The Cuticle Is Not Just Skin
The thin strip of skin at the base of each nail is one of the body's most exposed and least buffered tissues. It has no sebaceous glands of its own, so it depends entirely on what you eat and drink to stay intact. A 2019 study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology found that nail and periungual skin changes, including cuticle damage, were among the earliest visible markers of micronutrient deficiency, often appearing before any blood test flagged a problem.
