Biotin supplements are useful in addressing biotin deficiencies and potentially improving hair growth. But how effective are they? And can they prevent hair loss? 

Read on to learn why people take biotin for hair growth, what the research says about its effects on hair loss, and how much you should take.

What Is Biotin?

Biotin is a water-soluble B vitamin, which plays a number of key roles in metabolism, gene regulation, and cell signaling. Like other B vitamins, biotin helps the body convert food into fuel, which turns into energy. Biotin also helps the body metabolize carbohydrates, fats, and amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein. When you don’t get enough biotin, you may experience hair loss, skin rashes and brittle nails.¹ 

Does Biotin Help Hair Growth?

There’s a few misperceptions about biotin and hair growth. Supplementing with biotin won’t yield instant results and the vitamin is not a cure-all for pattern baldness, thinning, or shedding. However, biotin does play an important role in hair health. Here’s how:

• Biotin helps your body produce keratin, a protein in charge of forming nails, skin, and hair.²
• Biotin helps to regulate inflammation in the hair follicle and slow down hair loss, which can be especially helpful when treating alopecia (pattern baldness).³ In one of women with self-perceived thinning hair, taking a multivitamin including biotin saw improvement in their hair’s overall thickness and growth.⁴

Can Biotin Prevent Hair Loss?

Some experts believe biotin is even more helpful at preventing hair loss than promoting hair growth.⁵ This is primarily because biotin deficiencies are associated with hair loss. 

In one Swiss study, a biotin deficiency was found in 38 percent of women complaining of hair loss. Of these participants 11 percent had a history of biotin deficiency risk factors, demonstrating the link between hair loss and inadequate biotin levels.⁶ Addressing this deficiency is one key way to prevent hair loss. 

Biotin-Rich Foods

Taking biotin supplements for hair growth can be helpful if you don’t follow a nutritious and well-varied diet. If you are inspired to tweak your diet to get more biotin from your food, you’ll be surprised by how many foods contain this key nutrient.

Biotin-rich foods include:

• Organ meats, like liver
• Eggs
• Fish
• Meat
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Spinach
• Sweet potatoes
• Mushrooms
• Bananas
• Broccoli

Serums & Supplements That Promote Hair Growth? 

The recommended daily intake for biotin is 30 mcg.¹ Many hair supplements contain far more than this amount, which is likely to be excreted through urine or potentially cause unwanted side effects.⁶ For instance Nutrafol® contains 3,000 mcg and Codeage® contains 10,000 mcg. 

Foundation Skincare UnTangled Hair Supplement contains the recommended daily intake of 30 mcg to fill any gaps in your diet and ensure you’re getting the right amount of biotin to support keratin production. Along with biotin, the supplement contains a variety of other vitamins, minerals, herbs and acids like marine collagen, saw palmetto, horsetail extract, selenium, iron, and other research-backed ingredients. This custom blend helps to stimulate hair growth by revitalizing a stagnant hair growth cycle and increasing the production of keratin in follicles. This results in visibly thicker, fuller hair, with the first results typically seen in as little as 30 days. 

UnTangled is recommended for hair loss, thinning or shedding and works best when combined with Foundation Skincare Hair Serum, which nourishes hair follicles to encourage new growth and prevent further hair loss without Minoxidil. 

Though it is much easier to preserve hair than to reverse hair loss, addressing thinning and shedding early through lifestyle changes, nutritional adjustments, and hair growth products can make a massive difference. Biotin is not a magical cure for hair loss, but it is an essential building block that shouldn’t be left out of your hair care regimen.

Learn more about taking care of your hair and skin in the FS Journal.

---

References:

1. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Biotin-HealthProfessional

2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5582478/ 

3. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/is-biotin-as-good-as-advertised-for-your-hair-loss/ 

4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3509882/ 

5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4989391/

6. https://www.goodrx.com/well-being/supplements-herbs/can-you-take-too-much-biotin