Biotin: Does it Really Help with Hair Growth?

Biotin, AKA vitamin B7, is an important vitamin that is needed for many things throughout the body, including metabolizing carbohydrates, fats, and amino acids. It's water soluble - meaning, the body does not store it.

Biotin is commonly added to hair and nail products in the cosmetic industry, with companies claiming that their products will give you fuller hair and stronger nails. But does biotin actually work to stimulate hair growth, or strengthen nails?

Photo by Tom Mossholder on unsplash.com

The Verdict

It depends.

It seems that, from clinical trials, the only people who really benefit from biotin supplementation would be those with a biotin deficiency - commonly an inherited enzyme deficiency that leads to ineffective biotin "recycling", leading to deficiency. Other symptoms of biotin deficiency include skin rashes, brittle nails, conjunctivitis, and even seizures. It is a rare condition, and is shown to be helped by biotin supplementation (1).

But what about those with alopecia areata (AA)?

This is a really limited area of research, as there just aren't many studies on this. One pediatric study in 1999, however, took 18 children and divided them into two groups of 9, one control group. and one treatment group receiving a combination of 100mg of zinc aspartate, 0.025% topical clobetasol proprionate, and 20mg of biotin daily for one year. After this time, they noticed improvement in 33.3% of the treatment group (total hair regrowth), and none in the control group (2). Since biotin wasn't used in isolation here, it's impossible to know if biotin is the reason for the success of the study, or if it was another treatment. It was also a very small study with only 18 subjects. I'll be on the lookout for more studies on biotin and its effectiveness with alopecia areata!

We do know that biotin is really essential in the body for a myriad of functions, so while it might not be worthwhile to supplement with it, it's still wise to make sure we are consuming enough through food sources.

Food Sources of Biotin

Health Canada states that adequate intake (AI) for biotin is 30mcg for both men and women over 19, with no upper limit established (there is no recommended dietary allowance) (3). For reference, one egg contains 10mcg of biotin; one 1/2cup serving of cooked sweet potatoes contains 2.4mcg. If you consume mostly whole foods, you are likely eating what Health Canada determines to be the "adequate" amount of biotin to support optimal health (assuming you do not have a biotin deficiency of course!).

Ensure you are getting enough biotin in your diet through foods like:

🍠 swiss chard, spinach, sweet potatoes

🐟 meat, organ meats, fish

🍳 eggs

🥜 nuts and seeds

🧀 cheese

My Personal Experience

I have tried to supplement with biotin before, during alopecia flares. I didn't really notice any difference in hair growth, but I've been lucky that each flare is usually fairly short lived, and I always have new growth coming in shortly after losing it. And since I used biotin in combination with so many other things, it's really hard to tell if it was doing anything - I personally don't believe it did. A strange thing that I did notice while taking it was that my flexibility improved - useful for a yogi! And biotin really is a necessary vitamin to make sure we are consuming through food.

After speaking with your healthcare team, it could be worthwhile to try it. However, I do think there are more effective ways of managing alopecia. See my blog for some other ideas including diet, hair scalp treatments, red light therapy, and more.

---

#biotin #hairgrowth #hairloss #alopecia #alopeciaareata #supplementation