Want to know the secret to long, strong nails?
Your diet.
We can’t stress how important a varied, nutritious diet is to overall nail health enough.
In recent years, since adopting a diet that’s rich in a wide variety of vitamins and minerals, I’ve experienced a drastic improvement in my own nail strength and growth rate.
Whilst I have been known to slack off on nail maintenance, they always grow back very quickly, and strong and sturdy.
- Keratin – the tough, protective material our nails are made of – is a protein, which is why eating enough protein is so important to nail growth. Ensure you get the recommended daily allowance of 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight if you’re after long nails.
- Including a wide range of fruits and vegetables in your diet will definitely do your body good – nail health included – as these have essential properties, including many vitamins and minerals.
- Magnesium rich food such as pumpkin seeds (sigh) and dark chocolate (wahoo!) serve as all-natural anti-stress solutions, preventing things like ridges from appearing on your nail plate.
- Seafood contains heaps of zinc, which is essential in the biological production of the protein which forms and maintains nails.
- Remember that biotin we were talking about earlier? Well, it can be found in one of our favourite breakfast foods – eggs.
A well-balanced and varied diet is the main and most important thing you can do if you’re trying to improve the appearance of your nails.
The takeaways
The most important things to bear in mind with regards to nail health is that they are just as much a part of you as any other body part.
Just as your teeth will rot if you have a poor diet and don’t brush them, your nails will grow weak and grow less if they are not cared for.
If you want to grow long nails, nourish your body and your nails will be nourished too. Once they lengthen, look after them – it really is that simple!