Brooke Thai, PharmD Student
Have you seen biotin advertised to help improve the health of your hair, skin and nails? Or, have you seen vitamins that claim to do this, and one of the main ingredients within them is biotin? Many people have asked me if the product truly works to help grow long hair, healthy skin, and smooth and strong nails. I finally decided to do some research to find out the truth.
What is Biotin?
Biotin is a water-soluble B vitamin, commonly known as vitamin B7.1 This vitamin can be naturally acquired from food such as egg yolk, milk, nuts and grains.3
Is it Safe?
Biotin is categorized as “likely safe” when used orally, in doses up to 300mg daily for up to 30 months.1 A typical dose of biotin in each multivitamin tablet or gummy that I’ve seen is 2.5mg. So, needless to say, it’s safe to use in adults when used as directed.
Is it Effective?
The most effective use of biotin is when someone is low in biotin (which is a rare occurrence in humans).3 Other than that, there isn’t a lot of strong enough evidence to market biotin as a product that will guarantee the increased health of hair, skin and nails with its use. Only a few small studies have shown that specific doses of biotin combined with particular vitamins and medicines will help hair regrowth in people with alopecia areata (a condition that causes bald spots on some or all areas of the body).2 Unfortunately. this information isn’t generalizable to the average population, which means that we can’t apply this information to people without alopecia areata! In terms of the skin, there is also minimal data on biotin supplementation to treat skin conditions, especially in patients with normal biotin levels.3 For brittle nails, taking 2.5mg of biotin every day did show some improvement on nail firmness, hardness, and thickness, but again, the evidence is still weak.
What Else Should You Consider?
There has been a warning issued by the FDA that taking biotin might significantly interfere with lab tests (blood work like thyroid and iron levels that are important for understanding your health).3 This can result in false readings, giving your healthcare team an inaccurate picture of how healthy or unhealthy you really are. This isn’t to say you should necessarily avoid biotin, but instead to stay aware that it’s important to keep your healthcare team informed about any supplement or vitamin you’re taking. It may just mean stopping your vitamin for a few days before getting your lab work done to ensure it’s no longer in your system and doesn’t interfere with your laboratory tests.
The Bottom Line
We went over the evidence of the safety and efficacy of using biotin for healthy hair, skin and nails. Generally, you can consider biotin safe to use if used properly; but not extremely effective. Lastly, remember to notify your healthcare team that you are taking this vitamin as it can interfere with any bloodwork you may get done.
We hope you took away something valuable from this piece. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this article or others, feel free to reach out to us on Instagram, Facebook, or at ask@orbishealth.ca with your feedback. We’d love to hear from you.
RESOURCES
- Natural Medicines: Biotin (https://naturalmedicines-therapeuticresearch-com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/databases/food,-herbs-supplements/professional.aspx?productid=313)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alopecia_areata
- Rethinking biotin therapy for hair, nail, and skin disorders (https://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/pubmed/29438761)
