Biotin, also called vitamin H, is an essential nutrient that belongs to the B complex family of vitamins. You need biotin for a variety of internal processes, including the processing of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. While much of your biotin supply comes from within your body, you also get the nutrient from a number of foods in your diet.
Basics
Biotin belongs to a class of vitamins known as water-soluble vitamins, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. When you consume water-soluble vitamins from dietary sources, your body doesn't store them; instead, it takes what it currently needs and excretes the rest in your urine. However, you also have an internal biotin supply created by certain bacteria that live in your small intestine. Common food sources of biotin include cauliflower, bananas, mushrooms, carrots, liver, salmon, brewer's yeast, whole grains, cooked egg yolks, peanuts, pecans, walnuts and soy flour. Biotin deficiencies are rare and the government has no established recommended intake for the nutrient.
Biotin Dietary Effects
Without biotin and the other B complex vitamins, you cannot properly break down carbohydrates in your diet and use them create glucose, your body's primary energy source, the UMMC reports. You also cannot process and use the other common foods in your everyday diet. Biotin, in particular, achieves its effects in this area by combining with five different enzymes in your body that are each responsible for breaking down specific food substances. Biotin also helps proteins called histones regulate the recording and replication of your DNA.
Biotin Supplements
Biotin is sometimes used in supplemental form to treat hair or nails that are brittle, thin or splitting, according to the UMMC. In addition, you may receive biotin in combination with other medications as a treatment for certain forms of hair loss. Your doctor may also recommend supplemental biotin as a treatment for cradle cap, diabetes or a form of nerve damage called peripheral neuropathy. However, further research is needed to verify the benefits of these latter uses. Available forms of biotin supplements include standalone products, B complex vitamins and multivitamins.
Biotin Deficiencies
While biotin deficiencies are rare, you may have increased risks for deficiency if you have a hereditary enzyme disorder called biotinidase deficiency, according to Oregon State University's Linus Pauling Institute. You may also have increased deficiency risks if you have another enzyme disorder called holocarboxylase synthetase deficiency or malfunctions in internal biotin transport. However, all of these disorders usually respond well to biotin supplementation that begins in either infancy or early childhood.
Considerations
If you have a biotin deficiency, you can safely take as much as 200,000 micrograms of biotin supplements per day, the Linus Pauling Institute reports. Individuals without biotin deficiencies can safely take as much as 5,000 mcg per day for a period of two years. Vitamin B5, also called pantothenic acid, has certain structural similarities to biotin, and taking the two vitamins in combination may lead to reduced activity from either substance.
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