Food or Vitamins for Nail Strengthening
While the thickness and strength of nails are largely hereditary, there is much that can be done to naturally improve the condition of your nails, optimizing their durability, look and longevity.
Reflection of Health
Strong nails are healthy nails. The condition of your nails broadly reflects the state of your physical health. Your nails, like the rest of your body, depend on sufficient supplies of protein, minerals and vitamins to function. When your body does not receive enough of these nutrients or does not utilize them properly, it is reflected in the condition of your nails.
- Strong nails are healthy nails.
- When your body does not receive enough of these nutrients or does not utilize them properly, it is reflected in the condition of your nails.
Eating Your Way to Optimal Nail Strength
What Makes Your Hair & Nails Grow?
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Seek to improve the state of your nails, including their strength, first by consistently consuming a varied and nutritious diet of fresh, minimally processed foods. Vegetables and whole grains are particularly beneficial for strong, healthy nails. Note that whole grains differ greatly from refined grains, which, in the milling process, are depleted of their nutrient-packed outer layers (called the bran) and germ.
Foods for Nail Health
Finally, sulfur-rich foods, which help in the formation of keratin, include:
- eggs
- garlic
- fish (good for its stores of omega fatty acids)
- lean beef
Vitamins for Greater Nail Strength
Vitamins for Toenails
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Several vitamins are notable for their support of strong, healthy nails, so seek these out in the foods you eat or as supplements. Vitamin A helps the body process protein, needed to sustain the nail bed and ward off hangnails. A lack of vitamin B may cause ridges and fragile nails 2. Biotin (also known as vitamin B7) is notable for its treatment of weak, split-prone nails, a condition known as onychoschizia. Persistent hangnails usually indicate an inadequate intake of vitamin C, folic acid and protein. Finally, vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium, which improves the strength and growth of nails.
- Several vitamins are notable for their support of strong, healthy nails, so seek these out in the foods you eat or as supplements.
- Vitamin A helps the body process protein, needed to sustain the nail bed and ward off hangnails.
Minerals for Greater Nail Strength
Several minerals are notable for their support of strong, healthy nails, so seek these out in the foods you eat or as supplements. Calcium is needed to prevent dry, brittle nails, and is especially beneficial for nail growth. (Make sure that you are also getting adequate amounts of the mineral magnesium, which is needed for your body to utilize calcium.)
Include iron. A deficiency of iron can result in thin, ridged and discolored (either pale or darkened) nails. A whitish, crescent shape appearing at the base of the nail may also be the result of iron deficiency. Additionally, zinc supports your body’s utilization of enzymes and minerals, and increases the strength of the nails.
- Several minerals are notable for their support of strong, healthy nails, so seek these out in the foods you eat or as supplements.
Related Articles
References
- The American Journal Of Clinical Nutrition Composition of Human Nail Substance; Odd D. Vellar; October, 1970
- Earl Mindell's New Vitamin Bible; Earl Mindell and Hester Mundis; 2004
- Lacouture, M., and V. Sibaud. Toxic side effects of targeted therapies and immunotherapies affecting the skin, oral mucosa, hair, and nails. American Journal of Clinical Dermatology. 2018. 19(Suppl 1):31-39. doi:10.1007/s40257-018-0384-3
- Ryu, H., and H. Lee. Beau’s lines of the fingernails. American Journal of Medical Sciences. 2015. 349(4):363. doi:10.1097/MAJ.0000000000000244
- Robert, C., Sibaud, V., Mateus, C. et al. Nail toxicities induced by systemic anticancer treatments. Lancet Oncology. 2015. 16(4):e181-9. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(14)71133-7
- Thomas, R., Williams, M., Cauchi, M., Berkovitz, S., and S. Smith. A double-blind, randomised trial of a polyphenolic-rich nail bed Balm for chemotherapy-induced onycholysis: The UK polybalm study. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. 2018. 171(1):103-110. doi:10.1007/s10549-018-4788-9
- Bast R, Croce C, Hait W, et al. Holland-Frei Cancer Medicine. Wiley Blackwell, 2017.
Writer Bio
Presentation specialist Constance Dunn focuses on beauty, grooming, style, etiquette and communication. Author of the book "Practical Glamour" (RLD Publications, 2010), Dunn has a Bachelor of Arts from Temple University and a Master of Arts from the University of Southern California.