## What Causes Vitamin Deficiency Anemia?
Vitamin deficiency anemia happens when your body doesn’t have enough of certain vitamins—mainly vitamin B12 and folate (also called folic acid)—to make healthy red blood cells. Red blood cells carry oxygen from your lungs to the rest of your body. Without enough of these vitamins, your body can’t make enough red blood cells, or the ones it makes are too big and don’t work properly. This leads to anemia, which means you have less oxygen in your blood than you need.
## How Does Your Body Make Red Blood Cells?
To understand what causes vitamin deficiency anemia, it helps to know how red blood cells are made. Your bone marrow—the soft tissue inside your bones—is like a factory for making new blood cells. To build healthy red blood cells, this factory needs iron and certain vitamins: mainly vitamin B12 and folate.
If you don’t get enough of these vitamins from food or supplements, or if your body can’t absorb them properly, the bone marrow can’t do its job well. The result is fewer red blood cells that are often larger than normal but don’t work as they should.
## Main Causes of Vitamin Deficiency Anemia
### Not Enough Vitamins in Your Diet
The most straightforward cause is not eating enough foods rich in vitamin B12 or folate. These vitamins are found in animal products (like meat, eggs, dairy), leafy green vegetables (like spinach), beans, nuts, and fortified cereals.
People who follow strict vegetarian or vegan diets may not get enough vitamin B12 because it is mostly found in animal products. Folate is easier to find in plant foods but can still be lacking if someone doesn’t eat a balanced diet.
### Problems Absorbing Vitamins
Sometimes people eat plenty of these vitamins but their bodies can’t absorb them properly due to medical conditions:
– **Pernicious anemia:** This is an autoimmune condition where the stomach lining gets damaged so it can’t make a protein called intrinsic factor that helps absorb vitamin B12.
– **Celiac disease:** This damages the small intestine so it can’t absorb nutrients well.
– **Crohn’s disease** and other digestive disorders: These conditions affect how well nutrients are absorbed.
– **Surgery on the stomach or intestines:** Some surgeries remove parts needed for absorbing these vitamins.
– **Alcoholism:** Heavy drinking over time damages the stomach lining and intestines.
– **Medications:** Some medicines interfere with absorption; for example long-term use of antacids reduces stomach acid needed for absorbing some nutrients.
### Increased Need for Vitamins
Some people need more than usual amounts:
– **Pregnancy:** Women need extra folate during pregnancy because their bodies must support both mother and baby.
– **Breastfeeding mothers** also need more folate.
– **Growing children** require more as they develop quickly.
If extra needs aren’t met through diet alone without supplementation then deficiencies may develop even if intake would normally be adequate under other circumstances such as adulthood without rapid growth periods involved here instead just regular maintenance requirements being present instead now during those times when demand increases significantly beyond baseline levels required by most adults living sedentary lifestyles who aren’t pregnant nor lactating nor experiencing rapid childhood growth spurts themselves currently at this moment right now today while reading about why someone might become deficient despite seemingly eating normally otherwise except perhaps missing out on key sources occasionally due either personal preference choices made regarding food selection habits over time gradually leading up until eventually reaching point where stores become depleted sufficiently causing symptoms appear noticeable only after prolonged periods pass unnoticed initially before becoming severe later down line once reserves finally run dry completely leaving no buffer left behind anymore whatsoever remaining available inside system anymore at all whatsoever any longer period end sentence full stop now please continue reading further below next section coming up shortly soon thereafter immediately following this one right here directly underneath itself presently located exactly where you see words written currently displayed screen device used vie
