3 causes of biotin deficiency
Biotin deficiency is quite rare, but there are certain conditions that may predispose you to having little biotin. Get more information to find out if you are at risk if you have any of these very common conditions with low levels of biotin.
Biotin, or vitamin B7, is an important water-soluble vitamin for several different physiological reactions in our body. It is something that we can not produce for ourselves, so we must make sure to consume foods rich in biotin to make sure we meet our daily quotas. In case you do not meet your daily goal, you may begin to notice wholesale changes throughout your body. Some of the most obvious signs of suffering from a biotin deficiency would be hair loss, skin changes, brittle nails and sugar intolerance. It's a big reason why there has been a biotin craze in the supplement industry where customers are encouraged to buy biotin for hair growth when they need a treatment for hair loss, how biotin can strengthen their fragile nails and even some benefits of biotin for your skin. We have found in previous research that biotin supplementation for this category is only effective if it suffers from an obvious biotin deficiency. Here, we will address what are the causes of biotin deficiency in the first place.
High Dose Biotin 100mg (100,000mcg)
The pregnancy
Biotin and pregnancy
When it comes to biotin deficiencies, fortunately, the majority of the population will be able to consume enough food in the foods they normally eat to achieve what they need. However, when we look at pregnant mothers, this is where biotin deficiencies are more common and much more significant. It is believed that approximately 50 percent of expected mothers have increased levels of 3-hydroxyisovaleric acid (3-HIA). This is a metabolite of a reaction that requires biotin to start and, as a result, it is suspected that women in this category may be suffering from marginally low levels of biotin.
Marginally low levels of biotin are not something to be ruled out too easily because of the importance of sufficient levels of biotin for the growth and development of the fetus. When biotin levels are too low, several studies show situations in which fetal death occurs during pregnancy. This is due to the fact that insufficient biotin is teratogenic, so mothers should make sure they are eating enough to meet their dietary needs.
Most of the biotin we consume is absorbed throughout our intestinal tract, while the excess of biotin is excreted in the urine. Due to the large amount of biotin that is processed in the mother's intestinal tract, your baby is at risk of not receiving enough biotin. Biotin deficiencies have been linked to spontaneous abortions, growth retardation, mental disabilities and nervous problems, so it is imperative that mothers make sure they are eating enough biotin.
Poor dietary intake
biotin and nutrition
Another possible cause of biotin deficiency comes from the food choices we make in our daily lives. A lot of foods available in the supermarket have moderate levels of biotin in them, so routine balanced meals can meet your daily recommendations without much trouble. Patients who do not meet these quotas generally have some underlying deficiency due to conscious decisions they are making on the foods they eat.
A group to which I refer would be bodybuilders or those looking to increase their protein intake. The common techniques that people in this category will use would be the intake of raw eggs in order to increase the protein intake during the morning, but the enzymes in the raw eggs called avidin are the worst nightmare of biotin. This protein binds to biotin and prevents it from being absorbed in the intestinal tract, so if you eat raw eggs routinely in your diet; You are preventing your body from taking an essential factor.
Chronic alcoholics are also people who are at risk of suffering from biotin deficiencies for similar reasons. Alcohol does not contain any avidin, but when you consume alcohol constantly, you are greatly interfering with the ability of your intestinal tract to absorb biotin. Their diets are typically poor too, so you will need to worsen the problem from two different perspectives.
Gastritis or recent surgery
The last major cause of biotin deficiency that is relatively common in the population would be the loss of biotin intake after some type of intestinal or gastric operation. Any type of surgery or disorder that may produce an absorption problem will probably predispose patients to omit a number of vitamins and minerals, including biotin. Bariatric surgery is one of the main causes of the current increases in the number of patients suffering from biotin deficiencies, as patients try to combat morbid obesity, so bear in mind the potential risks they might experience.
Another cause of biotin deficiency could be inflammatory bowel diseases, such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease. Even if their pathologies are different, both lead to persistent diarrhea and patients will often suffer from deficient levels of biotin as a result. Any type of disorder associated with chronic diarrhea, such as celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome, or chronic diarrhea itself, can have the same effects.
In general, biotin deficiency is something that is quite possible in a number of patients. Even if supplementation, such as biotin for hair growth as a treatment for hair loss is possible, some of these more chronic conditions must be addressed before patients begin to have higher levels of biotin.