It hasn’t been established a maximum safe daily dosage of biotin, neither for dietary supplements nor foods.
What’s the recommended daily intake?
The recommended daily intake of biotin is 30 mcg for adults. Teenagers require only 25 mcg a day. Children require even lower doses.
Normal concentrations of biotin
In healthy adults, the concentration of biotin is 133–329 pmol/L in serum and 18–127 nmol/24 hours in urine.
What’s the maximum dose of biotin I can safely take a day?
Actually, there hasn’t been established a maximum safe daily dose of biotin. According to many studies, even extremely high daily dosages of 10,000 –50,000 mcg of biotin are rather unlikely to cause any serious side effects in healthy adults!
Certainly, you can’t possibly consume too much biotin from food.
Side effects of too much biotin
Although high biotin intakes aren’t dangerous for health, they may interfere with certain laboratory tests. Hence, biotin supplementation could lead to misdiagnosis of a medical condition and inappropriate patient management.
For instance, high intakes of biotin from supplements may cause false measurements of thyroid hormones, and vitamin D concentrations. Even a single dose of 10,000 mcg may affect a laboratory test within 24 hours of taking the supplement.
Moreover, too much biotin from dietary supplements can interact with certain medications.
Therefore, it’s important to inform your physician if you’re taking biotin supplements.
Do supplements exceed the maximum daily safe dose?
Most dietary supplements contain up to 10,000 mcg of biotin per serving. Although this dose is about 33,000% of the recommended daily intake, it’s considered pretty safe.
As a rule of thumb, healthy people won’t benefit from extremely high doses. Thus, you better prefer supplements with a low dose of biotin per serving.
You’ll find a wide variety of biotin supplements at unbeatable prices on iHerb.
Certainly, you should consult your healthcare provider before taking any supplement.
Do I need dietary supplements with biotin?
It’s estimated that people in developed countries consume about 35-70 mcg of biotin a day. Thus, healthy people who follow a well-balanced diet get enough biotin from food. They don’t need dietary supplements.
If you experience hair loss or brittle nails, you may benefit from getting high doses of biotin from supplements for a short period of time. However, it’s better to follow a diet high in biotin.
Foods high in biotin
Beef liver is among the richest foods in biotin, containing 100% of the recommended daily intake per serving. But, you better avoid the regular consumption of beef liver, due to its extremely high amounts of vitamin A, which may cause toxicity.
Eggs are the second-richest food in biotin. An egg provides about 30% of the Daily Value. Salmon, peanuts, sunflower seeds, and almonds are also great natural sources of biotin.
Health benefits of biotin
Biotin is a water-soluble B-vitamin. It’s also known as vitamin-B7. It’s vital for good health and maintaining a normal body weight, as it plays a key role in the metabolism of fatty acids, glucose, and amino acids. Moreover, biotin is involved in gene regulation and cell signaling.
Additionally, biotin has gained popularity for its claimed benefits on the hair, nails and skin. In fact, signs of biotin deficiency include skin rashes, hair loss, and brittle nails. But, more studies are needed to determine whether biotin supplements might improve hair, nail, and skin health. Especially, among healthy individuals.[1,2]
