Your everyday activities affect the strength and resiliency of your fingernails. Consider low-cost remedies if your nails are brittle and break, peel or chip once they reach a certain length. Incorporate nail care into your daily beauty and hygiene routines, and your chances of growing healthier and longer nails may increase.
Maintain a Healthy Diet
Research from Daily Glow, a health and beauty resource website, shows that a healthy diet is important for growing and maintaining strong nails. Foods such as mushrooms, bananas, egg yolks and peanuts contain biotin--commonly known as vitamin B--a nutrient that helps thicken your nail beds and prevent breaking, chipping and splitting. Another vitamin that prevents nail splitting is zinc, which is found mostly in red meat. Foods such as broccoli, cheese and tofu contain calcium, which encourages nails to grow past your fingertips.
Wear Protective Gloves
According to the American Osteopathic College of Dermatology, one of the causes of brittle nails is repeated wetting and drying. Wear gloves when washing dishes or doing other chores that require your hands to be submerged in water for long periods. Gloves prevent brittle nails from getting too much moisture and being exposed to harsh cleaning chemicals that strip nutrients from your nails.
Avoid Topical Hardeners
Dr. Vic A. Narurkar, M.D., assistant clinical professor at UC Davis Medical School, warns against the use of nail hardening topical agents. According to Dr. Narurkar, no topical agents have been proven to strengthen nails, and hardeners may contain a harsh chemical such as formaldehyde. Formaldehyde and other chemicals may irritate the skin around your nails, creating painful hangnails, and may even make your nails too hard. This causes them to crack and split.
Moisturize Nails With Oil
Instead of using nail-hardening topical agents, brush or soak your nails with vegetable oil. Vegetable oils may be better for your nails because they don't contain alcohol-based fragrances such as commercial products that can dry out your nails. Protect the undercoat as well by placing a tiny bit of oil on the underside of your nails if they have grown past your fingertips.
Keep Nails Trimmed
Emory boards and metal nail files are often too harsh for shaping natural nails and may increase your chances for nail splitting. Use three-way buffers to refine, smooth and shine your nail bed. Avoid shortening nails with nail clippers that can cut against the grain of your nails and stunt healthy growth. Instead, use a file to shorten them and file your nails in one direction--the direction of nail growth instead of a back-and-forth motion--to prevent breakage. Trim them when they're wet, such as after a bath or shower, so they'll be flexible and less likely to break from being too dry.
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