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While you need to make sure you’re getting enough calories, you also want to make sure you’re getting enough essential nutrients and vitamins that your body needs to stay healthy and function properly. Although you may not realize you’re not eating enough, not getting the right amount of food will take its toll on your body. Read on for four ways to determine if you’re getting enough nutrients.

Increased Hunger

Even if you’re eating more, if your body has increased its energy needs, it’s possible to be malnourished. Your body will let you know, with hunger pangs, that it needs more energy. The number of calories your body needs depends on several factors like your gender, height, and physical activity. Consider working with a nutritionist, medical professional, or an expert in eating disorder treatment to get the best guidance about how many calories your body requires to remain healthy.

Constantly Being Tired

If you’re waking up every morning feeling excessively exhausted and you struggle to stay awake throughout your day, it’s possible that your body needs more nutrition. There are a few reasons why your diet may be making you tired. The lack of nutrients may be affecting your metabolism, making it harder for your body to get energy out of food. Or your diet isn’t providing your body with all the nutrients that it needs. This can cause symptoms of hunger or low blood sugar, including fatigue or shakiness.

Brain Fog

Your diet and low blood sugar could be to blame for brain fog. If you aren’t eating enough total calories and protein, your body won’t have enough energy to run efficiently, which means you’ll likely experience brain fog and have difficulty focusing. To add more calories without eating excess fat or carbs, try adding a healthy fat like avocados or nuts or use coconut oil as a butter alternative. Making sure you’re getting high-quality protein at every meal also helps keep your body running smoothly.

Cold Hands and Feet

When your body is hungry, it draws blood to essential organs—especially your heart and brain. If your hands and feet are feeling cold, this is a sign that your body may be diverting blood flow to these organs. Likewise, if your hands and feet are often shaking, you likely need to improve your diet as soon as possible.

Getting Help

It’s possible that you may need additional help to get your body back on track. There are a wide variety of healthcare professionals that can help you, like nutritionists or eating disorder specialists. It may be possible that your body needs eating disorder treatment; this is something that you should have monitored by a doctor because they know how to help you and your body.

The body depends on nutrition from food to help maintain muscle and give you the energy needed to get through the day. Keep this guide in mind to help you boost your diet and get the necessary nutrients to live a healthy life.

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