Biotin is often recommended by health and beauty experts to strengthen your hair and nails and has been added to many cosmetic products as a result. You can also get biotin by eating more foods containing the nutrient or by taking biotin supplements available at most drug and health-food stores. Although biotin may help mild hair and skin conditions, there are some diseases that can cause more serious problems requiring medical attention.
Identification
Biotin is sometimes called vitamin H, although it's actually part of the B-complex of vitamins. It was discovered in the 1930s when chicks fed diets high in raw egg white developed skin rashes and lost the hair around their eyes. Scientists later identified egg yolks as one of the most concentrated sources of biotin.
Significance
Biotin is required for healthy functioning of an enzyme in your body that helps promote fat production critical to all cells, especially skin cells. When cellular fat stores can't be replenished due to a deficiency in biotin, your skins cells will be the first to develop problems. The most common form of such a deficiency is "cradle cap" in infants, a form of dermatitis. Other signs of a biotin deficiency are a cracking in the corners of the mouth, called cheilitis and hair loss.
Sources
Other than egg yolks, good dietary sources of biotin include brewer's yeast, sardines, nuts and nut butters, soybeans and other legumes, whole grains, tomatoes, bananas, chard, cabbage, cucumber, cauliflower and mushrooms. Although egg yolks are high in biotin, raw egg whites contain a protein called avidin that can interfere with your body's absorption of biotin, one reason you should always cook eggs thoroughly. Food processing can destroy biotin in other foods, so you should eat the foods as close to their natural state as possible. Biotin is also available in multivitamins and B- complex vitamin supplements, as well as individual supplements.
Benefits
A small 1993 study at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University discovered that biotin supplements improved brittle nails in 63 percent of the subjects in the study. A second, larger study in 2005, led by Peter C.M. van de Kerkhof, M.D. at the University Medical Centre St. Radboud in the Netherlands, found that daily supplementation of 2.5 mg of biotin led to 25 percent thicker nails over the course of 15 months. Although hair loss is often a symptom of biotin deficiency, there have been no published scientific studies showing that high-dose biotin supplements can prevent or treat normal hair loss in men and women.
Recommendations
Since biotin deficiencies are rare in the United States, the government hasn't established a daily recommended intake. However, in 1998 the Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences suggested 20 to 30 mcg daily for males and females 9 years and older. The Mayo Clinic recommends taking 2.5 mg of biotin per day to help increase the thickness of your nails.
Warning
Certain medical conditions can cause a biotin deficiency, such as liver disease and iron-deficiency anemia. If you have symptoms of a biotin deficiency, which, in addition to brittle nails and hair loss, include swollen and painful tongue that is magenta in color, dry eyes, loss of appetite, fatigue, insomnia and depression, you should see your doctor for evaluation. There isn't any evidence biotin interacts with medications, although long-term use of antibiotics or anticonvulsant medicines may reduce your body's stores of biotin, leading to a deficiency.
Member Comments