A quick scan through your local cosmetic store or Youtube’s most popular beauty channels and you’ll see one thing in common: biotin. But what may surprise you is that biotin isn’t all about beauty. While there’s no denying that healthier skin, hair and nails is certainly a top benefit, getting proper amounts of this essential B-vitamin is crucial for maintaining your overall health and wellness. From supporting a healthy metabolism to reducing your risk of serious health complications, boosting your beauty and more, biotin is an incredibly versatile nutrient that has all kinds of health benefits. Unfortunately, it’s a water-soluble vitamin meaning your body doesn’t make it on its own or store it, and the only way to get the boost of biotin you need is through diet or supplements. The good news: we’ve got you covered. In this article, you’ll gain a good understanding of the recommended daily intake of biotin, the dietary sources that provide this essential nutrient, and the various benefits it offers to your mind and body.
What is Biotin?
Biotin is the technical term used for vitamin B7, one of the B complex vitamins that helps the body break down food for energy production and other important functions in your body. The name is derived from the Greek word “biotos,”, which translates to “life” or “sustenance” and along with the other B vitamins, biotin is essential for supporting the healthy functioning of various organs in the body, including your skin, hair, eyes, liver, and nervous system. It is also particularly important for pregnant women, as it supports the healthy growth of the developing embryo.
However, what makes biotin so unique (aside from its incredibly health advantages) is that it functions as a coenzyme for the body’s metabolism of fatty acids, amino acids, and glucose. In other words, biotin must be present in the body to convert and use these macronutrients that come from the foods you eat. And while this process occurs naturally, biotin is a water-soluble vitamin, meaning that it cannot be stored in the body. The body also doesn’t produce biotin on its own and any excess gets removed through your urine. As such, it can only be obtained through diet from foods such as egg yolks and oats, or by taking biotin as a supplement.
The Benefits of Biotin
Biotin is often hailed for its ability to promote a youthful and attractive appearance as it plays a crucial role in supporting the health of our hair, nails, and skin. It is even sometimes referred to as the “H” vitamin, which comes from the German words Haar and Haut, meaning “hair and skin.” And while these benefits are, undeniably, a popular favourite, biotin has a lot more to offer than just a boost to your physical appearance.
Promotes a Healthy Metabolism
Biotin plays a crucial role in regulating gene expressions, the process where information stored in a gene gets translated into a function or action. This is crucial for carrying out proper functioning of the metabolism, which is done in combination with the other B vitamins in many different ways. For example, the B vitamins help convert food into usable energy, ultimately which helps support a healthy metabolism. This is done in many ways, such as:
- Converting glucose into the body’s preferred source of energy
- Utilizing amino acids from proteins to perform various bodily functions
- Activating fatty acids from foods containing fats
As such, without sufficient amounts of vitamin B7 (biotin) in your body, your metabolism can become sluggish and you may even start to experience symptoms such as low energy, weight gain, fatigue, digestive problems, poor moods and many more.
Improve Blood Sugar Levels
There’s some evidence that shows biotin, particularly when combined with chromium, can effectively reduce blood sugar levels in people with diabetes. This is because biotin helps with the activity of insulin, which is an important hormone for regulating blood sugar levels and bringing it back to a healthy, balanced state. And by enhancing the body’s response to insulin, you can also reduce the risk of experiencing spikes and drastic lows in blood sugar levels, which lowers your risk of several health issues such as prediabetes symptoms, type 2 diabetes, weight gain, and metabolic syndrome.
Prevent Cognitive Decline
Biotin is important for ensuring the health and functioning of your nervous system, as it plays an important role in nerve signaling and neurotransmitter activity. For example, like the other B Vitamins, biotin influences memory function and helps fight off age-related cognitive decline, including neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.
Boosts Your Mood and Mental Health
B vitamins, such as biotin, are involved in synthesizing hormones known for regulating your mood, which helps maintain a positive mindset and mental health. Some studies have even found that people who have a higher intake of biotin experience less depression, anxiety and stress.
Improves Heart Health
Vitamin B7 (biotin) also helps supports heart health by fighting against common causes of heart disease, such as inflammation, atherosclerosis, heart attacks, and stroke. Studies have also found that when combined with chromium, biotin can improve cholesterol levels, increase “good” HDL cholesterol and lower “bad” LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels, all of which play a key role in your overall heart health.
Supporting Healthy Thyroid Function
The thyroid and adrenal glands are responsible for regulating various bodily functions, including hunger, sleep, pain perception, mood, and energy. B vitamins, including biotin, help maintain the healthy functioning of both glands to prevent related symptoms, such as fatigue, weight gain or loss, and difficulty sleeping.
Enhanced Aesthetics
Physical appearance matters too! It plays a key role in your self-esteem, confidence and mental health, and biotin can certainly help as it is the secret ingredient (or rather, vitamin) for healthy hair, skin, and nails. It can help decrease hair loss and improve the production of enzymes and proteins needed for healthy hair, skin, and nails. It can provide your skin a boost of hydration to improve your complexion, strengthen your nails and even encourage them to grow, and so much more.
Ways to Increase Your B7 (Biotin) Vitamins
Biotin can be obtained from eating a well-balanced diet that includes meat, eggs, fish, nuts, seeds, and certain vegetables, but there are some supplements and tricks of the trade that can help increase your intake of biotin too.
- Eat more biotin-rich foods such as egg yolk, nuts, nut butters, legumes, soybeans, whole grains, cereals, bananas, pork, apples, carrots, tomatoes, beef, chicken, lettuce, spinach, mushrooms, cheese and cauliflower
- Eat foods raw or less-processed to avoid cooking and food processing techniques that can disrupt the biotin
- Take a natural supplement which can be found at your local pharmacy or health food store
- Use personal care products with biotin added such as biotin shampoo and hair oils
Keep in mind, the recommended daily intake of biotin for adults typically ranges between 30 to 100 micrograms (mcg).
If you’re struggling with dry, brittle hair, alopecia or hair loss or simply want to increase your overall health and wellness, biotin can be the answer you’ve been looking for. It’s an essential vitamin that your body needs to function properly on a physical and mental level, and you can ensure you’re getting everything you need from the tips in this article.
