Natural and Herbal Remedies: Nail Biting

I wrestled with biting my nails for most of my life. I have tried many things to stop biting my nails. None of them seemed to work. I just wanted to know how to stop nail biting and even more specifically how to stop finger nail biting.

About six months ago I had an interesting talk with, of all people, my dentist. We talked about different habits and he could see that my teeth were being worn down in the front. He asked if I bit my nails. All he had to do is look at my hands to know that answer. I asked him if he knew of any reasons why people bite their nails. His reply was that he thought it was for the same reason that kids sometimes eat dirt. They are looking for a nutrient that their body needs. He asked me if I was chewing on the nail once I bit it off. I thought for a moment and realized that I was. He suggested that I search the internet for some articles on what nutrients may be missing when you bite your nails. I do not remember which web site gave me this information but one of them suggested that it might be a biotin (one of the B vitamins?) deficiency.

For the past three months I have been taking biotin (1000 mcg.) from Solaray each day. I also take a Mega B-Stress by Solaray from time to time. Over this time I have lost my need to bite my nails and they are actually growing. They are also healthier than they ever have been. I have ridges in my nails also that the doctor says is due to an iodine deficiency. I am working on that also. The doctor says white spots are due to a zinc deficiency and I am also working on that. I have heard that when one is under stress, the B vitamins are burned out of the body. They are also burned out of the body if the diet is too heavy in the white foods like sugar, white flour, white rice, white bread, etc.

My nail biting began in the first grade when I struggled to learn to read. This was a very stressful thing for me. Back in that time people did not know about dyslexia and I struggled until I was in my 40's before being diagnosed with that. Now I have gone through vision therapy (eye muscle strengthening exercises) and the dyslexia is cleared up. With the help of the extra nutrients, I feel better than I ever have in my life.