Hair, Skin and Nail Problems

The condition of your hair, skin and nails can be a reflection of your general health so it is important that you are eating well. If your hair, skin or nails are dry or brittle it can be that you are deficient in certain nutrients.

When you are concerned about your hair, skin or nails, you also have to think about your general health. Your hair, skin and nail health can be helped by your improving your overall health. So that your outside health is a picture of what is going on internally. Beauty from the inside out.

What are your choices?

Because as mentioned above, your hair, skin and nails can be a reflection of your general health you need to make sure that you are eating well, drinking enough fluids and either eating enough oily fish or taking a fish oil supplement especially if your skin, hair and nails are dry. Dry hair can make it break easily. Include enough animal protein (like fish or eggs) and/or vegetable protein (such as nuts, seeds and beans) in your diet as hair in particular is made up of a large percentage of protein.

Supplements

A good quality multivitamin and mineral would form the foundation of your supplement programme to make sure that you are getting a ‘little bit of everything’. You then add in those nutrients in slightly higher amounts which are known to be helpful for Hair, Skin and Nail Problems.

Your hair, skin and nails are susceptible to nutritional deficiencies so by adding specific nutrients into your supplement programme they can help strengthen your hair and nails and with your nails reduce white spots, ridges, flaking and splitting. Over time free radicals can affect your skin by damaging the collagen which normally would give skin its elasticity and softness. This damage can make your skin harder and drier resulting in wrinkles.

Vitamin C

This is a powerful antioxidant and is important for the manufacture of collagen. Your skin regenerates every 2-4 weeks but as you age there are changes in the skin because you lose collagen and elasticity which results in lines and wrinkles. Collagen is also an essential component of hair. Collagen helps your hair stay firm and stops it from splitting and may even help to give you thicker hair. Collagen also helps your nails as makes then less brittle so they are less prone to breaking.

Biotin

This nutrient is important for healthy skin, hair and nails. Biotin is essential for the production of keratin which is a key structural component of both hair and nails.

Rutin

Like vitamin C, rutin is a powerful antioxidant and helps your body manufacture collagen which is important for hair, skin and nails. Rutin also helps your body use vitamin C more efficiently.

Lysine

Lysine is an essential amino acid which you get from the breakdown of protein. The word ‘essential’ means that your body cannot manufacture it, you can only get it through your food or in supplements. Like vitamin C it helps with the manufacture of collagen. It also helps testosterone from metabolising into the active form of didydrotestosterone (DHT) which can cause hair to become thinner and thinner and eventually to fall out. And it is thought to help with skin problems such as acne and pimples.

MSM

MSM stands for methyl sulphonyl methane and occurs naturally in sulphur containing foods. It helps to maintain and strengthen healthy connective tissue which is important for your skin health. MSM helps to improve both collagen and keratin production so good not only for your skin but also your hair and nails.

Choline and inositol

Both these are nutrients together are helpful when someone is experiencing hair loss or thinning.

Zinc

This mineral is an antioxidant and is important for many different processes as all your body tissues contain zinc. In your skin, zinc is up to 6 times more concentrated in the epidermis (outer layer) than the dermis. It is important for improving wound healing and protection against UV radiation and has been shown to help with acne.

Selenium

Like zinc, selenium is a mineral with antioxidant properties. It is helpful for skin health and healing and can also encourage hair growth. Because it is an antioxidant, selenium can help protect your body against free radical damage which can cause premature ageing.

Vitamin E

This powerful antioxidant is often found in skin creams because it helps to destroy free radicals which make you age faster. Vitamin E also helps improve blood circulation which is important for healthy hair and nail growth.

Omega 3 Fatty Acids

Deficiencies of omega 3 fatty acids can include dry skin, dry and lifeless hair, brittle easily frayed nails, cracked skin on heels or fingertips because literally your body can be drying up from the inside out. It does not have enough lubrication to nourish your hair, skin and nails.

The Omega 3 oils are important to control inflammation and this is particularly important if your skin is red and sore.

Many of the women I see in the clinic have been taking evening primrose oil supplements – an Omega 6 fatty acid – for years and have not been eating enough Omega 3 oils, or taking them in supplement form, to counterbalance this. Some women are also taking combinations such as Omega 3, 6, and 9 in supplement form because they have heard that we need a good balance of all the Omega fatty acids. This is true, but you have to take into account what your own levels may be in the first place. It is no good adding in more Omega 6 if you have already got enough or in fact too much in your body. (You can now have a blood test to tell you if you have the correct levels of Omega 3 to Omega 6 in your body see below). To check whether you have sufficient levels of Omega 3 please click Omega 3 Deficiency Test (at home finger prick blood).

Herbs

As well as nutrients, certain herbs can be useful for hair, skin and nail problems.

Horsetail (Equisetum arvense)

This herb contains good amount of silica which encourages the growth of thick, healthy and shiny hair and will also help to strengthen your nails.

Grape seed extract

This is derived from the seeds left over in the making of wine. Grape seed extract is high in antioxidants called proanthocyanidins which help to slow down the ageing process. Grape seed extract has many benefits including the ability to bond with collagen which helps with skin health and also with reducing wrinkles as it promotes elasticity and flexibility in the skin.

Tests

There are a number of tests available that are extremely useful and are well worth considering. These tests can give you invaluable insights into understanding what is going on in your body at the moment.

The analysis of these results lets you know what supplements you need to take in order to bring your body back into balance and into optimum health. You would then be re-tested after three months to monitor your progress and to adjust the supplement programme accordingly.

Online Personalised Supplement Assessment Programme
Discover what vitamins and minerals you need and should be taking
The analysis of this comprehensive questionnaire will give you a three monthly supplement programme to help balance any vitamin and mineral deficiencies you may have. Find out more – Online Personalised Supplement Assessment Programme

Mineral Deficiency Test with Supplement Programme (Hair)
Find out what the mineral and heavy toxic levels are in your body

This test measures the deficiency and excess levels of 13 different minerals and 6 heavy toxic metals that may be present in your body. Find out more – Mineral Deficiency Test with Supplement Programme (Hair)

Omega 3 Deficiency Test (at home finger prick blood)

If you want to find out if you are getting enough Omega 3 fatty acids from your diet and whether you have the correct balance of essential fatty acids.
Signs of an Omega 3 fatty acid are dry skin, lifeless hair, cracked nails, fatigue, depression, dry eyes, lack of motivation, aching joints, difficulty in losing weight, forgetfulness, cystitis. If you have also tried to lose weight by going on a low-fat or no-fat diet, you are likely to be deficient in these essential fats. It is now estimated that we are getting ten times more Omega 6 fats from our diet than Omega 3 and over the last century there has been an 80% decrease in the consumption of these Omega 3 fatty acids. When you eat Omega 3 fats they are converted to substances that have an anti-inflammatory effect on the body. Find out more – Omega 3 Deficiency Test (at home finger prick blood)

Many of the women I see in the clinic have been taking evening primrose oil supplements – an Omega 6 fatty acid – for many years as it can be helpful with PMS. But you can end up with too much Omega 6 and not enough Omega 3 in your body. Some women are also taking combinations such as Omega 3, 6, and 9 in supplement form because they have heard that we need a good balance of all the Omega fatty acids. This is true, but you have to take into account what your own levels may be in the first place. It is no good adding in more Omega 6 if you have already got enough or in fact too much in your body. (You can now have a blood test to tell you if you have the correct levels of Omega 3 to Omega 6 in your body see below). To check whether you have sufficient levels of Omega 3 please click Omega 3 Deficiency Test (at home finger prick blood).

After three months you would then have a re-test in order to monitor your progress and adjust your supplement programme according to your new condition.