Not a diagnosis

Gap check

Symptom plus diet questions that flag possible iron, vitamin D, B12, or calcium gaps. A flag means test, not self-prescribe. This will not catch everything and it will sometimes flag a person who is fine.

1. I usually drink chai or coffee with my main meals (dal, greens, or meat).
2. I currently menstruate, and my periods are heavy or last more than 7 days.
3. I go pale, breathless on a flight of stairs, or I have been eating ice, clay, or raw rice.
4. This is for a child under 3 who drinks more than 500 ml cow’s milk a day or still has no iron-rich food (dal, egg, meat, ragi).
5. I am indoors most daylight hours, or I cover skin fully, or I live through a northern winter with almost no midday sun.
6. I have bone pain, proximal weakness (hard to stand from a squat), or a history of a low-trauma fracture.
7. I take almost no dairy, ragi, sesame, or fish-with-bones, most days of the week.
8. I eat no animal food (no dairy, no eggs, no fish, no meat) and I do not take B12-fortified food or a B12 supplement.
9. I am over 50, or I take a daily acid-suppressing pill (PPI), or I take metformin.
10. I have tingling in the feet, a clumsy gait, a sore tongue, or a ‘fog’ that is new.
11. This is for a girl 14-18 who skips breakfast protein and eats little dal, meat, or millet.
12. I am planning pregnancy, pregnant, or breastfeeding and I have not discussed iron, folate, iodine and B12 with a clinician.