Biotin Hair Growth And Skin Health Promoting Qualities
Biotin is an essential vitamin, otherwise known as vitamin B7, that is thought to help with promoting normal hair growth. The family of B complex vitamins are thought to all have roles in normal energy production or supporting normal cell metabolism. Biotin is no different and its general role in the body is to support optimal metabolism. It can’t be made by the body so it must be consumed through your diet.
Vitamin B7 or biotin is a really popular inclusion in supplements that encourage optimal hair growth. It is also often recommended as dietary supplement to strengthen hair, skin and nails. These are popular supplements, especially considering how hair growth is a marker of health status. Biotin is a good inclusion in many such supplements, especially considering its very low toxicity levels. Biotin is very bioavailable too. It is also found in many cosmetic products.
Biotin is also sometimes known as vitamin H, which stands for the term hair and skin. This is a water-soluble B vitamin that is clearly well implicated in hair health. One of the major deficiency symptoms of biotin deficiency is alopecia, known as hair loss, while deficiency can also lead to dysfunction in neuromuscular ability too. Let’s take a look at biotin in more detail and see how its effects in the body could positively influence hair health.
How Biotin Influences Your Health
Research suggests that biotin, or Vitamin H, is an assisting coenzyme that helps with long chain fatty acid, glucose production for energy and branched chain amino acid production. Biotin is an assistant for adding carbon atoms to specific molecules in the body, helping with catabolism. Without enough biotin, there are reductions in the activities of carbon adding enzymes with a resulting reduction in the production of branched aminos and fatty acids.
Of course, for optimal hair growth you need to have a certain number of basic cellular building blocks contributing to the growth process. For the optimal growth of all cells in the body you need a supply of key trace elements, vitamins, amino acids and calorific supply. The low status of these nutrients in hair cells is influenced by poor nutrient intake, either through poor nutrient absorption or low food consumption.
Biotin is clearly very important as a regulating factor in the entire hair growth process, helping to make some of the key building blocks that are needed for optimal growth. This is through its roles in assisting with energy production, the synthesis of new amino acids and also carbon-based fatty acids. Inflammatory disorders of the intestinal tract are associated with biotin deficiency which, as we have mentioned, leads to unusual hair loss.
Biotin is a regulatory molecule in the production of the BCAA leucine, which itself is a major influencer on protein production. Leucine is one of the most potent branched amino acids, with a unique ability to trigger protein production. Considering that hair is formed of protein, which is made of amino acids like leucine, this shows how important biotin is for optimal hair health. Ensuring optimal biotin status should therefore encourage optimal hair growth and maintenance.
Biotin And Optimal Hair Growth
There is a heavy association between biotin and hair growth in nutritional research. Amongst women complaining of hair loss, 38% of them were deficient in vitamin B7. Many of these had a history for added risk of biotin deficiency too. This suggests there was a long-standing biotin deficiency in these individuals. Deficiency here was classed as biotin levels lower than 100ng per litre in the blood. It is recommended that you consume at least 30µg of biotin a day. This is just one of many studies that implicate biotin in optimal hair growth and maintenance. Molecular level studies have shown that biotin can improve the production of hair related genes and proteins such as keratin. The more bioavailable the biotin is, the higher influence it is thought to have on hair growth and health.
Another study that tested the effects of a biotin supplement on hair health, 5000µg of biotin, found that a biotin supplement was able to significantly improve hair growth. Other hair qualities such as hair strength, shedding and appearance were also significantly improved. The biotin supplement improved hair health in 65 healthy woman between 18 and 65 who experienced issues with hair quality. This included improved hair maintenance. Considering that one major symptom of biotin deficiency is hair loss, this is not a surprise at all.
In male androgenetic alopecia, this effect was also seen. When sufferers of male androgenic hair loss took a supplement with biotin, the biotin was shown to help encourage optimal hair quality and texture. There is also a case study where one schoolgirl with autism who took a biotin supplement had restored hair growth and nail growth, in addition to improved academic ability.
Biotin And Skin Health
While vitamin H or Biotin deficiency can cause hair loss, it can also lead to skin dermatitis. This which is why optimal biotin levels also encourage optimal skin health. Biotin supplementation restored skin hydration and improved visible skin health in individuals who were deficient in biotin.
Similar results were seen in animals who were given a biotin supplement too. It is highly likely that, because of the high turnover rate of skin cells, biotin is essential for supporting skin cell production. This activity supports the optimal regulation of skin layer growth and maintenance. For those looking to encourage optimal hair and skin health, this is quite exciting. Biotin is also absorbed through the skin, offering an alternative route for encouraging optimal biotin levels in the skin. One unique study has revealed that topical biotin was able to encourage optimal healing of wounds to cells in the skin layers after burns.
Of particular importance for the skin is healthy fatty acid production. Fatty acids are included in many cosmetics products and are an important component of the skin surface. Considering that biotin is a major contributor for fatty acid production, this is a key reason why it may have an important role in maintaining optimal skin health.
Summary
Your hair and skin are indicators of your overall health. Biotin is a really popular inclusion in supplements that support optimal hair health. Avoiding biotin deficiency is associated with the maintenance of optimal hair health and avoidance of hair loss.
This vitamin has key roles in energy production, where it supports optimal metabolism. This is why it belongs to the B vitamin group. Biotin, also sometimes known as vitamin H, also assists with the production of branched aminos and fatty acids. A lack of biotin results in big reductions in the production of branched amino acids and fatty acids.
These are implicated in both hair and skin health. The maintenance of healthy skin and hair requires optimal protein production, branched amino acids contribute to this. While healthy levels of fatty acids are essential for encouraging optimal skin health. Considering the high turnover of skin cells, biotin levels are very important. Poor nutrient intake influences biotin status within cells.
This is another supporting reason for taking biotin supplements to supporting optimal hair and skin health. There are studies with topical or supplemental biotin. Many of these suggest that biotin has a positive influence on the skin and hair. Your RDA of biotin is at least 30µg. This is encouraged for the avoidance of hair loss and thinning that occurs with biotin deficiency.
Considering that one major symptom of biotin deficiency is hair loss, it is not a surprise at all that biotin is associated with hair health in many studies. For more interesting articles, see the main page below.
