Consuming a well-balanced, nutrient-rich diet is important for the growth and maintenance of healthy fingernails. Your fingernails can experience poor health if you have poor nutrition, and this can lead to brittle nails, pale nails or chipped...
Your nails require a well-balanced, nutrient-rich diet in order to grow and be healthy. Nail disorders may present as brittle nails, splitting nails, pale nails, or chipped nails. In order to avoid problems with growth and maintenance of your...
A well-balanced diet can aid in the growth of healthy nails. Brittleness, cracks, ridges, discoloring and poor growth can indicate a nutritional deficiency or another health condition. Changes in diet or adding a vitamin supplement can help to...
The nail layer, made up of several keratin or protein layers, usually seal together to form a solid, strong nail bed, according to Nemours TeensHealth. But when nails become damaged, the layers come apart and become brittle and flaky. Most people...
Ferritin, a protein in the body, stores iron and releases it when needed, and acts as a mediator and a transporter for iron. The amount of ferritin in the body is directly related to the amount of iron in the body. Ferritin works harder in the...
Nutrition is an important factor in the condition of your nails. Fingernails that are weak, brittle, splitting, or peeling can be cause by deficiencies in a number of vitamins and minerals. While heredity does play a role in nail health, eating a...
Vitamin B-12 is essential for the proper formation of red blood cells and to make the DNA in all of your cells. Vitamin B-12 also helps keep your nerves healthy, allowing nerve impulses to travel efficiently. A low B-12 count occurs when the body...
Iron deficiency occurs in two stages. During the first stage, your body gradually depletes stored iron. During the second stage, not enough iron is available for the production of red blood cells, so you become anemic. Red blood cells use iron to...
Decreased thyroid production can lead to brittle nails. Women who are over 50 have the highest risk of developing thyroid problems. Hypothyroidism may not cause noticeable symptoms in its early stages, or symptoms might be subtle or easily blamed...
Your fingernails and toenails serve an important function and can be a reflection of the overall health and wellness of your body. Although most nail problems are minor, some signs such as nail thickness, horizontal white lines or concave nails...
Iron is an essential component of red blood cells, which are involved in the transport of oxygen to the body. Almost 2/3 of iron in the body is found in hemoglobin, according to the Office of Dietary Supplements. Hemoglobin is the oxygen carrying...
Fingernails and toenails are living skin cells. Nails protect and support tips of the fingers and toes, and they help humans scratch an itch, tie a knot and pick up small objects. Nail growth is affected by illness or poor health.
A raw food diet, while naturally low in fat and high in nutrients, may be deficient in essential minerals such as iron, zinc and calcium. While many raw foods are high in iron, the iron from vegetable products is more difficult for the body to...
Not everybody should take iron supplements, but for people who are diagnosed with an iron deficiency, supplemental iron can be beneficial. Iron is a well-known trace mineral that is found in every single cell of your body. Elson Haas, M.D., says...
Eating healthy nutritious foods can help lower blood cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure -- all of which are needed to sustain health and prolong life. People suffering from high cholesterol, high blood sugar or high blood pressure may...
Nails are made from keratin, the same protein that makes the hair and skin. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, nail growth is affected by several factors. Women's nails grow more quickly during pregnancy, and everyone's nails grow...
Vitamin B12 plays important roles in DNA synthesis, nerve health and the formation of red blood cells. A vitamin B12 deficiency disorder, more commonly referred to as pernicious anemia or megaloblastic anemia, occurs when there is not enough...
Proper nutrition helps to ensure that your body stays healthy and that you do not experience any major health problems. Poor nutrition can be defined as a lack of essential vitamins or minerals or an excess amount of unhealthy nutrients or...
Nails reflect the health of the body. A well-balanced diet reflects itself in healthy, smooth, strong nails that grow from a pale pink nail bed. Made of keratin, which is a form of protein, nails need nourishment from vitamins and minerals to stay...
Approximately 20 percent of women and 50 percent of pregnant women have low iron levels, estimate health professionals with MedlinePlus. Iron deficiency, which is also called iron-deficiency anemia, occurs when your body doesn't have enough red...
Healthy strong nails are a popular aesthetic feature, but they can also be used as health indicators of the health of the body. Since the growth of nails and their health can actually be seen, doctors are able to look at nails for hints at certain...
Sickle cell disease, also called sickle cell anemia, is an inherited disorder that disrupts the function of red blood cells. According to the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, people affected with sickle cell disease have an abnormal...
The mineral iron plays an important role in oxygen transport and helps regulate cell growth and division. According to the Office of Dietary Supplements, approximately two-thirds of the iron in the body is found in red blood cells. Iron deficiency...
Like the hair on your head, your fingernails consist of layers of keratin protein, according to the Mayo Clinic. When your nails are healthy, your body uses nutrients and proteins to create more keratin, pushing the growing portion of the nail out...
Blood volume increases during pregnancy to help provide plenty of oxygen, vitamins and antibodies to the fetus, explains the University of Virginia Health System. Anemia is a condition of the blood where the cells have a diminished ability to...
Heavy or long menstruation can deplete a woman's iron stores, leading to iron-deficiency anemia. Women of childbearing age have a much higher risk of developing iron-deficiency anemia than men and postmenopausal women. Twenty percent of women do...
According to the Mayo Clinic, gradual hair thinning is a normal part of aging. When the rate of shedding is greater than the rate of regrowth, however, baldness may result. New hair can also grow in thinner, or come out in patches. These types of...
Puffy eyes affect both women and men, become more common with increasing age and are rarely cause for medical concern. Most cases of puffy eyes are intermittent and can be treated at home with lifestyle and dietary changes. Puffy eyes that develop...
A hiatal hernia--an opening through the diaphragm that allows part of the stomach to push up into the chest cavity--can cause serious side effects in some patients while others experience no symptoms, according to the National Institutes of...
