Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

What about thumbnails with ridges? It's been suggested to me that it's from picking at the cuticles, but it doesn't happen with any nails besides the thumbs. I never had this issue until I quit the SAD diet. Could there be a nutritional component to these ridges? (I did recently notice I eat very little salt and so I just recently started to take a daily iodine supplement-- could iodine deficiency be a cause of the ridges-- it's the only thing I can remotely think of.)

I'm also curious about ridges. I have vertical ridges on all my nails no matter what eating plan I follow. I've heard it could be a nutrient deficiency but can't find any references as to what the nutrient might be.

Might as well add that they curve downward, too.

I thought the ridges were a natural aging process. The only thing that improves that for me is nail buffing. They sell kits in lots of places and actually found a set in my grocery store this week so I bought it. It's a 3-step process where 3 different surfaces are used. The end result looks like you've applied clear nail polish and the nails are all smooth and shiny. The results last about 8 wks, but I only get around to doing them a couple times a year.

Carol wrote:I thought the ridges were a natural aging process. The only thing that improves that for me is nail buffing. They sell kits in lots of places and actually found a set in my grocery store this week so I bought it. It's a 3-step process where 3 different surfaces are used. The end result looks like you've applied clear nail polish and the nails are all smooth and shiny. The results last about 8 wks, but I only get around to doing them a couple times a year.

Thanks, Carol. I actually don't care one bit how my nails look. I'm just worrying that it's an indicator of some weird vitamin deficiency I might have. I don't know. I freak out about stuff sometimes.

Carol,

Could you tell me the name of the product you use and where you purchased it? I have one that has a file on one side and a buffer on the other and I use this pretty religiously. But it sounds like you have something far better.

I too, have very faint ridges on just my thumbnails. All my other nails look very nice, and they have gotten stronger since I went on the McD. diet 5 yrs. ago. They also grow very quickly. But I have wondered if there is some vitamin dificiency or perhaps I am not protecting my hands well enough when I do house cleaning. ??

I will be interested in what Mr. Novick has to say.

What about zinc? I have read that vegans, women on birth control pills, and athletes (that's me) can have low zinc levels and that low zinc can affect fingernails. No talk of ridges, though, just white spots and brittleness, which I don't have. So maybe that's a stretch. Zinc supplementation sounds tricky, though, because from what I've read one has to worry about copper and vitamin A and selenium levels. I hope it's not a zinc issue!

Some of the sites I see say we lack calcium and protein, but don't know if they "know" what they are talking about.

JP

My grampa had ridges on his nails, my mother has them, and now I have them. They are more pronounced with age, I will be 50 this year.

Since I found out I had hypothyroidism, I've had a fingernail that splits. No matter what it I do it starts to split and I have to keep it trimmed short, it always splits in the same place, right in the midline down into the quick.

I had white spots for a while when I was still doing raw/E2L, and was told I had zinc deficiency. In fact I was told I have a whole bunch of vitamin pill deficiencies, but I no longer take any vitamin or any other supplements. Since my Homecoming (back to McDougalling for the past month) I have no more white spots on my nails and they seem thicker. Hmmm...... I wonder if it's the potatoes? But, my one nail still splits, even with potatoes. Maybe it's just age, too.

Lovoatmeal,

I'm not at home right now, so would have to get back to you on that later. I bought my first buffer kit at one of those home sale companies (like Tupperware) where I got to try it out. The one I found in Wegmans consisted of 3 nail files. Like the block, each surface is different. One is for buffing, which you do first, the second for .......can't remember, and the third is what fills in the ridges and gives it the "clear polished" look. They end up so smooth it's incredible and I find myself rubbing the index finger constantly over the thumb nail because it's so smooth. I wonder if Drug stores carry something similar.

If I'm not mistaken, I think my ridges have improved over the past year to where they don't look like 50+ year old nails. But after buffing, the nails look like I'm 20 again!

sanlee wrote:I'm also curious about ridges. I have vertical ridges on all my nails no matter what eating plan I follow. I've heard it could be a nutrient deficiency but can't find any references as to what the nutrient might be.

Might as well add that they curve downward, too.

Now, I know website research can be kind of sketchy, at best... But from what I've read, the vertical ridges are nothing to worry about. A bunch of websites say to see your doctor if you have the horizontal ones that go all the way across the nail bed on all the fingernails. I have horizontal ridges up and down both thumbs, but they don't extend all the way across. So that's confusing, but I have a women's health appointment later this summer, so I guess I'll talk to my GYN about the nail issue, too. It seems like there could be a variety of causes, so not something to diagnose easily online.

I guess it concerns me most because I first got thumb ridges about 6 years ago when I went vegan for about 6 months without being properly educated on healthful vegan eating. Back then the ridges were way deeper. They went away when I went back to the heart disease diet. Now that I'm back to vegan, but McDougall style this time like my parents, I'm certainly not eating a junk food vegan diet anymore. I've noticed these ridges for the past few months, but since they weren't as bad, I've been kind of ignoring them. Then I saw another fingernail question on the forum and it reminded me of my own issue.

I hope I'm not worrying too much about nothing.

Carol,

Thanks for responding - if you could give me the name of the product when you get a chance, I'd really appreciate it! You can PM me if you would like. I want 20 year old looking nails too!

Thanks a bunch,
luvoatmeal

thanks, aarana -- I guess I won't worry about the vertical ridges

luvoatmeal wrote:Carol,
Could you tell me the name of the product you use and where you purchased it? I have one that has a file on one side and a buffer on the other and I use this pretty religiously. But it sounds like you have something far better.

I'm not Carol, but I have a 4-in-1 buffer I got from Sally's Beauty Supply--sounds like a similar product. It was only $2-$3.

Mrs. Doodlepunk wrote:Since I found out I had hypothyroidism, I've had a fingernail that splits. No matter what it I do it starts to split and I have to keep it trimmed short, it always splits in the same place, right in the midline down into the quick.

I've had a nail which has been doing this for years. Right in the middle all the way down. It usually only splits on the part above the finger but the line showing where it is going to split is still there. I've had my thyroid tested too and all is apparently normal. Wonder what this is from then.

QueenV wrote:I've had my thyroid tested too and all is apparently normal. Wonder what this is from then.

Did you know that normal isn't normal any more when it comes to thyroid? There is discussion going on about the normal values, some labs still use the old ones. Dr McDougall wrote and article about thyroid problems and "natural" thyroid therapy.