10 facts you didn’t know about nails

10 facts you didn’t know about nails
Your nails are one of your best beauty accessories—but do you know much about them? Here's a quick crash course:

1. HOW FAST YOUR FINGERNAILS GROW

Fingernails grow an average of 3.5 millimeters per month. The rate your nails grow at is affected by a number of things, including your age, gender, and hormones. It’s rather unfair but men’s nails tend to grow faster than women’s, with the exception of women’s growing faster during pregnancy. Your nails may also grow faster after an illness and you may have noticed your nails grow faster in the summer than in the winter. Rather strangely however the longer your fingers the faster your nails grow and the nails on your more active hand grow faster than on the other. Your middle nail grows the fastest and your thumbnails the slowest.

2. YOUR DIET AFFECTS THE HEALTH OF YOUR NAILS

Eating foods to help your hair shine? Nails and hair are both made out of the protein keratin. Eating healthy foods and vitamins will help strengthen both your hair and nails, while a junk food diet will lead to peeling nails and split ends.

3. YOUR NAILS CAN TELL THE STORY OF THE REST OF YOUR HEALTH

Believe it or not, your nails can give dermatologists clues about the rest of your health, a serious disease could be uncovered by a fingernail examination. Blue discoloration can be a sign of lung cancer while yellow discoloration can be related to a respiratory disease. Indentations across your nail may just be caused by damage, however, if they appear for no reason they could indicate zinc deficiency, diabetes or a high fever. Your nails may even be causing the problem, nail problems account for 10% of all skin problems!

4. EXAMS OR A STRESSFUL JOB CAN AFFECT YOUR NAILS

Some people cope with stress by chewing their nails but that’s not the only reason stress could be damaging your nails. Stress and the associated lack of sleep can divert your body’s nutrients and energy away from growing healthy nails and hair. It’s called beauty sleep for a reason!

5. NAILS DON’T KEEP GROWING AFTER DEATH!

You may have heard the rumor that your nails and hair continue to grow once you die. Well, it’s WRONG! Nails need blood to grow, so they can’t possibly grow after death. The rumor exists because skin shrinks after death making nails appear longer. Moving on from that morbid point…

6. STORING YOUR POLISH IN THE FRIDGE WILL HELP…LIES

No doubt you’ve heard somewhere along the line that keeping your nail polish in the fridge will help it last longer or bring it back to life. WRONG AGAIN! Putting your nail polish in the fridge exposes it to drastic temperature changes which can ruin the smoothness of the polish. Nail polish will keep best if it’s stored at room temperature, in a dry atmosphere, and in the dark. A drawer in your bedroom is the best place for it, just make sure the lid is secured tightly to avoid air getting in.

7. YOUR CUTICLES ARE THERE TO PROTECT YOU

Cuticles stop germs and bacteria from getting into and damaging your nail bed. Try not to cut your cuticles. Care for them by applying moisturizer and pushing them back to avoid an overgrown look.

8. WHITE SPOTS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH CALCIUM INTAKE

White spots on your nails are a sign of minor injury to the nail while it is being formed, people who bite their nails are more likely to have them for this reason. These spots could be a sign of a minor infection or even due to an allergic reaction to nail polish.

9. NAILS CAN GROW TO BAFFLING LENGTHS

Eww, the longest nail recorded belonged to a man in India and was 48 inches long! While we are all for growing a long set of healthy talons this doesn’t bear thinking about.

10. COCA-COLA IS CAPABLE OF DISSOLVING A NAIL

Water is great for your overall health including your nails, whereas fizzy drinks like Coke are not so good. In fact, Coca-Cola is kind of scary. If you place a piece of a nail in a bottle of Coca Cola it will dissolve within 4 days, that’s how corrosive it is! If you need any more reason to swap coke for water, this is it!

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