What is Biotin?

Biotin is a water soluble B vitamin, also known as vitamin B7. The body uses Biotin to metabolize fatty acids and leucine. Biotoin also plays a role in something called glucogenesis. The body turns the food we eat into a simple sugar cells can use for energy called glucose. Glucogenesis is the process of turning stored energy (fat) into glucose the body can use. Without Biotin, your body can’t metabolize fat as efficiently which means you would not be able to lose as much weight. Weight loss supplement makers have clued into this fact and made Biotin commercially available at several large retailers.

Vitamins play an important role throughout the body. Biotin is a necessary component in cell growth, the production of fatty acids and the metabolism of fats (gluconeogenesis mentioned earlier.) There is also some evidence that supports the idea that Biotin can help keep blood glucose levels under control.

Biotin also performs non-dietary functions like transferring carbon dioxide and the citric acid cycle. Vitamin B7 is also important for healthy hair and nails. Biotin cannot be absorbed through the skin or hair but many consumer products still include Biotin in their shampoos and lotions for this purpose. The Biotin consumed in one form or another in your diet leads to natural healthy looking hair even more than a good shampoo.

Sources of Biotin

You can find Biotin in most of the foods you consume on a daily basis but there is no one food that would be considered a significant source. The highest concentration of Biotin in foods you eat every day would be in the raw yolk of an egg. Unfortunately, eating both the white and the yolk diminishes the effectiveness of biotin in the body. Liver, some vegetables and peanuts also contain higher amounts of biotin.

The importance of Biotin in the metabolism of fat into energy makes it a natural fit as a dietary supplement. The vitamin is cropping up as both an ingredient in weight loss formulas and as a stand-alone vitamin.

Although Biotin is important, more is not always better. Your body can only use so much of a substance before the excess is simply flushed out as waste. Indications are that the bacteria in your intestinal tract produce enough Biotin for proper cell function every day. That combined with the Biotin in a normal diet likely provides the average person with as much Biotin as they can use.

Final Thought

With the complex and busy world in which we live, it can be difficult to get all the nutrients our bodies need to stay healthy. Poor diet and the toxins associated with our industrial world can cause deficiencies in our diet that need to be supplemented in order to fight off disease, properly digest food and just be healthy overall. Deficiencies of Biotin could cause a number of problems literally from your head to your toe nails. You shouldn’t have to worry about getting enough but it’s a good ingredient in any diet supplement.