About Diet's Effect on Hair and Nails

Who doesn't want glamorously glossy hair and beautifully strong nails? Despite all the beauty regimes out there to improve hair and nails, the easiest and most effective way to achieve healthy hair and nails is through a healthy diet.

The Facts

Sure, we've all heard the saying "you are what you eat," but how often do we actually believe it to be true? Foods not only affect how we feel but how we look. Beauty can be achieved through expensive creams and procedures but why waste all the money when a healthier glow is easily available through proper nutrition?

When it comes to hair and nails, while no magical food exists to instantly transform your limp hair and brittle nails into glamorous supermodel locks and beautifully manicured nails, they can be achieved over time through a healthy and balanced diet.

Significance

Glossy hair and strong nails represent a well-nourished body whereas dull, dry, easily broken hair and spoon-shaped, brittle and ridged nails indicate malnourishment due to nutritional deficiencies. Even though hair and nails are dead cells, they serve as an important indicator to your overall health as they are directly affected by nutritional inadequacies in your body.

A nutrient-deficient diet is clearly conveyed through changes in your hair and nails like brittleness, breakage, thinning and splitting. Since optimum hair growth and nail growth as well as overall wellbeing depend upon a healthy, balanced diet, it is essential that you eat a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables along with lean proteins to provide your body with the essential nutrients for overall beauty and health.

Features

Proper nutrition demonstrates how beauty can come from the inside out as opposed to expensive and high maintenance beauty. In order to get your hair and nails in optimal condition, you need to:
• hydrate your body with at least eight 8 oz. glasses of water per day;
• provide your body with adequate keratin through high-quality protein, like eggs;
• eat foods high in B vitamins or take a supplement;
• maintain a diet composed of approximately 50 percent fresh fruits and vegetables;
• replace starchy carbohydrates with complex carbohydrates found in whole grains and fruits;
• add essential fatty acids, like flaxseed, to your diet; and
• consume your daily calcium requirement.

Expert Insight

Vitamins like vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, biotin, inositol, niacin, pantothenic acid, iron, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 are all important nutrients to maintaining healthy hair and nails. While you can purchase supplements for these vitamins, most are easily available through food sources. Some common food sources include: egg yolk, soybeans, organ meats, yeast, cheese, barley, broccoli, onions, fish, sea vegetables and peanuts.

Including these nutrients in your diet helps restore dry and brittle nails and hair, promotes scalp circulation, keeps hair follicles healthy, builds sturdy nails, keeps hair glossy, produces keratin (the protein in hair and nails) and creates strength and elasticity. Overall, these nutrients give you the smooth nails and shiny locks you desire.

Benefits

The health of your hair and nails is a direct reflection of your overall health and your diet. In order to achieve healthy, glowing tresses and strong nails, without the aid of expensive beauty products, it is essential to consistently eat a balanced diet of fruits, vegetables and lean proteins. Any nutritional weaknesses in your body will be reflected through your hair and nails.

Furthermore, both hair and nails do serve important functions aside from those of pure vanity. Hair fibers prevent heat loss and protect the skin against harsh UV rays and abrasions while nails protect the sensitive areas around fingers and toes plus assist in picking up objects. The best way to maintain healthy hair and nails for both functional and cosmetic purposes is through a healthy diet.