Tag Archives: koilonychia

I was sitting in the waiting room at the Honda dealer last Friday and a middle aged woman next to me mentioned she had celiac disease after hearing me turn down a complimentary pastry. We got to talking and it turns out she was diagnosed 17 years ago.

She started asking questions once she found out what I do. She said she cooks 100% gluten-free, but is sometimes anemic and used to get vitamin B12 injections which made her feel great. I asked how often she ate out. Twice per week.

I asked to see her fingernails. They looked like the image here, spoon shaped and upturned.

Looking up her nail symptoms on our Gluten Free Works Treatment Guide on my phone, I told her it was koilonychia, from iron deficiency. She said they had always looked that way as far back as she could remember.

Neither her gastroenterologist, nor her endocrinologist picked up on it. After telling me she was on Prevacid and Gaviscon, I told her why her hair was thin and how the acid reflux drugs she had been taking were impairing her nutrient absorption. She thought she had high acid.

I told her my opinion based on her history and symptoms was low acid. Her doctors knew none of this, but it was all in our Treatment Guide. Doctors don’t know and Google is unreliable. The Gluten Free Works Treatment Guide will help you. It can be as simple as looking at your nails.