Route To Shiny Healthy Nails

What do they indicate?

- Pushpa Bhatia

Nails aren’t just a great site for body art. They offer a protective outer layer for your fingers and toes and are even indicators to any underlying health problems. If you notice sudden changes in your nails it would be wise to consult a doctor. Here is what to watch out for:

Discoloration: Barring a few occasional white spots, which nearly mean injury to the nail bed, white or yellow spots on the nails are characteristic of a condition known as Terry’s nails, which could be a warming sign for liver disease, kidney failure or a heart condition.

Yellowing of the nails may indicate a fungal infections, psoriasis or a thyroid-related disease, white-green nails are often in people who work in damp environments or have a loose nailbed nails going blue could be your body’s reactions to cold temperature or low oxygen levels in your red blood cells and are sign of breathing problems.

Discoloration is also caused by nail polish which contains formaldehyde, a preservative that has been identified as a human carcinogen by the international agency for research on cancer.

Smoking makes your nails discoloured and they tend to look yellowish, white nails show that the person is anaemic.

Unusual texture: If you have ever noticed a thick curling overgrowth in your nails it could either be a sideeffect of diseases such as psoriasis or hystrix or lack of care. Low levels of protein, zinc and iron cause vertical ridges. If you have low thyroid levels supplementary with thyroxine would help consuming coriander juice regularly (made from 100 gms of coriander leaves) and adding lime juice to all your vegetables and salads could help prevent an iron deficiency. Eggs, fish, most lentils and nuts such as almonds, walnuts, sprouts will give you sufficient protein and zinc.