Call it vitamin B7 or vitamin H: biotin is a B-complex vitamin that is important for a bunch of different metabolic functions in the body.
What does biotin do in the body? Get comfy: it’s gonna be quite a list. Biotin is used in cell growth, synthesizing fatty acids (those are the good ones!), and metabolizing a particular amino acid (leucine). Biotin is also important in the process of converting food into energy, known as the Krebs cycle. One more thing: biotin helps in the transfer of carbon dioxide.
That’s one hard working vitamin! What’s even more awesome about biotin is that the body uses it really efficiently. Bacteria in the intestines (good ones!) naturally produce biotin. There’s usually plenty of biotin in the foods we eat, too. Between those sources and the body’s ability to recycle previously used biotin, most people are pretty well covered.
You might see biotin promoted as a special ingredient in health and beauty products, too — particularly those that claim to strengthen hair and nails. Researchers aren’t so sure that externally applied biotin is useful, though, because it’s not easily absorbed through the skin.
Other health issues biotin may be useful for include: improving certain skin conditions, improving insulin synthesis and release in diabetics, and lowering heart disease risk in diabetics.
Most people get the biotin they need through their diet — and through the production of biotin by intestinal bacteria. Adults should get between thirty and 300 micrograms of biotin daily. Adolescents should get twenty-five micrograms of biotin daily. Children between nine and thirteen should get twenty micrograms of biotin daily. Children under the age of eight need twelve micrograms of biotin (or less) daily.
So what can you eat to get your daily biotin? You have lots of options. Many dairy products are full of biotin. So are chicken breasts, shellfish, organ meats, and cauliflower.
One thing to keep in mind: broad-spectrum antibiotics can mess with your natural levels of good bacteria in the intestines. That includes the ones that make biotin! Talk to your doctor if you think you might benefit from a biotin supplement.