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Energy Vitamins for Women

Everyone feels tired from time to time, but if your sleepiness is bordering on chronic fatigue, you may be suffering from a vitamin deficiency. Without the right nutrients to keep your body running, it's easy for exhaustion to set in. Check out this list of vital energizers, and examine your diet to see what you're lacking.

  1. Vitamin B1

    • Vitamin B1, also known as thiamin, is essential for cellular energy production. It helps the body convert carbohydrates into energy, and is found in many carbohydrate-rich foods like whole grains, as well as lean meats and fish. Without sufficient thiamin, you may experience weakness, fatigue, heart trouble, loss of balance and psychosis.

    Vitamin B2

    • Riboflavin, or vitamin B2, is crucial for metabolism. It helps convert fats and carbohydrates into energy, encourages blood flow to the brain, and moves oxygen throughout the body to help cellular functioning. A lack of B2 manifests itself in dizziness, an inflamed mouth or tongue, insomnia, eye issues and digestive problems.

    Iron

    • Approximately 7.8 million girls and women are anemic, or iron deficient, partially due to the loss of blood each month through menstruation. Anemia causes fatigue, pale skin and labored breathing. Iron is necessary for the production of hemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to the tissues of the body. Be careful not to overdose on iron, however, since hemochromatosis (excessive iron absorption) also causes exhaustion.

    Magnesium

    • Adenosine-5'-triphosphate, or ATP, is the primary producer of energy in your body, and magnesium is essential for producing this molecule. A magnesium deficiency is often accompanied by fatigue, cramping, rapid/irregular heartbeat, insomnia and irritability, due to your cells' inability to create sufficient energy.

    Folic Acid

    • Folic acid, which is frequently given to pregnant women to prevent birth defects, is a member of the B-complex family (vitamin B9). It's vital for producing red blood cells, which carry energizing oxygen throughout the body. Signs of a deficiency include fatigue, insomnia, weakness, trouble breathing, confusion or delusions, digestive problems and a sore tongue.

    Vitamin B12

    • As the final member of the B-complex family, B12 works together with folic acid to manufacture red blood cells. It also cooperates with iron by helping the body to use it properly. B12 is necessary for digestion, metabolizing fats and carbohydrates, and creating protein. Even if you're not B12 deficient, your energy levels may be improved by increasing your intake of the vitamin. The signs of a B12 deficiency are the same as those of a folic acid deficiency, so make sure you are accurate in determining which one you are lacking.

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