1. Your waist circumference
This one sounds obvious but if you’re a man and your waist circumference is greater then 40 inches or a women and your waist circumference is greater then 35 inches you have a much greater risk of heart disease and diabetes, disability and early death – sounds scary doesn’t it. Losing weight immediately reduces the risk.
2. White marks in the nails
This rather unsightly but harmless condition is known as leukonychia punctata and leukonychia striate. Leukonychia punctate are small white marks in the nail characterised by a nutritional deficiency in zinc. Leukonychia striate is a larger striated white mark running across the nails characterised by a nutritional deficiency in selenium. Consuming meats, nuts and seeds for zinc and Brazil nuts for selenium can help remedy this.
3. Cracks in the corner of your mouth
This is called angular chelitis and is represented as small and sometimes painful splits in the skin in the corner of the mouth. This is caused by a lack of B vitamin in the diet and is easily remedied by taking a B vitamin supplement and consuming foods rich in B vitamins such as vegetables, meats, whole grains and nuts and seeds.
4. Abnormal hair growth
This normally affects women and is one of the symptoms of a condition known as PCOS. Women start to develop male pattern hair growth on the chest, abdomen, face and legs. PCOS is a condition of insulin resistance and can be reversed with good dietary habits such as eating vegetables, nuts, seeds, meat and fish and cutting out processed foods and reducing starchy carbohydrates.
5. Excessive and smelly gas
Human cells don’t produce gas, bacterial cells do. Excess gas and smelly flatulence is a result of a condition called dysbiosis. The causes are varied such as eating too much starchy carbohydrate, excessive antibiotic use, or bacterial, fungal or parasite infections. It’s probably best to seek the help of a professional when trying to resolve this problem, however taking probiotics supplements might help.
