What Our Fingernails Say About Us page 2

[StoneAgeQueen]

My fingertips have got very wrinkly recently, like they do when you've been in a bath for a long time. Does anyone know what could cause this? It's happened very suddenly.

[Lewis]

I stopped getting the little white spots in my nails almost immediately after starting PB. I used to also get horizontal ridges on all my nails, regularly spaced about 1/4" apart....any guesses what that was from?

It's said to be biotin (B7) deficiency. Grains can, apparently, interfere with biotin metabolism. Professor Cordain points out Lindow Man's last meal consisted of grains and adds:

Less well-appreciated are the ability of whole grains to impair biotin metabolism. My colleague, Bruce Watkins [Watkins 1990], as well as others [Blair 1989; Kopinksi 1989], have shown that biotin deficiencies can be induced in animal models by feeding them high levels of wheat, sorghum, and other cereal grains. Biotin-dependent carboxylases are important metabolic pathways of fatty-acid synthesis, and deficiencies severely inhibit the chain-elongation and desaturation of 18:2n6 (linoleate) to 20:4n6 (arachidonic acid). Human dietary supplementation trials with biotin have shown this vitamin to reduce fingernail brittleness and ridging that are associated with deficiencies of this vitamin [Hochman 1993].

http://www.beyondveg.com/cordain-l/g...a.shtml#biotin

I guess it's a fairly big jump from Lindow Man's last meal that to the assumption that he regularly ate high amounts of grains (and, presumably, little meat or dairy products). He wasn't particularly short and he was well-built and probably of high rank, after all. The last meal may have had a ritual significance, bearing in mind how he likely met his end. (He was possibly "killed" three times - the Celts had a thing about triads.) There are indications that the sacrificial victim may have chosen the wrong lot, having picked a piece of burnt cake (what Lindow Man may have consumed).

The bannock was then broken into small pieces and put in a bag. The person who chose the burnt piece of bannock became the sacrificial victim. [Anne] Ross believes that Lindow Man was a Beltain sacrifice.

http://www.mummytombs.com/mummylocat.../lindowman.htm

However, whatever was going on with Lindow man "Human dietary supplementation trials with biotin have shown this vitamin to reduce fingernail brittleness and ridging that are associated with deficiencies of this vitamin" sounds fairly conclusive for a connection between biotin deficiency and fingernail ridges.

[hazyjane]

My fingertips have got very wrinkly recently, like they do when you've been in a bath for a long time. Does anyone know what could cause this? It's happened very suddenly.

Are they shrively vertical lines? It might be adrenal fatigue:
http://thehealthyhomeeconomist.blogs...=Yahoo%21+Mail

[StoneAgeQueen]

Are they shrively vertical lines? It might be adrenal fatigue:
http://thehealthyhomeeconomist.blogs...=Yahoo%21+Mail

Yes

Oh no, could this be indicative of addison's disease? My grandmother had it.

[hazyjane]

Yes

Oh no, could this be indicative of addison's disease? My grandmother had it.

Adrenal fatigue (to which there are varying degrees of- Addison's being an extreme) is so common these days. Our modern lifestyle is so bad for our poor adrenals! We have chronic low grade stress, stay up too late/don't get adequate sleep, drink caffeine/stimulants, etc. all of which can wear on our adrenals over time.

I recommend doing a bit of reading about adrenal fatigue- there are tons of articles out there. Primal is an excellent diet to help the adrenals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt6OO...eature=related
http://www.adrenalfatigue.org/

[Primallady]

I had really bad vertical lines. They are improving and nails are so hard now. Hazyjane, I had the hollow cheeks too- they have filled out, it's weird because I keep touching my face as there's such a difference.My sunken eyes have filled in too. Gosh, I was a mess from fruitarianism.

[StoneAgeQueen]

Adrenal fatigue (to which there are varying degrees of- Addison's being an extreme) is so common these days. Our modern lifestyle is so bad for our poor adrenals! We have chronic low grade stress, stay up too late/don't get adequate sleep, drink caffeine/stimulants, etc. all of which can wear on our adrenals over time.

I recommend doing a bit of reading about adrenal fatigue- there are tons of articles out there. Primal is an excellent diet to help the adrenals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt6OO...eature=related
http://www.adrenalfatigue.org/

Thanks Jane. I work long hours, sometimes until 2-3am. I don't get enough sleep a lot of the time and drink too much coffee. Maybe it's time to start slowing down.

[hazyjane]

Thanks Jane. I work long hours, sometimes until 2-3am. I don't get enough sleep a lot of the time and drink too much coffee. Maybe it's time to start slowing down.

Yeah- that'll do it to your adrenals, LOL!
Seriously, though- you don't want to end up on the brink of chronic fatigue with bottomed-out hormone levels like I did. Adrenal fatigue will really mess up your sex hormone production!

[cillakat]

FWIW and AFAIK, the 'white spots = zinc deficiency' thing is a myth. I've always had these, so I've hunted around in the past for some authoritative information on the cause, without finding anything. 'Trauma' and 'inherited tendency' are about as far as it goes.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9686635

Adv Ren Replace Ther. 1998 Jul;5(3):241-51.
Trophic implications of altered body composition observed in or near the nails of hemodialysis patients.

Kelly MP, Kight MA, Castillo S.
University of California Renal Center, San Francisco 94110, USA.
Abstract

In the absence of biochemically determined nutrient status, renal nutrition specialists have been left to assume that hemodialysis (HD) patients with a stable body weight and acceptable macronutrient intakes had adequate micronutrient stores. However, at the University of California Renal Center, using physical examination and laboratory studies, approximately one in three HD patients were found to have micronutrient imbalance. The Nutrition Physical Examination (NPE), an advanced practice, nutrition-focused, physical examination, can be a timely, cost-effective strategy in assessing nutrient status. Trophic changes that have been identified in and around the nails of HD patients suggestive of protein, vitamin, or mineral imbalance include (1) Beau's lines (zinc); (2) koilonychia (iron, copper, zinc, protein); (3) leukonychia (zinc); (4) pale nail beds (iron); (5) Muehrcke's lines (protein); (6) splinter hemorrhages (V-C); (7) onycholysis (iron, niacin); and (8) chronic paronychia (zinc). While these lesions are not pathognomonic of nutrient deficiency, they do provide valuable direction in diagnostic reasoning essential to problem-solving potential maladaptive alterations in the stimulus and function of micronutrients and their enzyme systems.

PMID: 9686635 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

[Hilary]

While these lesions are not pathognomonic of nutrient deficiency, they do provide valuable direction in diagnostic reasoning essential to problem-solving potential maladaptive alterations in the stimulus and function of micronutrients and their enzyme systems.

I think that would translate to 'this doesn't give you a definitive diagnosis of deficiency, but it means it's worth looking into.'