Possible Nutrient Deficiencies: Hair, Nail

Excesses Attributed to Certain Disorders

Hair

Alopecia (hair loss)

  • low Biotin (rare)

  • low Copper

  • low Essential Fatty Acids (see our Signal369)

  • low Inositol

  • low Pantothenic Acid

  • low Protein-Calorie also thin, coarse, dull, brittle, stiff, straight and easily pluckable.
    In blacks, hair becomes reddish; in whites, there is horizontal depigmentation (‘flag sign’).

  • low Riboflavin

  • high Selenium

  • high Vitamin A

  • low Vitamin B6

  • low Zinc (severe)

Coiled (“corkscrew”)

  • high Vitamin A

  • low Vitamin C (scurvy)

Dry & Stiff

  • low Essential Fatty Acids (see our Signal369)

  • high Selenium

Greying (premature)

  • low Para-aminobenzoic Acid (PABA)

Painful when pulled

low Vitamin D

NAIL

Brittle

  • low Calcium

  • low Essential Fatty Acids (see our Signal369)

  • low iron

  • high Selenium – also thickened

  • high Vitamin A

  • low Zinc

Hyperpigmentation (sub-ungual)

  • low Vitamin B12 (brown, reticular)

Koilonychia (spooning)

  • low Chromium

  • low Iron – with ridging, brittleness, thinness and lack of luster

  • Vitamin C (scurvy) – with other ungual alterations

Leukonychia (white spots on the nails)

  • low Zinc

Splinter Hemorrhages

low Vitamin C (scurvy) (rare) – Extensive hemorrhages in a semicircular lattice