Biotin, otherwise known as Vitamin B7, or Vitamin H, is just another one of those vitamins
that your body needs but cant make on its own.
Biotin helps convert certain nutrients like fats and carbohydrates into energy, it has
a role in gene expression, and cell signaling.
But its more widely praised for and known for Its role in the health of your hair, skin,
and nails.
In this video, we will look at what biotin is, how much biotin you really need, biotin
deficiency, and the million dollar question.
Does biotin help with hair growth?
So stay tuned till the end.
Hi guys yaseen arsalan, media pharmacist here on youtube.
This weeks video is on biotin.
Smash the like button below NOW, as there is a lot of useful information in this video
that I know you can benefit from.
And if you haven’t already subscribed, it would mean the world to me if you hit the
subscribe button too, as i try to bring you the best quality health and wellness content
as i can.
.So without further ado, lets talk biotin.
Biotin is found in meat, fish, nuts, seeds, vegetables, and even sweet potatoes.
I left a Link in the description for more foods you can get biotin from.
The National Institute of Health’s Office of Dietary Supplements recommends that adults
get 30 micrograms of it each day.
Which is 0.00003 grams.
Doesn’t sound like much, right?
Exactly, because you really don’t need much biotin at all to stay healthy and support
the hair, skin, and nails.
This explains why biotin deficiency is so rare, because chances are you are already
getting enough biotin from your diet.
This is not to discredit biotin deficiency as a real cause of concern, because factors
like mutations, pregnancy, and even smoking, especially in women all contribute to biotin
deficiency which ill get into.
But what about adding more of it and taking larger amounts of it to support my hair, skin,
and nails.
Many people are doing just this, their increasing their intake in hopes of additional hair benefits.
But hold up, it doesn’t work in this way Because it’s a water-soluble vitamin which
means, the body will use up what it needs and extra biotin will simply pass through
your body and get flushed out when you go pee.
SO bottomline: there is no reason to believe if you have normal biotin levels that youll
get more benefits if you take extra biotin.
But what does that mean though?
To answer that question, we have to look at what biotin is actually responsible for and
if it does anything for hair in the first place.
What actually makes up hair?
Its called keratin, and its a key structural protein that also makes your nails and skin.
Biotin is believed to improve the structure of keratin.
Keep that mind.
So basically, biotin makes keratin work better and You have two parties telling you two different
things.
The scientists have theorized that by taking more biotin, you essentially improve the structure
of your keratin, improving the quality of your hair to make it grow.
Which btw is why so many companies are trying to sell you biotin for hair growth.
Dermatologists however say, when looking at all the data, there is little to no evidence
to prove that this actually works.
Which is why the NIH reports insufficient data to support supplementation, especially
if you are not deficient and The only way to know if you are biotin deficient, is to
have your plasma biotin levels measured.
The normal biotin blood plasma levels range from 200 to 1200 ng/L, with an optimum level
of 400-500 ng/L in younger adults and children.
A biotin deficiency occurs when the plasma biotin level is below 100 ng/L. So if your
levels are below 100 ng/L, which may occur in pregnancy, your doctor may have you on
biotin supplements or recommend diet changes at this point to correct that.
But apart from this, for the million dollar question, would I recommend biotin supplements?
Personally no, as I like taking nutrients from food sources and to be real with you
guys there are a lot more better options out there for treating hair loss that are proven
to treat the underlying cause.
Hair loss is typically a biological process that a vast majority of vitamins are not going
to stop So If you’re experiencing hair loss, talk to your dermatologist or health care
provider to see if things like lifestyle changes, vitamin d, finasteride, and even minoxidil
could be good solutions for you.
Interesting to note when I was doing research on this topic, the protein called avidin would
come up often.
Avidin is found in egg whites and it blocks the absorption of biotin, so people who regularly
consume a large number of raw eggs and boiled eggs may become biotin-deficient.
Researchers noted that cooked egg whites, above 185 Fahrenheit, denatured avidin so
it did not bind to biotin.
Let me know what you think of this in the comments below.
One very last important tip I would leave you guys with is since the recommended amount
of biotin is 30 mcg each day, most biotin supplements on shelves provide much higher
doses than this, you probably have seen this.
Some up to even 10,000 mcg per dose.
Although this isn’t toxic as its water soluble, very high levels of biotin can alter the results
of blood tests, including hormone and heart tests creating false positive or false negative
test results.
So please please always let your doctor and health care team know before getting any labs
done if you take biotin.
It’s best to always let them know that you take biotin and any other herbal products
or supplements or start any when you visit them for check ups as a good practice.
I hope this video was useful to you guys and that I hope you do share this video with someone
you know who can benefit from it,.
I also hope you find adequate and safe relief in your hair loss journey.
Like the video, if you did enjoy it and subscribe to stay on board with all my other weekly
health and wellness videos.
Thanks for sticking tuned till the end, and as always, thanks for watching.