Do your nails appear to be normal and healthy? If not, your thyroid function may be out of balance. Continue reading and find out how a single nutrient can fix that and be good for your nails, your hair, and even your body weight.

If you want to know if your thyroid gland is working properly, all you need to do is look at your fingernails.

Vital for your beauty
The thyroid gland is responsible for controlling the metabolism inside all cells that enables them to carry out their vital functions. When we are talking hair and nails, your outer beauty depends on good functioning at a cellular level. However, other cells such as muscle cells, brain cells, immune cells, and even sperm cells also depend on being able to generate energy at a proper rate.

Why you need selenium
Did you know that selenium is one of the most important micronutrients in terms of normal thyroid function? You need an adequate amount of selenium to make sure that your thyroid gland can keep the right metabolic rate, which is the speed at which your cells convert food (fat, protein, and carbohydrate) into energy.

Helps you maintain your weight
Yes, you have already guessed it. Your metabolic rate is also important for your ability to maintain normal body weight. If your body cannot metabolize the calories you eat fast enough, your weight may increase.

A supplement may be useful
Unfortunately, it is challenging to get enough selenium from the diet in our part of the world. The agricultural soil in large parts of Europe contains very little selenium, but there are ways of getting around that problem. An increasing number of people opt for selenium supplements, which is a convenient way of boosting your intake of the nutrient. This is especially important for those who do not eat enough fish, whole-grain or nuts, and also for those people who have gluten intolerance.