Biotin for hair: what’s the connection?

If you’re looking to revamp your hair care routine, you may have heard about the potentially beneficial effects of biotin. Also known as vitamin B7, biotin is part of the vitamin B family.¹ Like the rest of the B vitamins, biotin is water soluble.¹ This means the body isn’t able to store it. The body needs biotin to:^2-5 

As well as helping to metabolise your food and make fatty acids, biotin is known to be critical for maintaining normal hair and skin.¹ Biotin and hair growth is talked about a lot on social media, but does it actually work? Research examining whether biotin can help with hair growth is extremely limited – there isn’t a huge amount out there aside from a few case studies with some promising outcomes. For example, one case study found that people with hair conditions, like uncomable hair syndrome, may see an improvement in hair texture.⁶ But as case studies don’t provide large-scale evidence, we can’t say for definite if biotin can help with hair growth.^6-8 

Biotin deficiency has been associated with hair loss.⁵ In addition, certain genetic disorders increase the risk of a severe biotin deficiency.⁵  Marginal biotin deficiency is fairly common during pregnancy.⁵ Chronic alcohol use, smoking, taking anticonvulsant medications and inflammatory bowel disease may also result in moderate biotin deficiency, as all these things individually make it difficult for the body to absorb biotin.⁵ As well as hair loss, symptoms of a severe biotin deficiency include:⁵

Although biotin is only really found in food at low levels, the vast majority of people can get their daily recommended biotin intake from the food they eat.³ Interestingly, the bacteria that naturally live in your bowel are also able to produce this essential nutrient.³ Some good food-based sources of biotin include:^2,4 

You can also get biotin from supplements, though the jury’s still out on whether we really need to supplement this particular B vitamin. And, while the NHS states that there are unlikely to be any harmful effects of taking 0.9mg of biotin in supplements per day, we don’t know enough about the effects of taking too much biotin.³ To be on the safe side, it’s best to speak to your GP before you begin supplementing biotin. 

Biotin isn’t the only vitamin or mineral related to normal hair. These minerals are connected to hair health:^10-13

Biotin is believed to help support our hair and skin, as well as deliver several other health benefits.¹ It’s possible to get all the biotin you need simply by eating a healthy and balanced diet, as biotin is available in a wide range of foods and your body naturally produces it.^2-4 As a result, biotin deficiencies are rare, though they're more prevalent in pregnant women and people with genetic conditions that cause deficiency.⁵