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What
Your Fingernails Say About Your Health
by Edith
Lingenfelter
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The fingernails say much about
a persons overall health. Many conditions and diseases can be
detected by changes in the nail. The most common health conditions
that nails can reveal are nutritional deficiencies.
Nutritional deficiencies can
often result in fingernail changes or abnormalities as well as
injuries, illness or external mistreatment. Nails are composed
of keratin (hardened protein) and sulfur and they require optimum
nourishment from a well balanced diet.
Iron deficiency may be responsible
for weak, pale, thin, flat, lengthwise ridging, spoon shaped
nails or that peel, chip, crack or break easily. Iron is best
absorbed from complete proteins, such as meat, poultry, fish
and eggs. Dietary sulfur includes Brussels sprouts, cabbage,
dried beans, garlic and onions.
To strengthen the nails drink
a cup or two of horsetail or oat straw tea and try soaking the
fingertips in a bit of the tea for 10 minutes. |
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Nail soaks using warm vegetable
or nut oil will help restore flexibility to a brittle, soft or
splitting fingernail. Do this at night before bed, wipe off the
excess oil with a tissue and do not wash off until morning.
When using detergents or household
cleaners wear protective gloves to help prevent peeling and splitting.
Rubbing the nails and cuticles with petroleum jelly or other
moisturizers after lengthy immersions in water, after bathing
or swimming, will additionally offset potential harm.
Adding a few drops of castor
oil to a bottle of nail polish remover and washing with soap
and water afterwards will help counteract the drying effect that
polish remover frequently causes.
Cuticles protect your nail base
from harmful bacteria and fungi. After applying lotion, push
the cuticles back to help prevent drying and cracking. Rubbing
cuticles with fresh lemon juice is said to strengthen them.
A hangnail should be softened
with water or lotion before clipping it off. Pierce a vitamin
E capsule and coat the area will help speed healing. Frequent
hangnails may indicate an under supplied amount of protein, vitamin
C and folic acid in the diet. Other possible causes are over
exposure to water and paper, which both absorb moisture from
the skin.
Brittle, weak nails may be corrected
by taking 1 tablespoon desiccated liver powder or 2 tablespoons
of brewer's yeast stirred into a glass of tomato juice. Others
have benefited from 2 capsules daily of evening primrose oil.
Filing dry fingernails from the outside toward the center with
a rounded slanting edge discourage splitting.
Constantly breaking nails that
do not improve with home remedies may indicate poor circulation
or thyroid dysfunction, which require medical attention.
Soft, weak fingernails can be
the result of the chemicals used in nail cosmetics, an inadequate
diet or excessive contact with water. For people with calcium
and magnesium deficiencies, taking 1,000 milligrams of the mineral
dolomite daily for one month has strengthened frail nails. Other
options you might try include gulping a teaspoon of apple cider
vinegar with each meal or coating polish free fingernails with
vinegar or fresh lemon juice.
Horizontal ridges (from side
to side) move upward and grow out with the nail in 5 or 6 months.
This may be a result from a severe illness, injury, stress or
by a chronic B vitamin deficiency. Recurrent ridging may be prevented
by consuming adequate protein, vitamin A and brewer's yeast.
Vertical ridges (from top to
bottom) can be an indication of iron deficiency anemia or insufficient
amounts of vitamins A, B vitamins and calcium. In many cases
these lengthwise lines can be either hereditary or gradually
developed.
Pitted fingernails usually result
from deficiencies of protein, calcium or sulfur, which can be
corrected by correcting the diet. Pitting may also occur in conjunction
with psoriasis or indicate the presence of rheumatoid arthritis
or muscular inflammations.
Spoon nails are depressed in
the center and raised at the edges. This could be caused by an
injury, but, most often occur in older children and middle aged
women due to iron deficiency anemia or B12 deficiency. They usually
return to normal once the diet is adequate or the anemia is treated.
White spots in fingernails are
attributed to everything from telling little white lies to minor
injuries, pockets of air, mineral deficiencies or infection.
Holistic practitioners recommend daily supplements of calcium
(800 mg), magnesium (500 mg) and zinc (15 mg). Other options
include stirring 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and honey
in a glass of water and drink with each meal.
Fungus found around and under
the fingernails can be caused by the use of artificial nails.
They can trap moisture, bacteria and fungi. Taking a B complex
tablet plus 15 mg of zinc everyday and acidophilus capsules with
each meal may correct the problem. Soaking the nails in a strong
solution of vitamin C crystals and water twice a day and squeezing
vitamin E oil under the nails has shown improvement in some cases. |
Beauty Secrets of the
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