Nutritional deficiencies can significantly impact overall health, leaving the body vulnerable to a range of issues such as fatigue, weakened immunity, and impaired cognitive function. The causes of nutritional deficiencies vary. Factors like a poor diet, malabsorption issues, restrictive eating patterns, eating disorders, or dehydration can create a nutritional gap, making it difficult to meet your body’s essential nutrient needs. Fortunately, these nutrient deficits can be reversed with specific dietary strategies. This article explores the top dietary tips to fix common nutritional deficiencies.
Variety in Your Diet
The first dietary tip to fix common nutritional deficiencies is to have variety in your diet. This provides a broad spectrum of nutrients to help you meet your body’s needs. Consuming a diverse range of foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats, helps supply vital vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients often lacking in people who eat the same type of meals regularly. Variety helps you maintain optimal health and address specific nutritional gaps.
For example, eating leafy greens, nuts, and seeds can combat iron and magnesium deficiencies, while citrus fruits and berries provide ample vitamin C. Including dairy ensures adequate calcium and vitamin D, while fish, eggs, and legumes offer critical B vitamins. By diversifying your meals, you can reduce the risk of imbalances, support overall health, and enhance nutrient absorption.
Stay Hydrated
Staying hydrated plays a crucial role in addressing common nutritional deficiencies by supporting the body’s ability to absorb and transport nutrients effectively. Water is essential for digestion, aiding in the breakdown of food so that vitamins and minerals can be absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract. Proper hydration enhances the efficiency of enzymatic activities and improves the delivery of nutrients to cells through blood circulation. Dehydration, on the other hand, can impair the body’s ability to absorb key nutrients like potassium, magnesium, and calcium, exacerbating deficiencies.
Make sure you are drinking enough water throughout the day to ensure that your body absorbs nutrients effectively. Additionally, you can consume water-dense foods, such as fruits and vegetables, which also contribute to your nutrient intake, helping to replenish essential vitamins and minerals. Maintaining adequate hydration ensures the optimal functioning of metabolic processes that prevent and mitigate nutritional imbalances.
Take a Multivitamin
Taking a multivitamin is another dietary tip to fix common nutritional deficiencies, especially for individuals whose diets may lack essential nutrients due to busy lifestyles, restrictive eating patterns, or limited access to diverse foods. Multivitamins are formulated to provide a broad spectrum of vitamins and minerals that the body needs for optimal function, such as vitamin D for bone health, vitamin B12 for energy and nerve support, and iron to combat anemia.
By filling in these nutritional gaps, multivitamins can help improve overall well-being, support immune function, enhance energy levels, and reduce the risk of chronic conditions associated with nutrient deficiencies. While they are not a substitute for a balanced diet, multivitamins offer a convenient and practical solution for maintaining nutritional balance in daily life.
The following are some high-quality multivitamins:
- Global Healing Multivitamin with Minerals
- Pure Synergy Multi·Vita·Min made with Organic Whole Food
- Dr. Mercola Whole-Food Complex with added Multivitamins + Minerals
- Pure Encapsulations O.N.E. Multivitamin with Antioxidant Complex
Address Deficiencies with Targeted Food and Supplements
Taking the foods and supplements your body is deficient in is an effective dietary tip to fix common nutritional deficiencies and profoundly impact your overall health. Nutritional deficiencies, such as low levels of vitamins D, B12, iron, or magnesium, can lead to symptoms like fatigue, weakened immunity, cognitive challenges, or poor bone health. Consuming nutrient-dense foods tailored to your deficiencies, such as leafy greens for iron, fatty fish for vitamin D, or nuts for magnesium, provides your body with the essential building blocks it needs to function optimally.
To complement this approach, high-quality supplements act as a concentrated source to bridge the gap. Addressing deficiencies restores nutrient levels, helps alleviate symptoms, boosts energy, improves metabolic functions, and enhances overall well-being.
Let’s look at specific deficiencies:
Vitamin D Deficiencies
- Incorporate these foods: Vitamin D can be found in fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, and sardines, along with egg yolks and liver.
- Supplement: Global Healing Organic Vitamin D3 Drops or Dr. Mercola Vitamins D3 & K2
Iodine Deficiencies
- Consume these foods: Iodine can be found in seaweed, fish, and shrimp. Seaweed is one of the best natural sources. Other sources include dairy products (milk, yogurt, cheese), iodized salt, and eggs.
- Supplement: Global Healing Organic Nascent Liquid Iodine Drops or Raw Whole Food Iodine Supplement from Organic Kelp
Iron Deficiencies
- Incorporate these foods: Rich sources of iron include red meat, poultry, and fish, which contain heme iron that is easily absorbed by the body. Plant-based sources, such as beans, lentils, and spinach, provide non-heme iron. These choices are less readily absorbed but if you consume them with vitamin C-rich foods like citrus fruits, you enhance iron.
- Supplement: Pure Encapsulations Iron + C, Ancestral Supplements Grass Fed Beef Liver, or MaryRuth’s Liquid Iron
Vitamin B12 Deficiencies
- Consume these foods: Vitamin B12 is primarily found in animal-based food sources, including meat (beef and liver), poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy products (milk, kefir, cheese). For those following a plant-based diet, plant-based milks (almond, oat, coconut), and nutritional yeast can provide Vitamin B12.
- Supplement: Global Healing Vitamin B12 Organic Drops, MaryRuth Organics Vitamin B Complex Liquid, or New Chapter Fermented Vitamin B12 Organic Tablets
Calcium Deficiencies
- Incorporate these foods: The richest sources of calcium are dairy products like milk, cheese, kefir, and yogurt. Non-dairy options include leafy green vegetables such as kale and spinach, fish with edible bones (sardines and salmon), and almonds.
- Supplement: New Chapter Organic Calcium Supplement with Magnesium, Vitamin D3+K2 or Pure Encapsulations Calcium (Citrate) Capsules
Vitamin A Deficiencies
- Consume these foods: Vitamin A can be obtained from animal-derived sources such as liver, eggs, dairy products, and fish like salmon. Plant-based sources provide provitamin A carotenoids, which the body converts to vitamin A, including vibrant-colored fruits and vegetables like carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach, kale, and mangoes.
- Supplement: Peak Performance Certified Organic Vitamin A Capsules Made with Organic Carrot Juice, MaryRuth Organics Organic Vitamin A Drops, or Pure Encapsulations Vitamin A from Cod Liver Oil
Magnesium Deficiencies
- Incorporate these foods: Magnesium is abundant in a variety of foods, including leafy greens (spinach and kale), nuts and seeds (almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds), and whole grains (brown rice, quinoa). Legumes (black beans, lentils), fatty fish (salmon, mackerel), dark chocolate, and avocados are also rich in magnesium.
- Supplement: Gaia Herbs Pro Magnesium Glycinate or BioEmblem Triple Magnesium Complex

Folate (Vitamin B9) Deficiencies
- Consume these foods: Folate is abundant in leafy greens (spinach, kale, Swiss chard), legumes (lentils, chickpeas, black beans), citrus fruits (oranges, lemons, grapefruits), along with avocados, asparagus, and beets.
- Supplement: Dr. Danielle Organic Vitamin B Complex Drops or Pure Synergy Super B-Complex Made with Organic Whole Foods
Vitamin C Deficiencies
- Incorporate these foods: Excellent sources of vitamin C include citrus fruits (oranges, lemons, grapefruits), berries (strawberries, raspberries), tropical fruits (kiwis, mangoes, papayas), vegetables (bell peppers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, spinach, kale). It’s best to eat these foods raw or lightly cooked to preserve the vitamin, as it is sensitive to heat.
- Supplement: Dr. Mercola Liposomal Vitamin C, Global Healing Organic Vitamin C Drops, Pure Synergy Pure Radiance Organic Vitamin C Capsules
Zinc Deficiencies
- Consume these foods: Rich sources of zinc include seafood (oysters, crab, shrimp) and meat (beef, pork, chicken). Plant-based options include legumes (chickpeas, lentils, beans), seeds (pumpkin, sesame, sunflower), nuts (cashews, almonds), and whole grains.
- Supplement: Global Healing Organic Zinc Drops or Pure Encapsulations Zinc
Protein Deficiencies
- Incorporate these foods: Protein can be found in animal sources including lean meats (chicken, turkey, beef, fish), as well as eggs and dairy products (milk, cheese, yogurt). Plant-based protein sources include beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, quinoa, nuts and seeds
- Supplement: Dr. Mercola Organic Whey Protein, Organic Muscle Vegan Organic Protein, or Natural Force Grass Fed Organic Whey Protein Powder Low Carb
Carb Deficiencies
- Consume these foods: Most of your carb consumption should come from complex carbohydrates such as grains (brown rice, oats, and quinoa), starchy vegetables (sweet potatoes, squash), fruits (apples, berries), and legumes (beans, lentils, peas). You can also include simple carbs such as bananas, dairy products (milk, kefir, yogurt), maple syrup, and raw honey. Stay away from processed carbs such as candies, soft drinks, chips, and baked goods made with white flour.
Fatty Acid Deficiencies
- Incorporate these foods: Healthy fats, such as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, are abundant in olive oil, avocados, nuts (almonds, walnuts), nut butter, seeds (chia, flax), and fatty fish (salmon, mackerel). Other sources of fats to consume are saturated fats (butter, cheese, red meat, and coconut oil). – yes, the fats that have been vilified for decades. However, you should avoid trans fats (margarine, shortening, baked goods, fried foods, processed and packaged foods).
- Supplement: Dr. Mercola Krill Oil, Green Pasture Cod Liver Oil, Dr. Mercola Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon Oil, Global Healing Organic Vegan Omega 3 6 9 and 7,
Nutrient deficits can impair your daily functioning and well-being. You can overcome these deficiencies by including a variety of nutrient-dense foods, staying hydrated, eating targeted food sources, and utilizing high-quality supplements tailored to your individual needs. By understanding and applying these dietary strategies, you can take proactive steps toward closing those nutritional gaps that are harming your body and mental state and improving your quality of life.
To a Fitter Healthier You,
The Fitness Wellness Mentor