Gerrard Kaonga
A longevity expert has said he pays close attention to his fingernails as he uses it as an indicator for how quickly he is aging.
When it comes to aging, I tend to think rather simply, if i reach another birthday, I have aged another year - good stuff.
But longevity Dr David Sinclair says he pays closer attention to his nails when it comes to knowing how quickly he is aging, and by extension how long he has left.
When it comes to your health, your fingernails are probably the least on your mind. Most people tend to focus more on their overall fitness, heart health, lungs, and diet, and kind of just go with the flow.
But Dr Sinclair, an expert in genetics at Harvard Medical School, said nail health is a key indicator of the rate at which your body is generating new health cells.
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He added that the faster that this happens, the more protected you are against age-related decline.
Biological ageing is a scientific term used to describe how old the cells and tissues of the body appear, according to how well they function.
This can be different from what your actual age is, it is important to note.
Speaking on his podcast Lifespan, Dr Sinclair said: “The rate of your nail growth is a really good indicator of how you're ageing or not ageing.
“I do pay attention to whether my nails are slowing down in their growth or not. Every time I have to cut my nails, I'm thinking, 'how long ago did I cut my nails?'"
During the podcast, he referenced a study from 1979 that saw scientists track the fingernail growth of hundreds of people over the years.
They found that weekly fingernail growth rate decreased by about 0.5 per cent per year from the age of 30.
The study suggested that if your nails grow faster than this it could indicate that you are aging slower rate than average.
As well as this, nails can also reveal whether a person is suffering from more serious health conditions.
While nails differ from person to person, experts have suggested people to take note if there is any change in shape or color.
For example, a black spot underneath the nail could be an indication of cancer, white spots or lines on your nails can be a sign you are not getting enough things in your diet like calcium, iron, or zinc.