Healthy, Beautiful Nails for Summer

As seasons change, you may notice that your nails do too. The winter may have taken a toll on your nails causing brittleness, pealing and breaking, but spring has sprung and what better time to get them in tiptop shape?

To have healthy nails you will need to call the spa and reserve your manicure and your pedicure. Then tap into a good nutrition and proper home care to keep them strong and beautiful.  When you do get your manicures, opt not to have your cuticles cut, and rather, pushed back. Cuticles are important in protecting your nails and avoiding infection. Further, when they are cut, they are more prone to dryness and hang nails.

The below guidelines will help you care for your nails between spa visits in order for your nails to look their best for the summer.

1.    Protect your nails: Where a protective coat of nail polish that is safe (no toxic chemicals like toluene sufonamide, dibutyl phthalate (DBP) or formaldehyde. When washing dishes or cleaning, wear cotton-lined rubber gloves to protect your nails from irritants.

2.    Have Routine Nail Maintenance: Most people receive a manicure and pedicure once per month or every few weeks. Make sure you trim fingernails and clean under the nails regularly. Use manicure scissors or clippers and an emery board to smooth nail edges. If you have hangnails, clip them off. Never pull at them because this will tear at live tissue and can scar.

3.    Moisturize: To keep nails from becoming brittle, use oil or massage lotion into your nails when moisturizing your hands. Always apply a moisturizer after you wash your hands.

4.    Treat with Care: Avoid the urge to use your fingernails as tools. They aren't meant to pry, poke or pick things. Don't bite your nails. Always use a file or Emory board. Limit use of nail polish remover to no more than once a week. It contains alcohol and other chemicals which make nails brittle.

5.    Eat for Healthy Nails: Nails can tell us a lot about our health, including whether we are getting proper nutrition in our daily diet. If nails become brittle or develop lines and ridges, it may mean that you are lacking certain nutrients. The following provides you with a breakdown of nutrients that will help you maintain beautiful, strong, healthy nails.

• Biotin: Biotin keeps nails beautiful and also keeps your hair healthy and shiny. Found in: Beef liver, Brewer's yeast, Cauliflower, Cheese, Chicken breasts, Eggs, Mushrooms, Nuts, Salmon, Spinach
• Iron: Iron smoothes nails and keeps them strong. Found in: Fish, Meat, Poultry, Beans, Cereals, Fruits, Vegetables and Grains.
• Protein: Strengthens nails so they don't crack or break easily. Found in: Beans, Chicken, Eggs, Fish, Lean beef, Soy and yogurt.
• Zinc: Promotes clear pink nails. Found in: Brewer's Yeast, Eggs, Fish, Grains, Muscle Meat, Nuts, Poultry, Seafood, Seeds and Protein Rich Foods.

Tips for Healthier Summer Cocktails

Whether you are an adventurous cocktail type or are content with a simple glass of wine, spring and summer happy hours seem all the more fun when you can couple it up with halter tops, sundresses and frolicking in the warm summer sun. Moreover, restaurants and bars become extraordinarily creative at this time of year with their libations.

Unfortunately, many summer-time drinks come with a lot of extra calories.  And although one drink might not be so detrimental, two or three can really start to add up.  So what is a summer happy-hour lover to do?  Here's a simple breakdown of the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to popular summer cocktails:

The Good: Wine, champagne and wine spritzers (with club soda), are by far the best choices when it comes to carbs and calories per serving. Dry liquor, such as vodka or gin, and plain, unsweetened mixers are also a relatively good bet. Finally, choosing light beers, such as Miller Light, Corona Light and others are better than full-bodied beers.

The Bad: Hard alcohol mixed with sweetened mixers, such as Tonic or Juice can start to get heavy in both calories and sugar. The sweeter a beverage is, the more impact it will have on your diet. Even though sangria is made with wine, it too is sweetened and can have a lot of calories associated with it. Finally, full-bodied beers tend to pack a whopping punch of carbs and calories as well.

The Ugly: Although tropical drinks are a sure sign of summer, they are by far the worst offenders. Avoid mixed drinks that are frozen or that are made with sweeter liquors, such as amaretto, rum, and fruit based schnapps and other liquors. The worst of the worst include Mai Tais and Pina Coladas.

If you are in full happy hour mode, here are a few options to still enjoy while ensuring you don't overdo it on your sugar or calorie intake:

Option 1: Have one summer favorite that falls under the 3 stars or less category, and if you have any more drinks thereafter, fall back to a 5 star drink moving forward.

Option 2: If you enjoy any drink that uses juices, sodas (7-Up or Tonic) or simple syrups, try substituting seltzer water for the soda portion and asking for 'splashes' of juice.  For instance, I love Cape Codders, but have switched to Vodka, Soda and a splash of cranberry.  See on the left how that changes the rating from 2 stars to 4 stars!

Option 3: Try wine spritzers with a splash of juice.  As you can see, wine spritzers are the best of the bunch.  Further, they are festive (with the sparkling water) and if you add a splash of juice, you'll get a bit more flavor than a typical spritzer without a ton of extra calories.

Option 4: Try adding a little all natural soda, such as Izze Sparkling Juice, to wine for a little bit of a sparkle in your spritzer.  These don't have high-fructose corn syrup or loads of added sugars.  They are purely sparkling water and juice.

Option 5: I'm NOT an advocate for this option, but I wanted to put it out there.  If you use soda in your summer cocktail, you can opt for the diet version to cut some of the calories out.  That said, I don't subscribe to diet sodas, as they are full of chemicals that you probably don't want to ingest.

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