What are the Health Benefits of Biotin?
"Biotin" or vitamin (B7) is a water-soluble vitamin found in the human body. The body needs biotin to stimulate cell growth and increase the presence of amino acids and convert certain nutrients into energy.
It enhances blood flow to the scalp and from there to hair follicles to renew blood circulation, including hair strengthening.
It also helps blood flow to the skin tissues, providing it with the required freshness and vitality.
Hair and nails consist of 80% proteins, and biotin is a substance that is involved in building amino acids that make up those proteins
Biotin or vitamin B7 has multiple health benefits for hair, nails, and skin. Learn here about the benefits of biotin for men, its food sources, and its potential risks and side effects.
Benefits of Biotin for Men
There are many benefits of Biotin for men. The most prominent benefits of biotin for men may include:
Biotin may help prevent hair loss
Biotin plays a major role in hair growth due to its role in keratin synthesis. Keratin is the primary protein that makes up the hair structure and contributes to the formation of a strong and healthy hair shaft. Biotin gummies are hair boosters that can help you achieve longer glossy hair, beautiful skin, and stronger nails.
A study was conducted on a number of men who suffer from the problem of androgenetic alopecia, and it was shown that they had lower values of biotin and zinc in the blood compared to men who did not suffer from it.
Therefore it may be important to assess the level of biotin in the blood and urine when infected with this disease.
It is believed that the use of biotin and zinc supplements along with clobetasol propionate cream can help reduce hair loss.
Biotin can enhance sperm motility used in assisted reproductive technology
The frozen-thawed semen samples are placed in a medium containing biotin supplements, as biotin enhances their motility and prolongs their survival time, which helps in the success of assisted reproduction operations.
Adding biotin to the sperm preparation medium increases motility and longevity in cryopreserved human spermatozoa.
Biotin may help treat diabetes
Some evidence shows blood biotin levels may be lower in people with diabetes and biotin deficiency may disrupt blood sugar, or glucose, regulation.
Taking supplements containing biotin and chromium picolinate can help reduce insulin resistance and lower blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes.
Biotin may help treat multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis occurs when the immune system attacks and damages myelin. Myelin is a substance that covers and protects nerve cells. Biotin activates key enzymes and helps the body to produce more myelin.
Therefore, it is believed that taking daily doses of it helps manage presentations of progressive MS due to supporting nerve cell metabolism and reduce disease progression and the occurrence of chronic disability.
Biotin may convert food into energy
Biotin is one of the B complex vitamins that support enzymes that help break down large food particles, such as proteins, fats, and carbohydrates and convert them into energy.
Biotin helps maintain skin health
Biotin helps metabolize fats, which is an important process for maintaining healthy skin, so a lack of biotin may lead to skin problems, such as the appearance of a red, scaly rash.
Biotin helps maintain healthy nails
Biotin may help improve nail strength and health. A lack of biotin may cause weak nails to become brittle and cracked, so eating a biotin diet or taking supplements may help reduce splitting and breaking and treat this problem.
Some studies found that taking a 2.5 mg supplement daily for 6 months increased nail thickness by 25%.
How to Get the Benefits of Biotin?
Each person obtains the daily recommended amount of biotin from the food they eat. If you want to increase your biotin intake, you can add more biotin-rich foods to your diet.
To get the benefits of biotin for men as well as women, the recommended daily dose of 30 micrograms for healthy adults should be taken, which can be obtained by consuming food sources rich in it, such as:
the milk, yolk, beef liver, banana, sunflower seeds, sweet potato, whole wheat bread, mushrooms, broccoli, spinach, apples, nuts, oats, salmon, and tuna.
Are There any Side Effects of Taking Biotin?
Biotin can be the best hair loss treatment for men. Some people may want to gain the benefits of biotin through supplementation, but they worry about the risks or side effects of taking it.
There are currently no known harmful side effects of biotin. Most people can take biotin supplements without any negative effects, but minor side effects are possible like nausea, cramping, diarrhea, etc.
Biotin is a water-soluble vitamin, so any extra biotin in your body will flush out through your urine and this makes a possible overdose unlikely.
In general, biotin is safe when taken in the recommended quantities, but it may affect the results of some blood tests, leading to higher or lower than real values in the patient.
The FDA warns that biotin may affect some lab test results. These tests may include:
Thyroid hormone: This hormone is overactive, and there is a wrong diagnosis of Graves disease or toxic goiter.
Troponin: A false low value for this protein may appear, delaying the diagnosis of a heart attack and putting the patient's life at risk.
Vitamin D: false normal or abnormal results will appear.
No side effects have been reported with biotin in amounts up to 10 milligrams per day when taken as prescribed by your doctor.
Biotin is POSSIBLY SAFE for most people when taken by mouth appropriately and in the recommended doses.
Biotin is likely safe for most people when applied to the skin as beauty products that contain up to 0.6% biotin.
However, do consult your healthcare professional if you notice any unusual effects while taking it. Your doctor may confirm the use of the supplement along with any other medications you may be taking and provide more individual information about dosage and possible side effects. So, always check with your doctor before adding a new supplement to your routine.