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Exitao -> RE: One approach to stronger fingernails (Dec. 27 2008 17:36:27)
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I posted a thread elsewhere about this, but I've tried a few things because I have naturally very nails which shred and tear rather than crack or break.
I work in construction, I'm a safety officer and the first aid attendant (constructions version of a company nurse, I can treat a lot of people in a week). Occasionally (i.e. far too often) I have to pitch in and do other people's jobs and I tend to wear gloves when I do because I may need to treat someone in the field in an emergency so I need my hands as clean as possible, enough at least to put on surgical gloves.
Work gloves also protect the nails, but sweaty/wet gloves cause any kind of polish-like hardening product to flake off. This lead me to observe how these hardeners, only worked while actually coating my nails, but they actually resulted in weaker nails when I removed the varnish.
The solution I found was Iodides Tincture (de-colourised iodine, a.k.a. white iodine). Regular tincture of iodine would work too, but it would turn your nails orange.
Basically, you apply the iodine daily for the first week or two and then cut down to once or twice a week afterwards.
I had good results by applying it initially under the nail and across the top of the nail with particular attention to the area near the cuticles.
I also found that it made my cuticles hard, so I took to using a cuticle cream to ensure the nails stayed nourished (massaging the cuticles promotes blood flow and growth).
As an experiment, I used it on my right hand only, so that my left could act as a control. My nails on my right had became stiffer very quickly and within a week I cut my left nails and trimmed a bit off the tips of the right hand nails and found that the right hand nails required more force and made more noise when clipped.
I'm actually doing some research trying to find out what it does exactly, all I know is that I haven't broken or shredded a nail once since I started.
For those people who have had good results supplementing with biotin, the reason is that biotin contains sulfur. Sulfur apparently stimulates growth as well as plays a part in adding strength to keratin in nails. So... try supplementing methionine, which is an essential amino acid that provides sulfur.
Here's an article I found in my researches or "iodine sulfur keratin" which oddly has a good number of the disparate facts I'd found that caused me to create that search term:
quote:
Biotin has received more attention in terms of hoof growth than any other nutrient. Biotin is a B-complex vitamin that is generally produced by bacterial growth in the horse's hindgut in sufficient amounts to meet nutritional needs. But some horses appear to benefit from supplemental biotin. Studies have shown increased hoof growth and improved hoof quality (less cracking) in horses supplemented with 15 to 60 mg of biotin per day.
Methionine is an essential amino acid (meaning it must be provided in the diet), some of which is converted into cystine in the horse's tissues. Both methionine and cystine contain sulfur, which is an essential element in the formation of keratin.
Supplementing methionine, iodine and essential fatty acids (linoleic and linolenic acids) has improved hoof quality in horses and cattle. Organic forms of zinc (zinc molecules attached to amino acids), which are more readily absorbed than inorganic forms, have also been shown to increase the rate of hoof growth and hoof wall density when added to the horse's diet.
If you have a horse with a history of poor hoof condition, use a supplement that contains biotin (at least 20 mg per daily dose) in addition to iodine, organic zinc and methionine. Since each of these nutrients has resulted in improving hoof quality, there may be some synergies in providing them all in one supplement. There are several such hoof supplements on the market.
Still, it may take nine months or more to see a marked improvement.
http://www.horses-and-horse-information.com/articles/0702foodfeet.shtml
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