Vitamins & Minerals
Vitamins, minerals and your diet in Plymouth
Most of us get what we need from food most of the time. But a handful of nutrients are genuinely easy to run low on in the UK, whatever you eat, and a few groups of people are at higher risk than others. This page walks through the ones worth knowing about, so you can decide whether it is worth checking your levels rather than just wondering.
This page is general information, not personal advice. It is here to help you decide which test, if any, might be useful. A blood test tells you and your Clinician what your levels are; it does not diagnose a condition on its own, and it is not a substitute for a conversation about your own diet and symptoms.
Vitamin D: everyone’s winter problem
Your skin makes Vitamin D from direct summer sunlight, and for most of the UK that only works from around late April to September. For the other nine months of the year, roughly October through to March or April, the sun sits too low in the sky for UVB rays to trigger production here, no matter how much time you spend outdoors or how well you eat. This is why the NHS advises everyone in the UK to consider a daily Vitamin D supplement during autumn and winter, not just people with a poor diet.
A few groups are at higher risk all year round, on top of the seasonal dip:
- People with darker skin, because more melanin means the skin needs more sunlight to make the same amount of Vitamin D
- Anyone who covers most of their skin when outdoors, for religious, cultural or personal reasons
- People who are housebound, or spend most of the day indoors
- Older adults, whose skin makes Vitamin D less efficiently
- People with a higher body weight, as Vitamin D is fat-soluble and gets stored away from the bloodstream
Low Vitamin D is often symptomless, or shows up only as vague tiredness or aching, which is exactly why testing rather than guessing is useful if you are wondering.
Worth testing if: you are moving into or through the darker months, you fall into one of the higher-risk groups above, or you have unexplained fatigue, low mood, or bone or muscle aches over winter.
Vegetarian and vegan diets
A well-planned vegetarian or vegan diet can meet all your nutritional needs. The areas below are simply the ones that need a bit more attention, because the richest natural sources sit mainly or entirely on the animal side of the plate.
Vegetarian
If your diet still includes dairy and eggs, you have two useful sources of Vitamin B12 and reasonable Iron sources, but plant-based Iron (non-haem Iron) is absorbed less efficiently by the body than the Iron in meat and fish, so levels can still run low, particularly if you have heavier periods or a higher training load. Vitamin B12 is usually adequate on a vegetarian diet, but it is still worth checking if you eat little dairy or egg, or if you notice fatigue or pins and needles.
Vegan
Vitamin B12 is the main one to watch. It occurs reliably only in animal foods, so anyone eating a fully plant-based diet needs it from a fortified food or a supplement, and levels are worth checking rather than assumed. Iron is the same non-haem-absorption picture as above, generally more pronounced without dairy and eggs in the mix as well. Folate, by contrast, is usually generous on a vegan diet, since it is abundant in leafy greens, legumes and wholegrains; it is more often tested alongside B12 as a package, because a B12 deficiency can be partly masked by high Folate, than tested because vegan diets tend to run short of it.
Worth testing if: you have followed a vegetarian or vegan diet for some time, especially a vegan diet without B12-fortified foods or a supplement, or you have symptoms such as persistent tiredness, breathlessness, pale skin, or tingling in the hands or feet.
Iron, Vitamin B12 and Folate, in a bit more detail
Iron
Iron deficiency is one of the most common nutrient shortfalls in the UK, and it does not only affect people on plant-based diets. Heavier periods, pregnancy, frequent blood donation, and endurance training all increase Iron needs. Early signs are easy to dismiss: tiredness, breathlessness on exertion, pale skin, or reduced exercise tolerance. Ferritin is the most sensitive single marker of Iron stores; Iron Status looks more broadly at how Iron is being carried and used, which is useful because Ferritin alone can look falsely reassuring if there is inflammation elsewhere in the body.
Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12 supports nerve function and red blood cell production. Deficiency can cause fatigue, breathlessness, pins and needles, and in some cases changes to mood or memory. It is most common in vegans without a reliable fortified source, older adults (who absorb it less efficiently regardless of diet), and people on long-term Metformin for diabetes.
Folate
Folate (Vitamin B9) works closely with Vitamin B12 in red blood cell production, and the two are usually checked together. It is generally well supplied by a varied diet, including a plant-based one, but can run low with certain medications, heavy alcohol use, or in pregnancy, when needs increase.
Which test is right for you?
If you already know which nutrient you are concerned about, a single standalone test is the simplest and least expensive option. If you would rather check several at once, or you are not sure which is relevant, one of the panels below covers more ground in a single appointment. Current prices for every test on this page are on our price list, so we have not repeated them here.
Vitamin D
A single check of your 25-OH Vitamin D level. The right choice if Vitamin D is your only concern, particularly over the darker months.
See on price list →Vitamin B12
A single check of your Vitamin B12 level. Worth adding Folate alongside it if you would like the fuller picture.
See on price list →Folate
A single check of your Folate (Vitamin B9) level, usually requested alongside Vitamin B12.
See on price list →Ferritin
The most sensitive single marker of Iron stores, and the usual starting point for suspected Iron deficiency.
See on price list →Iron Status
A fuller look at Iron: Serum Iron, Ferritin, Transferrin, Transferrin Saturation and Iron Binding Capacity together.
See on price list →Vitamins & Minerals
Twelve results in one panel: Vitamin D, Vitamin B12, Folate, Zinc, Magnesium, Calcium and a complete Iron panel with Ferritin.
See on price list →Want everything in one appointment, alongside a digestive health check? Our Nutritional & Digestive Health test is a single, more comprehensive panel: 39 results covering Iron studies, Vitamin D, Vitamin B12, Folate, Magnesium, Calcium and more, together with a Coeliac screen and H. pylori antibody. It is particularly well suited to vegetarians and vegans who want broad reassurance in one visit rather than picking individual tests.
Not sure which test you need?
Ring us on 01752 938102 or email Hello@TamarHealth.com and we will help you choose. If a cheaper test is the right one, we will tell you.
Book now Ask a question first