Vitamin B Deficiency And Treatments For Beri Beri Disease

Beri beri is a nutritional disorder caused by the deficiency of vitamin B1 (thiamine) in the diet. Thiamine is necessary for the conversion of carbohydrates into glucose; thus, its deficiency causes symptoms like fatigue and lethargy to appear. The disease may affect infants if the mother has a vitamin-deficient diet. The normal growth of children may be hampered due to this disease, and in a few cases this could lead even to a potentially fatal situation.

The initial symptoms of beri beri in adults are weakness and numbness in the legs and loss of appetite. Other symptoms include nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain, anorexia and irritability. If the problem is not treated at this stage, it may develop into the wet or the dry form of beri beri. In the wet form, there is accumulation of body fluids in the cells of the limbs, which causes local swelling, tenderness and pain in the muscles of the legs and joint aches. These symptoms do not appear in the dry variety of the ailment. In serious cases, this may lead to dangerous cardiovascular or gastrointestinal ailments. It is advisable, therefore, that you consult a doctor in order to determine the exact course of treatment.

In the meantime, you may also follow a few basic measures at home for faster recovery from the ailment. Include greater amounts of green vegetables, fresh fruits, legumes, kidney beans, unrefined cereals, brown rice, wheat bran, milk and lean meats in your diet to make up for the deficiency of thiamine in your body. You should also avoid drinking water or other fluids during or immediately after a meal, as they dissolve thiamine and thus impede its normal functioning. Stay away from fish like shrimps, shellfish and prawns as they contain an enzyme that naturally break down thiamine and therefore worsen the condition.

Effective Home Remedies For Treating Beri Beri

A useful natural remedy for beri beri is to consume the pulp of a grated pineapple twice a day after a meal. This helps restore the normal level of thiamine within a month. An excellent natural source of vitamin B1 is sunflower seeds. You should eat a teaspoon of these seeds every morning to reduce the symptoms of beri beri. Including oysters in your regular diet is also beneficial as they are rich natural sources of thiamine. You may also grind two spoonfuls of peanuts to a fine paste and eat this every morning to treat beri beri naturally.