What to eat for healthy nails

If you want your nails to be strong and shiny, you must first ensure adequate intake of high-quality protein, iron and zinc minerals, B vitamins and Omega-3 fatty acids in your daily diet. Most people have minor problems with delaminated nails, brittle nails, and hangnails. There is no need to buy expensive supplements, and you can see significant improvements after adjusting your diet for two weeks.

Many people’s first reaction when they have nail problems is to buy various expensive nail polishes and nail essences. In fact, nails grow from the nail bed outwards, just like farming. The soil fertility is not enough. Just spraying nutrient solution on the leaves will not grow good crops. The nutrition cannot keep up. No matter how much you apply on the outside, it will only treat the symptoms but not the root cause. A while ago, when I was helping my sister adjust her weight-loss diet, I discovered that in order to lose weight, she only ate boiled vegetables and a small amount of brown rice for three months. Her nails were as thin as paper and would break with the slightest force, and her nails were still bumpy. Later, I added a boiled egg, a fistful of steamed shrimps every day, and 10 almonds for lunch in the afternoon. In less than two months, the newly grown nails became much harder, and the bumpy areas were slowly grown out and cut off.

Speaking of this, some people may ask, isn’t it said that white spots on nails mean calcium deficiency? Should I drink more milk and take some calcium tablets? In fact, there is no unified conclusion in the nutrition field on this issue. Some scholars believe that white spots are mostly traces of minor trauma to nails, such as biting nails or being pinched by doors. They do not need additional nutrition and can just wait for them to grow out on their own. Other studies have found that people with long-term zinc deficiency or B vitamin deficiency are indeed more likely to have white spots on their nails. Instead of blindly supplementing calcium, it is better to first check whether you have eaten less whole grains and lean meat recently.

You don’t need to prepare any special ingredients to nourish your nails. When cooking home-cooked meals, prepare more red meats such as lean beef and pork liver. Eat them 1-2 times a week, each time with a palm-sized piece. The iron supplement is enough to prevent nails from turning white and brittle. The absorption rate is much higher than that of many Internet celebrity iron supplement oral solutions. I also replaced half of the usual polished rice and white flour with whole grains such as oats and brown rice. The B vitamins are enough, and even the hangnails that like to grow around my nails will be reduced a lot. I used to have small cracks around my nails when spring and autumn changed, and the pain was so painful that I couldn't touch the dishwasher. Later, I changed the white rice for dinner to brown rice, and I rarely have this problem anymore.

"Eating collagen peptides to nourish nails" is still very popular on the Internet. This is also controversial. I checked the latest literature, and a small sample study showed that supplementing 2-3g of collagen peptides every day for 3 months can reduce the frequency of nail breakage and improve the gloss of the nail surface. However, many nutrition scholars believe that as long as you eat enough high-quality proteins such as eggs, soy products, fish and shrimp, the human body can synthesize enough collagen for nail growth. There is no need to spend extra money. If you are so busy that you eat takeout every time and can't eat enough meat and vegetables, there is nothing wrong with buying some regular brand supplements. If your daily diet is balanced, then this money can indeed be saved.

By the way, don’t overdo it. I heard from a netizen that I heard that nuts are good for nails. I ate two or three big bags a day. In the end, my nails didn’t see any change. I gained six pounds in weight at first, but the gain outweighed the gains. I grabbed a handful of plain nuts every day, about 15 grams is enough. After all, maintaining nails is a slow process. It takes 3-6 months for new nails to grow completely. Slowly adjusting your diet is more reliable than any folk remedies.