Who doesn’t want a thick, healthy head of hair? While there are a lot of hair products that claim to make your hair healthy and shiny and even help hair grow faster, not all of these products are backed by scientific evidence. One nutritional supplement that’s been promoted in recent years for hair health is Biotin. There are numerous claims that Biotin not only makes hair look thicker but can also help it to grow faster. Biotin is also being promoted by some companies as a way to stop hair loss. But is Biotin for hair growth and thickness really effective?
What Is Biotin?
Biotin is a member of the “B” vitamin family and is important for the metabolism of protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Although Biotin is an important dietary component, deficiency is very uncommon since it’s widely found in foods including meat, dairy products, and some vegetables.
Biotin For Hair Growth: What’s The association?
While deficiency of Biotin can cause hair loss, along with skin dryness and brittle nails, as previously stated, deficiency isn’t a common problem and there’s no scientific evidence that adding extra Biotin to your diet offers any additional benefits. If a deficiency state does exist, as might occur when a patient is hospitalized and not eating normally, Biotin supplements may help reestablish normal hair growth.
While it’s well documented that people who have Biotin deficiencies can have hair loss, there’s no evidence that adding additional Biotin to the diet in the absence of a deficiency can enhance hair growth or thickness.
Two situations where a Biotin deficiency might occur is during pregnancy and with consumption of large quantities of raw egg whites. There’s evidence that pregnant women are more likely to be Biotin deficient and may need supplements. If you’re pregnant, talk to your doctor about this issue. Raw egg whites also contain a protein that binds Biotin making it less available to the body.
Biotin For Hair Growth: Should You Take Supplements?
Unless you’re pregnant, a fan of raw egg whites, it’s extremely unlikely you’ll need Biotin supplements. Taking Biotin for hair growth is not supported by any medical studies and is unlikely to be effective. Only 1 person out of 137,400 has this type of deficiency (called biotinidase), and it becomes obvious during the first few months of the person’s life. Unless you are one of these few, biotinidase deficiency is most likely not the reason for your hair loss. Further, while many companies peddle Biotin as something that is good for hair thinning, in the extremely rare situation of Biotin deficiency, that deficiency would lead to hair breakage and not hair loss.
Blocking DHT Is Far More Important To Stop Hair Loss
The bottom line? Biotin for hair growth, although probably safe, is unlikely to increase how fast your hair grows or how thick it is. The most effective way to maintain healthy hair is to use products which have the ability to help block Dihydrotestosterone ("DHT"), which is the cause of androngenic alopecia (also known as male and female pattern hair loss). Blocking DHT from attacking the hair follicles will prevent them from shrinking and getting thinner and promote the growth of new hair, thus increasing the volume, thickness and strength of your hair.
In a study reported in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, around 66% of the study participants utilizing DHT-blockers encountered meaningful hair regrowth. Significantly, a greater percentage of them retained their unique hair follicles.
If you are male or female pattern hair loss, don’t wait to treat it. The longer you wait, the more difficult it will be to stop and reverse it. Time is truly crucial to the success of any hair loss treatment.
Hair Restoration Laboratories is dedicated to offering you hair health solutions that are backed by science. All our products include clinically tested ingredients. Here is a brief summary of our DHT-blocking Hair Restore products.
All Hair Restoration Laboratories' products are formulated to promote the growth of healthier and thicker hair by using our proprietary and potent DHT Halting Technology® to block the harmful effects of DHT on hair follicles.
DHT Halting Technology® is a proprietary blend of extracts, amino acids, oils, and nutrients that help fight hair loss, reverse hair thinning and encourage healthy hair growth.
Hair Restore Shampoo
Our Hair Restore Shampoo works to dramatically improve the appearance of thinning hair with a blend of plant extracts, amino acids, essential oils, and antioxidants. These powerful nutrients deeply nourish hair follicles, leaving hair feeling stronger and more voluminous while promoting healthy hair growth. In this shampoo you will find a combination of ingredients that make up our DHT Halting Technology®, working to reduce your hair loss without any unwanted side effects. These ingredients include saw palmetto, biotin, pumpkin seed extract, caffeine, green tea extract, black cumin oil and pygeum africanum bark extract.
Hair Restore Conditioner
Like our Hair Restore Shampoo, our Hair Restore Conditioner works just as hard for you with a combination of saw palmetto, biotin, pumpkin seed extract, caffeine, green tea extract, black cumin oil, pygeum africanum bark extract, pisum sativum (pea) extract, cayenne fruit extract and oils of jojoba, sunflower and shea butter for luxurious, silky and shiny hair. When used in combination with our Hair Restore Shampoo, you are giving your hair a potent boost to recover and grow, leaving you with fuller and thicker hair. The combination is safe to use daily and one of our best sellers.
Professional Strength Hair Restore Shampoo
Our Professional Strength Hair Restore Shampoo has been developed for men and women who require an even stronger and more powerful shampoo to help prevent hair loss and thinning, support hair growth and promote healthier, thicker and stronger hair. This powerful formula contains Hair Restoration Laboratories’ proprietary DHT Halting Technology® in even greater concentrations compared to our Regular Strength Hair Restore Shampoo. This is to maximize nourishment of hair follicles, healthy hair growth, and improve the strength, thickness and quality of your hair. No shampoo leaves your hair appearing fuller and feeling stronger than the Hair Restoration Laboratories’ Professional Strength Hair Restore Shampoo.
Ingredients in the Professional Strength Hair Restore Shampoo includes ketoconazole, green tea extract, biotin, black cumin seed oil, saw palmetto, caffeine, pisum sativum (pea) extract, pygeum africanum bark extract, pumpkin seed oil, cayenne fruit extract.
Ultra Strength Hair Regrowth Treatment
The Ultra Strength Hair Regrowth Treatment uses a formula with FDA-approved 5% minoxidil which helps prevent and reverse the progression of hair loss and thinning. Additionally, the Ultra Strength Hair Regrowth Treatment contains a number of powerful DHT-blocking ingredients that, when combined with 5% minoxidil, significantly improve the quality of your hair and scalp. This includes ingredients like caffeine, green tea extract, biotin, black cumin seed oil, pumpkin seed oil, saw palmetto, vitamin E and vitamin C.
Maximum Hair Thickening Serum
The Maximum Hair Thickening Serum is a powerful leave-in treatment, packed with clinically-studied ingredients to immediately provide maximum thickness to existing hair, minimize hair loss and maintain the scalp and hair follicles in optimum condition to promote the growth of thicker and stronger hair and reduce hair loss. Our Serum contains the highest levels of our proprietary DHT Halting Technology® with ingredients like green tea extract, saw palmetto extract, azelaic acid, pumpkin seed oil, black cumin seed oil, caffeine, biotin, cayenne fruit extract and ginseng that work synergistically to stop hair loss and help regrow and thicken hair.
The Serum also contains vital hair strengthening, building and anchoring ingredients, such as keratin, hydrolyzed collagen and caprylic triglyceride to dramatically maximize the thick appearance of your hair from the very first application. Ingredients, such as vitamin C, vitamin E, sunflower seed oil, argan oil and jojoba seed oil provide intense nourishment to your hair, noticeably improving the strength, natural shine and vibrancy.
Conclusion
Any of Hair Restoration Laboratories’ products will be an excellent choice if you are looking to start treating your hair loss with a topical product containing only the best ingredients in the field. Our products can be used alone or in combination.
In sum, in only the rarest of circumstances will Biotin be of any value to thinning hair. If you’re experiencing hair loss or thinning, see your doctor to confirm its actual cause. However, if the diagnosis is androgenic alopecia, blocking DHT is the most important thing you can do to prevent hair loss and thinning and regrow stronger, thicker and healthier hair.
