What are the top 7 foods for strong, healthy nails?
We are what we eat, and nail health is the first place a poor diet will show. It is vital we provide our bodies with the correct building blocks to grow the nails we desire.
To see strength and length, simply feed your nails.
The Top 7 Foods For Strong Healthy Nails
- 1. Strengthen your nails with pumpkin seeds
Not only do pumpkin seeds taste great, they’re also rich in a nail friendly mineral called zinc. A deficiency can be why nails are weak or break easily, and can also be the cause of white spots.
Eat a handful of pumpkin seeds daily.
2. Banish dry nails with oily fish
Dry, brittle nails can be due to an omega-3 oil deficiency. These oils are what moisturize and lubricate your nail base. Oily fish is the richest source of omega 3’s.
Eat 2-3 portions a week of wild salmon, tuna, fresh mackerel, anchovies, herring or sardines.
3. Grow your nails with eggs
Biotin is at the top of the list for nail health – with egg yolks being the richest source. This B vitamin is readily absorbed into the core of the nail, allowing it to help thicken the nail and stimulate growth.
4. Shape your nails with spinach
Brittle or spoon shape nails can ben an indicator of an iron deficiency. Boost your iron intake with a daily dose of spinach.
5. Build your nails with protein
Nails are composed of a hard protein called keratin. A diet lacking in protein will mean there are not enough building blocks for nail formation.
Eat protein at each meal and snack; meat, fish, yoghurt, beans, pulses, tofu, tempeh, nuts & seeds.
6. Enhance nail quality with Horsetail tea
Horsetail is one of the oldest plants on the planet. It’s unique in the fact that it’s rich silica – an often forgotten trace mineral.
Silica improves circulation allowing vital nutrients to reach the nail bed, ultimately improving nail quality.
Switch your morning coffee for a brew of Horsetail tea.
7. Condition your nails with almond oil
Almond oil is rich in vitamin E, and acts as a great natural conditioner to the nail when applied topically.
Massage a drop of the oil into the cuticle and base of the nail to increase circulation and stimulate nail growth.
the top 7 foods for strong healthy nails, lily soutter
Lily Soutter is a Nutritionist & Nutritional Therapist
