Your nail reflects how healthy you are

Imagine having toes and fingers without nails. How would they look? Obviously, they’d look everything but gorgeous! But beyond beauty, physicians are also saying that the true state of your health could be determined by the way your nails look. Surprising?

General Practitioner, Dr. Cynthia Okereke, notes that the nail, just like the human hair, is made up of dead cells. But despite this, the nail says volumes about our health.

The physician says some form of discolouration, such as white dots on the nail, or unusual bumps, may be a sign of disease in the body.

Indeed, experts note that your nail can be an indicator of some problems in your liver, heart or lungs. Okereke says, for instance, that a severely pale nail can be a warning that you are anaemic, or that you have congestive heart failure, liver disease or malnutrition.

“A row of jaundiced fingers with nails that are mostly white with darker rims may be an indication of hepatitis – a disease that affects the liver,” she says.

Researchers warn that sometimes, yellowness of the nails can be a warning that you need to be examined for diabetes, severe thyroid disease, lung disease such as emphysema, or psoriasis – a skin disease that is characterised by red, scaly patches.

Sometimes, too, Okereke says, you may suddenly notice that your nails are ripped from top to bottom, almost as if someone used a sharp object to dig a pattern into them. “When this happens, it may be a warning sign of inflammatory arthritis,” the physician enthuses.

And if your nails are dry and brittle and cracks rather readily, you may have to see your physician in order to rule out the possibility of developing thyroid disease.

Apart from infection that may make the skin surrounding the nail to become puffy and inflamed, experts also say the situation may be a warning that you have lupus or connective tissue disorder such as Reiter’s syndrome – a type of arthritis that happens as a result of reaction to a bacterial infection in the body.

According to Okereke, “Lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease that occurs when your body’s immune system attacks your own tissues and organs. This results in symptoms such as inflammation, swelling and damage to joints, skin, kidneys, blood, the heart, and lungs.”

Worse still, experts aver, dark lines under the nail could be a warning that you may have developed the most serious form of skin cancer, called melanoma.

And when the nail begins to form into a club, it may be time to undergo medical tests for “inflammatory bowel disease, cardiovascular disease, liver disease and AIDS,” experts at the online portal, mayoclinic.org, warn.

The portal also warns that development of ‘spoon nails’ may be a sign of iron deficiency anaemia or a liver condition known as hemochromatosis, “in which your body absorbs too much iron from the food you eat.”

The condition can also be associated with heart disease and hypothyroidism.

Eat for nail health

Hope is not lost, however; as experts say there are foods that could help your body and, in effect, your nail. They include the following…

Beef: Of course, there are controversies surrounding meat consumption, but one thing that cannot be denied is that meat gives us protein and iron, both of which are crucial for nail health, says a nutritionist, Dr. Remi Omotunde. She says the problem does not really have to do with meat but rather, it has to do with the quantity you eat.

Okereke adds that spoon-shaped nails are associated with a deficiency in iron, hence the need for people to eat iron-rich foods in order to get round the problem.

“Meat contains high levels of saturated fat, and too much of it can lead to heart disease. But moderate use of meat does have its health benefits,” the nutritionist counsels.

Other iron-rich foods include pork, poultry, seafood, beans, dark green leafy vegetables such as spinach; dried fruits such as raisins and apricots; and iron-fortified cereals, breads and pastas.

In addition, Omotunde says, antioxidant-rich foods such as red kidney beans, red apples, red grapes, nuts, dark green vegetables, sweet potatoes, carrots, green tea, whole grains and fish such as sardines, salmon, oysters, mackerel, tuna steak, wild rainbow trout, shark steak, albacore tuna, and herring variously contain vitamins and minerals, zinc and selenium, phytochemicals, anthocyanin and pro anthocyanin, all of which serve as anti-inflammatory agents that make for nail health.

Again, eat eggs. Just as meat, there are various issues surrounding the consumption of eggs, but Omotunde counsels that as is the case with other foods, moderation remains the watchword.

She says, “Eggs provide protein and vitamin D, as well as biotin – a B-complex vitamin that plays a role in the development of keratin, a key structural component of nails.”

The bottom line: When you notice any of the symptoms we’ve discussed, don’t indulge in self-medication. Instead, do the wise thing: see your doctor.

PUNCH.