It is no secret that African American women value their appearance in every way. Their attention to detail extends to the smallest aspects of their look. Their fingernails and toenails must be strong and attractive but distinct and unique. Healthier nails is what they want.
Unfortunately, many Black women struggle with having healthy nails, and the need for healthy nails is universal. Everyone should have healthy fingernails. Whether worn with artificial nails on top or a more natural approach, strong nails are a sign of a strong and healthy body core.
Low Vitamin D, Magnesium, and Zinc in Black Women
A study at the University of Houston showed significantly low vitamin D in Black and Hispanic teenage women. This vitamin D deficiency shows most obviously in fingernail quality. When artificial nails are worn, the poor quality of the nail is not apparent and is frequently attributed to wearing the overlying nail.
Like everything in life, nutrition is the key. The foundations of our nails are similar to the makeup of our bones, predominantly calcium. Thankfully, most Black women are not calcium deficient. The next crucial element is vitamin D, which modulates or uses the body’s calcium for whatever it wants to do.
Vitamin D is Essential to Nail Health
The crazy fact is an effortless way to strengthen your nails is to take additional vitamin D, magnesium, and zinc. Vitamin D uses the calcium your body already has and directs your body to make stronger bones and nails. Zinc helps your immune system and cell replication (division) and promotes fingernail growth. Magnesium is also a critical component in healthy nails. Population health research shows African Americans tend to be vitamin D, magnesium, and zinc deficient.
The Solution to Healthier Nails is Simple
The simple reason many African American women have brittle and weak nails is due to these vitamin and mineral deficiencies. As I’ve written in articles on my website and discussed on my podcast “Better Black Health,” we are all just a series of chemical reactions, and the chemical reactions you need for strong nails involve calcium, vitamin D, magnesium, zinc and others. We are deficient in many of these vitamins and minerals and have weak and brittle nails.
Considering African Americans spent $7.4 billion on beauty supplies in 2022, some of that investment should be made in making our body’s core healthier and stronger.
There is no need to wonder why your nails are brittle, short, and not growing. Give your body what it needs to be healthy. As a physician, I developed GNetX Sequence Multivitamins to replace the vitamins and minerals African Americans need. Go to SequenceMultivitamins.com or Amazon.com and start the path to stronger nails today.
Related Podcast Episode
Black Dermatologist Talks About Having Healthy Skin, Hair, and Nails
In this episode:
Better Black Health with Dr. Greg Hall welcomes Jeffery Scales, MD a dermatologist from Durham, North Carolina also known as DRClearskin. They talk about a host of topics related to your skin, hair and nails. What is the most common…
