Welcome to Naturally Healthy Nails!

Welcome readers. This blog is about ending your nail biting habit (onychophagy) and growing beautiful, strong, healthy nails without any weird devices or nasty tasting brush on yuk. My qualifications for penning this blog are that I have been a lifelong, committed nail biter and I am 58 years old. And guess what? With zero effort, I have permanently stopped biting my nails. I am going to share how I did that and I am never going to ask you for money. Please, bear with me as I recount my story of how I discovered the ROOT CAUSE of nail biting. I swear I can't find any other reference to this bit of biological trivia. I believe this is the only place on earth where you will learn the truth about onychophagia, and that is this: nail biting is not a "nervous habit". Its root cause is a nutritional deficiency. That's right. If you bite your nails, and you can't control it, chances are you have chronic, congenital biotin deficiency. I coined that term and no, I am not a doctor. But that is also neither a disease nor a diagnosis. It is something I discovered by accident. And that discovery led to my theory. Please, read on.

First, a little background.

My name is John Hoarty and I am 58 years old, nigh on 59. I am also in the best shape of my life as a result of some pretty radical changes I made a few years ago. Fundamentally, I decided to get in shape and lose that spare tire I was walking around with ever since I turned about 30. I made some basic, healthy adjustments to my diet, I recalibrated what a reasonable portion looks like, and I started a regular exercise regimen. After a few months, I started to see results. Eventually, I lost about 35 pounds and gained some decent lean muscle and definition.

During this period of time, I experimented with a few non-prescription nutritional supplements, one of which was vitamin B. I honestly can't remember why I thought it might be a good idea to take vitamin B, but I do know I started with a Mega B Complex type of pill. And I took it every day. I was consistent. What surprised me completely was that after just a few weeks, I noticed my nails had been growing. I swear this happened without me even realizing it. I believe I scratched my ear one time and I drew blood. I mean, for my entire life I have lived without sharp things on the ends of my fingers! This was really shocking to me.

So fast forward a month. I ran out of my B Complex and guess what? I was too lazy to replace it right away. Guess what else? Oh, you got it. I started to bite my nails down to nubs again. So, naturally, I replenished and began taking my B Complex again. Again, I stopped biting my nails almost immediately. I have since repeated this cycle at least three or four times.

So, I began to ponder this and I became interminably curious about which B vitamin may be having this profound effect. Was is B-1 (thiamine)? B-2 (riboflavin)? B-3 (niacin)? B-5 (pantothenic acid)? B-6 (pyridoxine)? B-7 (biotin)? B-9 (folic acid)? B-12 (cobalamin) Or what? So, I started buying the B vitamins one at a time and I experimented. I'm here to tell you the answer is B-7, biotin. And then it dawned on me what was happening. My theory, as yet untested to be totally transparent, is that my body suffers a chronic (over the long haul), congenital (from birth) biotin deficiency (CCBD). Furthermore, it is my theory that my body knows exactly where to get the stuff it is deficient in. Seriously, and this is where many will call me nuts (if you haven't already reached that conclusion), I believe the body knows things on a cellular level that the mind and brain aren't aware of on a conscious level. I believe nail biting is the body's attempt to restore balance; to overcome this deficiency. The body is, after all, programmed to maintain a condition of balance, homeostasis. It is a magnificent buffering system. It likes to maintain a very narrow temperature range, for example. So narrow that for centuries mankind thought the "normal" human temperature was 98.6 degrees F. We had it pegged to a tenth of a degree. The body also works hard to maintain an equally narrow pH range, water content, etc. You get the idea. So, what is a body to do when it needs biotin? Hmmm.

So that's it folks. You heard it here first. Eventually, I would love to sponsor some studies. First and foremost, wouldn't it be interesting to test a population of nail biters for biotin deficiency, a condition thought to be "extremely rare"? It is thought to be rare because biotin is plentiful in a typical diet, however there is at least one genetic condition that renders a person incapable of processing biotin. What if that is more common that the medical community thinks? When I get my annual physical, a test for biotin levels is not performed.

One final thought. Biotin is a water soluble vitamin. It's one of those that you can take more than you need and the body eliminates what is left over through your urine. Personally, I take 5000 micrograms a day with food. I am going to provide a link to the exact product I use below. Yes it is an affiliate link to Amazon, and this helps to support my blog. If you read this far, good on ya! Thanks for sticking around. Please come back as I intend to continue to share tips and tricks and ways to stay focused on your journey to stop nail biting. Do start by clicking the link below and ordering some biotin for yourself. What have you got to lose?