If you have ever had skin problems, you may have already been told that a more balanced diet would save you from a lot of inconvenience.
It is, among other things, because the importance of eating well is not always well understood that skin diseases are also present in our daily lives.
Furthermore, the skin is not the only element of your body whose unmet nutritional needs open the door to dysfunctions. Keratin organs, to name just a few, are also among those that do not hesitate to let you know when you are malnourished.
Brittle nails and hair loss are the most common consequences.
Fortunately, engineers are now able, thanks to the latest advances in scientific research, to provide a supportive solution to these problems: food supplements based on biotin.
Why biotin? What is it about ? How does this element help support you in your effort to regulate your nutrition?
The MyPureSkin team reveals the reasons for the success of this ingredient, which is increasingly present in nutricosmetics.
Biotin: what is it?
Known to meet certain vital needs of your body, biotin (also called "vitamin B8", "vitamin H" or even "coenzyme R") is a molecule involved in various essential processes within your body such as:
- Cell growth;
- Production of fatty acids;
- The metabolism of amino acids and fats;
- The transfer of carbon dioxide;
- The synthesis of vitamins B9 and B12.
Extracted from your environment through food, biotin is still produced in small quantities by your body.
It is more precisely the intestinal microbiota, fond of prebiotics (such as galactooligosaccharides), which is at the origin of this production.
In addition, while several molecular forms exist, only D-biotin plays the role of vitamin for your body.
This limits the natural sources of biotin to be included in your food bowl but also forces engineers to make informed choices to provide your body with its benefits.
But faced with the growing presence over the last decade of this form of biotin in certain food supplement solutions, we are right to ask ourselves: is it really useful?
Furthermore, what effectiveness can be attributed to food supplements based on biotin? What evidence do we have? And are there some formulas that are more effective than others?
In other words: why and how to choose a nutricosmetic based on biotin?
Biotin supplements: what are the effects of a deficiency?
To get the answers to these questions, it is first necessary to look at the consequences of biotin deficiency.
Several researchers were therefore primarily interested in the direct effects of such a situation.
As recalled by the research published by the DM Mock team in 1991 1 , a lack of biotin leads to a variety of symptoms, both in adults and in children, the two most obvious of which are:
- Risks of alopecia (temporary hair loss and reduction of regrowth over a longer term);
- Risks of erythematous dermatitis (skin disease characterized, among other things, by hyperpigmentation as well as possible scales and scar atrophy).
The mechanisms of appearance of these problems can only be understood by reading the results of specific research such as those of R. Rodriguez Meléndez, published in 2000 2 , and focusing on the importance of metabolism of biotin.
In his publication, Meléndez highlights that biotin is of capital importance at several scales, including an epigenetic level.
It is in fact involved in the mechanisms regulating the expression of certain genes responsible for the metabolism of carboxylase enzymes. As such, biotin intervenes indirectly in the synthesis of carbohydrates.
Direct effects of consuming biotin as a supplement
The key term here is "indirectly" because although it is a vital substance for your health (as its qualification as a "vitamin" reminds us), biotin does not seem to have a direct ameliorative effect on the quality of nails and hair. and skin when no deficiency is to be deplored.
Indeed, contrary to what some speeches may lead you to believe, biotin alone is not an active ingredient capable of triggering health or beauty benefits for an individual not suffering from malnutrition in this area.
To understand this, we must look at certain meta-analyses such as that published in 2017 by Deepa P. Patel's team 3 rigorously reviewing the results of 18 previous studies reporting the effects of biotin-based treatments on the scalp of healthy individuals.
As the researcher points out, biotin deficiency in developed countries is considered rare and biotin supplementation alone cannot be considered the source of improving the quality of nails, hair and skin for a individual without any notable health problem relating to it.
The indirect effects of biotin consumption
However, Patel's meta-analysis does not take into account the indirect effects of biotin supplementation.
Indeed, it is essential to remember that vitamin B8 is involved in numerous mechanisms of the human body and to note that the average level of imbalance in the most common contemporary European diets is quite significant.
Consequently, the benefits derived from supplementation are more likely to be seen in the impact that the presence of biotin has on other agents such as hyaluronic acid.
Vitamin C, zinc, hyaluronic acid... biotin where you least expected it
The melting point (denaturation temperature) of biotin is 238°C. This fact is of capital importance since it means that once ingested, it does not lose its properties under the effect of heat during the digestion process. Likewise, the acidity level of the digestive system at its lowest (a value of 5.7 on average compared to 7 for a neutral PH) does not destroy vitamin H.
Thus, biotin can pass into the bloodstream and be used by the body's cells.
It is also through studies with a very specific research objective that we gradually discovered properties allowing us to consider biotin as an active principle with a broader potential for action. Three studies have highlighted this characteristic:
- A study by Youichi Ogawa, published in 2019 4 , exposing the importance of biotin in zinc metabolism;
- Research shared in 2012 by Yuan Cui 5 highlighting the ability of biotin to combine with avidin to fix hyaluronic acid and deliver it to the body (while allowing it to provide the elements that it needs). attached);
- Work by Chunxiao Yao on the importance of vitamins C, B5 and B8 on the growth of probiotic bacteria.
It is thanks to these astonishing and multiple properties (and many other discoveries made regularly by the scientific community) that biotin has acquired the popularity that we know it today.
Your hair under the microscope: biotin supplements to the rescue
This popularity can be understood in particular by reading consumer reviews of certain nutricosmetic brands targeting hair health. There is an increasing tendency to attribute benefits to biotin on a micro and macroscopic scale, such as:
- Support for the rate of cellular renewal of the hair follicle;
- An improvement in the structure and volume of the hair.
But the benefits would not stop there.
Vitamins and nails: biotin and keratin complex, a love story
Indeed, certain food supplements based on molecular complexes (combining biotin, hyaluronic acid and other active ingredients) would clearly improve the quality of nails: they would be less brittle (reduced fragility) but also less friable.
When nutricosmetics get involved: biotin in the skin
Finally, it is mainly to maintain their skin that consumers of food supplements turn to biotin.
Called upon for its antioxidant activity, biotin helps nourish the skin's defenses against free radicals.
This makes biotin an indirect means of preventing one of the sources of premature aging.
- Study by DM Mock on the skin manifestations of biotin deficiency: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1764357/
- Research by R. Rodriguez Meléndez exploring the importance of the biotin metalosm: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10846444/
- Meta-analysis published in 2017 by the team of researcher Deepa P. Patel studying the results and protocols of previous research on the effects of biotin supplementation on individuals considered healthy: https://www.ncbi.nlm .nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5582478/
- Study by Youichi Ogawa on the importance of biotin in zinc metabolism: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31022908/
- Yuan Cui's research on biotin's ability to combine with avidin and hyaluronic acid: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23179277/