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Boost Your Hair Growth with Biotin
When it comes to speeding and enhancing hair growth, biotin is a hot topic these days. There is a lot of hype around it as a dietary supplement, shampoos, conditioners, and masks. With all of this information and so many companies vying for your attention, it can be frustrating and confusing to try and separate myth from fact. So, we dove deep into the research to help you make the most of today’s options to boost your hair growth.
What exactly is biotin anyway?
Biotin is one of the B vitamins, a group of water-soluble vitamins involved in the metabolizing of nutrients for energy in addition to other functions. In biotin’s case, it assists with protein synthesis and cell growth outside the involvement in metabolizing fats and carbohydrates that classifies it as a B vitamin.
In other words, biotin is a nutrient important in ensuring your body has the “raw materials” it needs for healthy growth and repair across the board. It just so happens our hair, skin, and nails are where the earliest signs of a deficiency show themselves. So it has become linked with healthy skin, hair, and nails.
How good are biotin supplements?
Here is where looking at the research can help you separate truth from hype. While biotin supplements can be beneficial for strengthening and encouraging new growth for those with a biotin deficiency, said deficiency is pretty rare.
A healthy, balanced diet usually provides adequate levels of biotin for the majority of people, along with the other vitamins in the B complex and other essential nutrients. Albeit, today’s culture of snag what you can that is quick while you are on the run means most of our diets leave much to be desired. The majority of us still manage to squeak by with at least the minimum needed baring genetic factors, shifting our optimum intake needs or hindering metabolizing of specific nutrients.
Plus, like all of the other B vitamins, biotin is water-soluble and does not build up in our systems from one day to the next. So it is not something you can “stockpile” in your system. The research does not support the idea of any “excess” being utilized for improving the individual’s hair, skin, and nails. Rather anything over their need for the day gets flushed from the system.
Unless your hair and nails have begun to become brittle or thin, the dietary supplements are unlikely to do much for you, especially if you are getting plenty of dark, leafy greens, whole grains, and eggs or lean meats in your diet. However, if you have noticed your hair has become more prone to breaking, you are developing thin spots in your hair, or your nails have begun to peel and chip, a biotin supplement certainly will not hurt and could help.
It will not be able to do anything for the hair you have right now since the cells making up a strand of hair past the root are dead, but it can encourage new growth and ensure this new growth is stronger.
What about biotin shampoos, conditioners, and other hair products?
The hair itself, outside of the root, might be a “dead” structure protected by the cuticle, but this does not mean there is no hope for the length you have now. Because hair is “dead,” it can be damaged with relative ease since it cannot repair itself. Heat styling, harsh cleansers, too hot water, bleach, dye, and even environmental pollutants can damage the cuticle and your hair’s structure along with it. Products containing biotin, and other proteins, can help patch the gaps left by this damage.
It’s important to note this will not speed new growth; however, it can strengthen the hair you already have and protect it from further damage. That, in turn, can help you achieve longer hair faster by preventing breakage and lengthening the time you can go between trims.
One crucial factor you should know.
If you do decide to give biotin dietary supplements a try, be aware they can interfere with the results of diagnostic blood tests, so avoid them for a few days before any needed blood work.
