You must have noticed that some women always complain of tiredness, chills and shortness of breath. You may not know but these are some of the symptoms that appear in your body due to iron deficiency. Your body needs iron to make haemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells that enables them to carry oxygen through your blood vessels. If you do not have enough haemoglobin in your body, your tissues and muscles will not receive enough oxygen to be able to function effectively.

When this condition is severe, it is called iron deficiency anaemia. Iron deficiency anaemia is the most common type of anaemia. This is a condition that occurs when your body does not make enough healthy red blood cells or the blood cells do not work properly.

Dietician Itu Chhabra, the founder of Nutriitu, has told that iron deficiency is a common problem among women. There are some such symptoms which start appearing in the body. You can take treatment by recognizing these symptoms. Let us know about those symptoms from Dietician Itu Chhabra today.

Unusual tiredness

Feeling extremely tired is one of the most common symptoms of iron deficiency anaemia. This fatigue occurs because your body lacks iron, which is needed to make a protein called hemoglobin, which helps carry oxygen around your body.

Without enough hemoglobin, less oxygen reaches your tissues and muscles, leaving them deprived of energy. Your heart also has to work harder to move more oxygen-rich blood around your body, which can make you feel tired more often.

Yellowing of the skin

Yellowing of the skin and a yellow appearance around the lower eyelids are also other common symptoms of iron deficiency. Haemoglobin in red blood cells gives blood its red colour, so low levels due to iron deficiency make blood less red. This is the reason why your skin starts losing its natural colour due to iron deficiency. Your hands, especially the nails also start to look yellow and very dull.

Difficulty breathing

As we've been talking about, hemoglobin enables your red blood cells to carry oxygen around your body. When hemoglobin levels are low, oxygen levels are also low. This means that your muscles will not get enough oxygen to perform normal activities such as walking. As a result, your breathing rate will increase as your body tries to get more oxygen. That's why shortness of breath or difficulty in breathing is one of its other symptoms.

Broken nails

A very common symptom of iron deficiency is brittle nails. Usually, the first sign is brittle nails that start to peel and break easily. In the later stages of iron deficiency, spoon-shaped nails may occur, meaning the middle of your nail is sunken in and the edges are rounded like a spoon. However, this is a rare side effect that occurs in about 5% of people with iron deficiency. This is usually only seen in severe cases.

Often have cold hands and feet

Do you often feel cold? Do your hands and feet get cold easily? Having cold hands and feet usually means that you are deficient in iron. People with anaemia have poor blood circulation throughout the body because they do not have enough red blood cells to deliver oxygen to their tissues. If you are not getting enough oxygen to your body's tissues, you do not have the normal sensation of hot and cold.

Dietician Itu Chhabra tells us that if you are also seeing such symptoms, then you may be deficient in iron, then first of all improve your diet. Include green vegetables, dry fruits and pulses in your diet. Also, don't forget to consult your doctor.

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DISCLAIMER

Your skin and body are as different as you are. We endeavour to bring you correct, safe and expert-verified information through our articles and social media handles, but still, you must consult your doctor before trying any home remedy, hack or fitness tip.