Do You Have Vertical Ridges On Your Nails?
Our fingernails can tell us a great deal about our health, and give us more insight into what is happening inside our bodies.
Many people live is a state of stress, which can cause chemical and structural changes to our brains and nervous system.
Over time this can lead to nerve damage as problems begin to manifest in the body, such as anxiety, ringing in the ears, ridges on the nails and other problems.
The nails carry nerve centres under them and are among the first to get affected when there is something wrong in the body.
If your nails are pink and smooth then this is a good indicator that you have a healthy and fully functioning nervous system.
However if your nervous system is overburdened, then vertical ridges will begin to appear from the top of the nail to the base. This indicates that you are deficient in important B vitamins, especially B12.
When we are stressed, or we eat too many refined foods our bodies become deficient in Vitamin B12 and other B vitamins.
This leads to a form of iron deficiency anaemia, meaning that the right nutrients aren't reaching your nail bed, causing the formation of vertical ridges on your fingernails.
Treatment Options
Now we will take a look at 6 natural remedies that you can use to reverse vertical ridges, so that you nails grow back healthily.
1. Remedy 1: Nutritional Yeast
People who suffer with vertical ridges often feel stressed and anxious. Eating 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast each day quickly helps to sooth anxiety and nervous tension in the body. It is loaded with B vitamins which help to regrow and restore the nerves connected to your nails.
2. Remedy 2: Eat Shellfish
Eat shellfish at least 3 times per week such as mussels, crab meat, shrimp, cockles and clams. These are all loaded with Vitamin B12 and important minerals. These help to supply nutrients that heal your nervous system and reverse the underlying cause of vertical ridges on the nails.
3. Remedy 3: Stop Taking Antacids
If you are taking antacid medications or PPI's then these may be causing a deficiency in B12 along with iron and other nutrients. They neutralise your important stomach acids and block you from absorbing many nutrients. Take apple cider vinegar instead as a natural treatment to help you absorb more B vitamins.
4. Remedy 4: Take Methylcobalamin (Vitamin B12)
If you are a vegan or following a plant based diet, you may be deficient in B12 because it comes from animal sources. Taking a supplement of B12 in the form of methylcobalamin can really help to heal your nervous system disorders and reverse vertical ridges on the nails.
5. Remedy 5 Coconut Oil
To smooth out the surface of your nails on the cosmetic level, use an emery board to buff your nails and coat them regularly with coconut oil. This will help to nourish and protect the nail and make it appear healthier.
6. Remedy 6: Eat Wild Caught Salmon
Wild caught salmon is one of the healthiest foods to restore your nails as they are loaded with omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin b12 and other key nutrients. We recommend eating this regularly and cutting back on refined foods like sugar to boost your B vitamins and restore your nails and nerves.
As you can see nail ridges are not a natural part of aging, but are in fact caused by a deficiency in B vitamins and also iron.
If you notice that there is only 1 or 2 ridges, then this is an indicator that you need more heme iron in your diet from red meat and animal sources.
We also recommend getting regular exercise of at least 5 minutes per day. This helps to boost blood flow around the body, so that that nutrients can get where they need to be. This is especially useful if you have peripheral vascular disease
Remember that the nails give us all kinds of clues as to the internal state of our health. We will be covering many other bodily signs of vitamin deficiencies in our videos.
CONVERSATION