How does diet affect nail growth
com. Photo Credit manicure image by YURY MARYUNIN from Fotolia. The material that makes up the nail plate is formed in the matrix, located under the cuticle. Ms. Metzker Erdemir holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in Romance languages and linguistics as well as a TESOL Master of Arts degree. Nails are made of many layers dead keratin protein cells, which are similar to hair and skin cells. A fiction writer for more than 25 years, she began freelance writing and editing in 2000. Many factors influence how fast individual nails may grow. The nail on the pinky finger grows the slowest.
Nails tend to grow the fastest between the ages of 10 and 14. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, fingernails grow an average 2 or 3 millimeters per month, while toenails grow about 1 millimeter per month. Sarah Metzker Erdemir is an expat writer and ESL teacher living in Istanbul since 2002. After that, growth begins to slow, and continues to slow with age. The hard part of the nail, called the nail plate, protects the sensitive skin underneath, called the nail bed. Nails grow faster in warm weather than they do in cold weather. In general, the difference in growth is quite small, and is measured in tenths of a millimeter. Handedness can also affect nail growth, so the nails on your dominant hand grow faster than those on the non-dominant hand. Toenails grow more slowly than fingernails, and the growth rate of each fingernail also differs. On most people, the nails on the index and middle fingers grow the fastest. She has written articles for eHow, Garden Guides, and ConnectEd.
