For the last few weeks, I have been studying vitamins - the role they play in our health, the foods that contain them and symptoms of deficiency. What an eye opener! I have been so amazed at what each vitamin is responsible for. For instance, Vitamin A plays a huge role in protecting our eyes from night blindness. But that's not all...it's also necessary for bone growth, reproductive function, and growth regulation. Being deficient in this vitamin can lead to a lack of tear secretion (could this be the root cause of "dry eye"?), being more susceptible to respiratory infections, and may leave you with rough, dry skin. Then there's the B Vitamins....and D...and C....and E...and K... Oh! My!
I had a revelation as I was reading about the different B vitamins and what each one does, and knowing these are water-soluble vitamins, which means we have to consume them daily and they are excreted from our bodies in 4 hrs to 24 hrs, rather than being stored for later. Each one has its own unique function with regard to our health and cell development, yet they all overlap a little in their roles. Often times, when you are deficient in one Vitamin B, you are deficient in several of them. Biotin, one of the vitamins that make up the Vitamin B Complex, aids in metabolizing carbs, fats, and amino acids (the building blocks of protein.) Normally, intestinal bacteria (the good guys) make all the biotin we need. When I read the deficiency symptoms, a light went on...for infants, one symptom is cradle cap, a form of seborrhoeic dermatitis. Sis, as an infant, had a very bad case of cradle cap. More so than her little sis. Niacin (B3) helps maintain a normal function of the skin and digestive system, among a bunch of other functions. Deficiency symptoms include dermatitis, rashes, and coarse skin texture. Other B vitamins are noted for helping the body cope with stress. Something she doesn't handle well. When she gets excited about something good, her eczema will flare. When she's apprehensive or unsure about something, her eczema will flare. About a month before her birthday, she started to flare up a little - again...figuring she was getting too much honey or cheese, we cut way back on those about 2 weeks before her birthday. Weed pollen was very high and we knew that was contributing. The backs of her legs didn't improve much at all - they were red and inflammed at different times through the day. She would scratch even though she wasn't really itching - nervous habit. Last Friday (her first slumber party was that night) when we picked her up from mom's, one elbow was infected while the other was on its way to being infected. We started her on colloidal silver (topically and internally) and her infection was gone. That is something I plan to always keep on hand. She has scratched and picked her arm several times as scabs form, and each time I have applied it topically. I know that has helped keep it from getting infected again.
Like I said, a light bulb went on...could this be an underlying cause to her incredibly dry skin (which she has had since birth), not being able to cope well with stress and her eczema? Quite possibly...I began looking at the foods that have biotin and amounts they contain, compared to the amount of biotin in her multivitamin and how much biotin she should be getting daily. While she eats foods high in biotin, she doesn't consume enough of them on a daily basis to meet her daily requirements. For some reason, I don't believe her body produces the amount of biotin she needs. I never even looked at the foods that contain the other B vitamins. These are so intertwined that when you are deficient in 1 B vitamin, you are also deficient in others. So, she started taking a really good B Complex supplement. I'll keep ya posted.
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