Not any more than eating enough of any other protein, according to dermatologists. If someone is severely protein-deficient, high-quality protein might make a difference, it is said. As an average person gets plenty of protein, it would take someone who was ‘malnourished or a food faddist, to see a real benefit.
It’s the same case with calcium; it would help the nails if the person were totally deficient, but if one’s bones are falling apart the person would not care about their nails. To make a real difference in nail strength, it is said, they are to be treated as carefully as the skin is. If you moisturize your hands after you wash the dishes, for example, rub the product into the nails as well. Keep your nails out of harsh chemicals. Wear gloves to do housework.
People whose nails are really brittle might even wear latex gloves when washing hair. Nail polish and other drying nail care products are to be avoided. Polish covers nail abnormality but actually make it worse, according to them, but polish remover, even the kind without acetone, is incredibly drying to nails.
What if your nails split rather than break? There are two kinds of splitting, according to dermatologists. The longitudinal splitting is something that occurs with age. Ridges and valleys develop, and splitting occurs along fracture lines because the nails dry like the skin. Again, help for this problem lies in moisturizing. The nails are to be wet and covered with Vaseline or even alpha-hydroxyl acid, it is suggested. It is not a quick fix, but must be done until the nail grows out entirely which takes 6-8 months. The other kind of splitting, called onychoschisia, which occurs in layers at the tip of the nail, is something, dermatologists find most often ‘in chronic polishers or those who use fingernails as tools.’