Learning how to prevent brittle nails is easy, so if you’re experiencing brittleness, dryness, and cracking, you can start feeling relief fast. Just follow these tips to growing healthier, stronger nails. When nails become brittle, they lose flexibility and strength, which makes them susceptible to inconvenient and sometimes painful breaking, cracking, and splitting. Nails become brittle for a variety of reasons, but there is good news. A few small but vital lifestyle changes can help you keep your nails in top condition. To prevent brittle nails, you need to combat dehydration and increase your calcium levels. Try these simple techniques to give your body everything it needs to grow strong, healthy nails.
Great Hydration Habits
One health issue that can contribute to brittle nails is dehydration. When your body does not have enough water in its system, it may not be able to provide nails with the moisture that they need in order to stay strong. To make sure that your nails stay hydrated, tackle moisture problems from both the inside and the outside. Start by making sure you’re taking on adequate water. A good amount to shoot for is six to eight full glasses per day. Grabbing snacks that contain a lot of water, like fresh fruit and crisp, raw vegetables, can also help your body get the water that you need to prevent brittle nails. The next step is to make sure your nails keep the moisture they get. Rubbing a moisturizer like into your nails and cuticles is a great way to help seal the surface of your nails, stopping evaporation and making sure your nails retain water. Try an alcohol-free hand cream, or a few tablespoons of olive oil.
Pumping Up The Calcium
To prevent brittle nails, you need to follow a diet that is rich in calcium, which helps your body produce strong, flexible nails that will resist cracking and breaking. Many commercially available products that promise to strengthen your nails, including many base coats and lacquers, depend on calcium for their power. These formulas can be useful to help you cope with a brittle nail emergency, but to grow stronger nails, you need to pursue a more permanent solution. To give your nails a calcium boost that will last, just look to your diet. Calcium is naturally found in dairy products, tofu, and broccoli.
A Sustainable Regimen
Implementing an easy daily regimen like this one is a great way to prevent brittle nails. Start your day with a glass of calcium fortified orange juice. This is a great way to take on water and calcium in one easy package, so pour yourself a big one and get your morning started right. Carry a bottle of water with you and sip from it throughout the day, so that your body gets a steady delivery of the moisture it needs to produce strong nails. At dinner, try to include broccoli as a side dish at least twice a week for a blast of calcium and crucial vitamins that will improve your overall health as well as keeping your nails in shape. Before bed, take a few minutes to moisturize your nails and cuticles by rubbing them with olive oil or hand cream. Followed consistently, these easy habits will prevent brittle nails, and offer you bonuses like healthier skin and a trimmer waistline to boot!
Reference:
- “Calcium Info” delivers what it promises, online at www.calciuminfo.com/index.aspx About.com has great tips on the healthiest ways to drink water, online at altmedicine.about.com/cs/10stepstohealth/a/10StepsWater.htm
