Vitamin B6, or pyridoxine, is crucial for your overall health. It’s involved in metabolism, brain function, and immune response. Yet, many don’t get enough, leading to deficiency. Spotting early signs can help you adjust your diet and safeguard your health. So, what are the common signs of low vitamin B6? Let’s find out.
Vitamin B6 is essential for numerous key processes. It aids protein metabolism, neurotransmitter production, immune function, and hemoglobin production for oxygen transport. Even a mild deficiency can affect your physical and mental well – being.
A lack of dietary intake often causes vitamin B6 deficiency. It’s in foods like chicken, fish, potatoes, bananas, and chickpeas. But conditions like kidney disease, malabsorption, alcoholism, and autoimmune diseases can raise the risk. Pregnant or breastfeeding women may also need more.
One of the first visible signs of low vitamin B6 is a skin rash, especially seborrheic dermatitis. It shows as red, itchy, flaky rashes on the face, neck, and scalp, often greasy or scaly. These rashes don’t improve with normal skin treatments, hinting at a nutrient deficiency. Vitamin B6 helps make collagen and keep skin healthy; without it, the skin barrier weakens.
Cracks at the corners of the mouth (angular cheilitis), which are sore, swollen, or bleeding, can be a sign. Vitamin B6 supports healthy mucous membranes around the lips; a lack leads to inflammation and these painful cracks.
Since vitamin B6 helps produce mood – regulating neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, a deficiency can cause mood swings, irritability, anxiety, and even depression. Correcting B6 intake can improve mood.