Tag: Nail matrix

Nails, like hair, are made primarily from a tough, fibrous structural protein called keratin. This critical protein, along with a host of essential vitamins and minerals, is what your body uses to grow nails from the living tissue in the nail matrix.

While many believe that an absent lunula—the half-moon shape at the base of your nail—is always a sign of a deficiency, it's often a normal variation. However, specific nutritional deficiencies, particularly vitamin B12 and iron, can indeed cause changes to your half moon nails.

According to a study published in *The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition*, micronutrient deficiencies can significantly affect the health and structure of nails. This highlights the critical role of your diet, particularly knowing what vitamins are good for the nail matrix, the area beneath the cuticle where new nail cells are generated.