with a sweet treat but don’t. For now anyway, until you get it under control. Then also notice what other symptoms ease as you make these changes. 

Protocol: Olive Leaf Intrinsic, Liquid B Complex, Bio Boost, Cicatrisane Cream

In summary

Vitamin and mineral deficiencies are often missed and when clients come to see me with their list of symptoms, I’m always looking to see what’s missing. How someone feels, what they are suffering with tells a story of what they are eating too much of, but are also deficient in. A theme ended up coming from all these that I’ve talked about today, which I didn’t quite realize as I thought of what to share, but it’s a good reminder that the basics vitamins are needed every day. Sure have your cheat days, but when you’re feeling more stressed see what you can do to eat more whole foods for the B vitamins, have that protein that has iron and zinc in it, those colourful veggies like peppers and sweet potatoes give vitamin C and antioxidants for overall healing. When you need to supplement, which I recommend, know that the Liquid B Complex, Alka C that also has zinc in it, Bio Boost probiotic are likely to help most issues. Add in Sunshine D3+K2 and your immunity will thank you. The ViruTox and Olive Leaf Extract are specialty supplements that I use regularly even though I don’t have warts on my feet.

Do you have other symptoms that you haven’t been able to resolve? Heartburn was one that I thought of for this episode, but I’m trying to shorten the time, so I left it out today. Hit me up on @sproutright or @liannephillipson on social media or on either website with what you’d like a more holistic approach to and we will do an episode like this again. 

Have you subscribed and given EAT THIS with Lianne a 5-star rating yet? Please do, it helps others know in the sea of podcasts that this is one to tune into. 

I hope this helps you or someone you know, so share it far and wide! Grab those wholefoods, take extra time in the produce section, cook more and ease up on the nightly tipple… and most importantly EAT THIS one mouthful at a time. 

3 Comments

  1. Hi! I googled “Citrasane” and came up empty. I also tried spelling it “Citrusane” and “Citrusane”….any suggestions? Thanks 😊

  2. This podcast is very informative. Thanks very much!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*