It's winter time and the weather is changing. This change physical changes in us, and can cause a down shift in the immune system, making a person more susceptible to difference infections.

During the winter months, I notice more dry, cracked lips on my dental patients. If saliva gets trapped in the cracked, open sores, from the patient licking their dry lips, an infection can occur. These small annoyances may seem, well, annoyances. However these may be more than small annoyances. They may be indicators of a deeper rooted issue like nutritional deficiencies.

So what are these sores in the corners of the mouth?

These sores are called angular cheilitis. This infection is a fungal (yeast) infection. It presents itself as red, irritated sores in the corners of the mouth that “just wont go away”. People that suffer from this infection report that the sores burn or itch. Ya-ouch! So what's a cold sore prone person to do?  Well, I'm going to tell you, and has a lot more than just putting antibacterial, moisturizing cream on the area ( although that can be helpful too ;) )

This particular infection may be a sign that there is a nutritional deficiency. In order to fill the gaps of any nutritional deficiencies, changing your diet WITH the season is a great start. Anytime you change your diet, you open up your body to an array of different vitamins and minerals that it may not have had during the last season. Research suggests that angular cheilitis is a deficiency in the B vitamins.

Great sources of B vitamins are:

Liver, yummy right? Errrr...not really, so if your not excited about fresh liver, take the cheater pills, like me ;) . I get them from Radiant Life, click here to check them out. They are grass fed beef liver pills. Much easier to swallow!

Beans, nuts, legumes, animal meats like turkey, beef and tuna are other great sources. In general, it is best to get your vitamins from food. By eating a colorful, varied diet, you can insure that you get plenty of these helpful b vitamins to keep you thriving.