Like the rest of your body, your nails will reflect your nutritional intake. Dietary and nutritional improvements that encourage better overall health will also manifest in stronger, more flexible, healthier nails. While supplement routines can be an immediate and precise way to target nail-related nutritional deficiencies, many feel discouraged from adding a new routine to their already busy life; if that describes you, then try increasing the presence of these five delicious foods in your diet.
- Cashews
Cashews are among the tastiest tree nuts on earth, and luckily for you and your nails, they’re rich in zinc. Zinc is an essential mineral ingredient for cell division and synthesizing proteins. As you probably know, your ever-growing nails are made of keratin, a protective protein, so proper nail growth relies on constant protein synthesis. Zinc is a mineral that your body doesn’t naturally store for later use. Therefore it must be delivered regularly to your cells. Make a serving of cashews part of your daily snacks or use them in cooking. There’s nothing like cashews in a rich massaman curry!
- Eggs
The universally useful chicken egg is a rich source of biotin, a B vitamin. Your nail matrices, located underneath and behind your cuticles, are the protein factories that produce your nails, and biotin will only make their job easier. You’ll notice thicker, stronger nails after increasing your biotin intake. But, don’t get too excited about biotin; it’s best to acquire biotin from food rather than taking it in a supplement form, since too much of it will interfere with other aspects of your health and make medical test results just a bit murkier than they should be.
- Sweet potatoes
Have you ever experienced brittle, dry nails, with vertical ridge-like formations that develop into fissures and cracks? You may have suffered from a lack of vitamin A. Vitamin A is necessary for good nail health; one more part of the equation for your matrices to reproduce nail cells properly. There’s a reason that high-end nail products like SNS dip powders include vitamin A as a key ingredient.
Sweet potatoes, of course, are overloaded with vitamin A which has a relatively high intake ceiling, so don’t worry that one sweet potato provides over six times the recommended minimum daily amount of vitamin A. Easy to prepare and overall nutrient dense, sweet potatoes can be used in a variety of dishes, as a base or as a side, served with some goat cheese and green onions or roasted with garlic powder and olive oil. Go ham — go yam!
- Red Cabbage
If you thought you wouldn’t see vitamin C in this article, think again! Vitamin C is absolutely necessary for nail health because it allows your cells to produce collagen, a protein used by your body to hold things together, like the keratin in your nails. With greater vitamin C intake, you’ll notice your nails becoming more bendy and flexible, and less rigid and delicate. And if you’re wondering where you might find foodborne vitamin C, look no further than the common red cabbage. This type of cabbage offers up 40 mg of vitamin C per cup raw, with only slightly diminishing returns when cooked. If you’re tired of oranges, try getting your vitamin C in a fresh red cabbage salad.
- Amino Acid-rich Foods
What do pork chops, tuna, lentils, and soybeans have in common? They all contain high levels of cysteine, an amino acid which, like zinc, is required for the production of nail-building keratin. In general, foods known for being protein-rich like meats, pulses, and soy (and its derivatives) will be good for your nails. That includes eggs, and specifically their protein packed whites, but it’s somewhat hard to overdo your dietary protein intake, so it’s safe to double up. You can have lentils, eggs, and a pork chop in the same meal, and your nails will thank you for it — especially if you eat it on a bed of mashed sweet potato.
