Biotin is the most talked about hair growth related vitamin on the internet. It has received so much hype that you have to ask yourself, is it really worth it? Especially for what some brands are asking you to pay for it!
It is abundantly available to humans in several ways. It is readily available in plenty of foods we eat. Foods with high sources of biotin include nuts (peanut and almond), wheat germ, whole-grain cereals, whole wheat bread, poultry, eggs, dairy products and salmon. Biotin that is absorbed into the body is actually recycled several times before it is expelled through urine or faeces. Lastly, gut bacteria actually produce a lot of biotin. So with all these sources, it is pretty hard to be biotin deficient unless you consume a lot of raw egg whites which contains a protein that binds readily to biotin thus depleting it from the body.
There are persons who may need vitamin supplementation. These include pregnant and breastfeeding women and athletes. Supplementation has been touted to be useful in persons who smoke, have diabetes or have some other nerve disorder. Biotin is useful in persons with nail diseases that make their nails quite brittle. Supplements have also been found to help strengthen hair not necessarily make it grow faster. It is worth taking if you find that your nails and hair break or split very easily. It, however, cannot make persons with Male or Female Pattern Hair Loss regrow hair as their hair loss is from something totally different. It is also least likely to be culprit for Telogen Effluvium (excessive hair shedding). The most common cause for Telogen Effluvium in women is Iron deficiency.
Typical recommended doses for supplementation are 30-35 mcg for women. This is far lower than the mega doses seen in some of the hair vitamins on the market. Though higher doses are not necessarily bad, the exact toxic dose is not known. And yes there are times when too much of a vitamin is not a good thing.
So is it worth taking? Yes, only if you want stronger hair which will make it easier for you to retain length.
