Stop Taking Biotin for Hair Growth ~ One Reason Might Save Your Life

March is National Nutrition Month

Have you heard that because a woman has different symptoms than a man while presenting with a heart attack, it is estimated that she is SEVEN times more likely to be sent home from the hospital without a proper diagnosis?

Were you aware that a simple request for a Troponin T test can help you get the care you need?

Did you know that an everyday hair, skin, and nails supplement can interfere with that test?

Those questions are answered in this blog post, along with why it might be time to stop taking biotin for hair growth. This is one you need to read.

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The Truth About Hair Growth Supplements

Supplements for hair growth are one of the biggest gimmicks in the supplement industry, in my opinion, I don’t say that lightly. Having grown up with a mother who owned health food stores, I take a handful of well-selected nutrients everyday and I believe they help me out tremendously, but this is a topic my mother and I have discussed countless times.

It is a rare find to see a hair care supplement that is not relying on high doses of biotin for hair growth, this is a problem. Personally, if I were to create my own hair growth formula today, there’s one ingredient I would absolutely avoid: biotin.

Biotin Deficiency Reality

0.0007278% of the world population has a biotin deficiency [1]. Biotin (vitamin B7) is a B vitamin that plays an important role in metabolism, particularly of fats and amino acids. It’s naturally produced by the body and found in many foods including meat, eggs, fish, nuts, and some dairy products. You likely get all the biotin you need in your diet if you eat a healthy well-balanced diet [2,3].

Why Hair Supplements Can Be a Waste of Money

What really bothers me is the supplement industry keeps loading up hair, skin, and nail formulas with high doses of Biotin, and some of these formulas are very expensive. The half-life of biotin is about 2 hours, that means within 4 hours of taking that excessively high dose your kidneys will have flushed most of it out. This does depend on how high the dose is and how long you have been taking it; however it is water soluble, and you can only retain what your body needs and is able to store [4].

The Biotin Myth

While biotin deficiency can indeed lead to hair loss, there’s a crucial fact most marketing campaigns won’t tell you: biotin supplements don’t necessarily improve hair growth in people without a deficiency [5,6].

Multiple scientific reviews have found no substantial evidence that biotin supplements benefit hair growth in healthy individuals:

• A 1965 study found that biotin supplements did not change the condition of hair roots in 46 women [7].
• A comprehensive review of studies found no evidence that biotin supplements benefit people with normal biotin levels [5].
• A crossover clinical trial showed no significant difference in hair growth rates between participants using topical minoxidil, oral biotin, or both combined [8].

The positive research situation is more nuanced. There are limited but some positive studies; though overall, evidence still remains inconclusive.

The Dangerous Side Effect No One’s Talking About

While biotin supplements are generally considered safe from a toxicity standpoint, there’s a serious risk that isn’t getting enough attention: biotin can interfere with critical laboratory tests, potentially leading to misdiagnosis of serious conditions [9,10,11].

Here’s what happens: High levels of biotin can interfere with tests that use biotin-streptavidin technology, a common method in many hormone and other diagnostic tests [9,10]. This interference can cause:

• False thyroid test results: Biotin can lead to incorrect readings in thyroid function tests, potentially causing misdiagnosis of hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, Graves’ disease, Hashimoto’s disease, or even thyroid cancer [11,12].
• Inaccurate cardiac markers: Perhaps most alarmingly, biotin supplements can lead to falsely low troponin levels, which are crucial for diagnosing heart attacks. This is particularly concerning for women, whose heart attack symptoms are often more subtle than men’s [13].
• Other hormone disruptions: Biotin can also interfere with tests for vitamin D and gonadotropin hormones (which stimulate the activity of testes and ovaries) [14].

Women Over 40: A Population at Risk

Women over 40 should be especially cautious about biotin supplementation. This demographic already faces:

• Increased risk of thyroid disorders
• Higher likelihood of unrecognized or misdiagnosed heart disease
• Greater marketing pressure to prevent age-related hair thinning

The FDA has issued specific warnings about biotin supplements interfering with laboratory blood tests and causing incorrect results [15], which could have life-threatening consequences in emergency situations like heart attacks.

What to Do If You’re Taking Biotin

If you’re currently taking biotin supplements:

1. Inform your healthcare providers: Always tell your doctor about all supplements you’re taking, especially before any lab tests [11,15].
2. Consider stopping before testing: Your doctor may recommend stopping biotin supplementation for at least 72 hours before laboratory testing [11,16].
3. Evaluate if you really need it: Unless you have a diagnosed biotin deficiency or specific condition that might benefit from biotin, you may want to reconsider taking high-dose supplements [9,17]. Especially important if you have heart disease or you are at risk for it.
4. Explore evidence-based alternatives: For hair loss concerns, consult with a dermatologist about proven treatments like minoxidil (Rogaine) or address underlying health conditions that might be affecting your hair [18,19].
5. Consider taking something else: Look into supplements that do not interfere with medical tests.

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Nutritional Options

While there are also nuances in research for other nutrients, here are some that have potential without the risks of interfering with medical tests. Many of these can be found in a quality multi-vitamin. It should go without saying, you don’t need high doses of any of these, the recommended daily allowance should be helpful.

Many of the benefits of these nutrients come via their boost to your immune system, when your immune system is at its peak your body has what it needs for the very extraneous task of growing hair.

For hair growth and hair loss support, nutrients for women over 40, particularly in menopause would include:

The Bottom Line

While biotin is essential for health in small amounts (which most people get from their diet), high-dose supplementation for hair growth is built on shaky scientific ground and carries real risks [5,9].

The potential for lab test interference and subsequent misdiagnosis—especially of serious conditions like heart attacks—should give anyone pause before adding this supplement to their routine.

Hair health is important, but not at the expense of accurate medical care. Instead of reaching for biotin, consider consulting with a healthcare professional to identify the root cause of any hair concerns and develop an evidence-based treatment plan.

Your health is valuable and worth prioritizing over potential cosmetic benefits from hair products that may carry risks.

If you are a woman and happen to find yourself in the ER for a potential heart attack request the Troponin T test, don’t let them send you home with heartburn or an anxiety attack.

From the Mayo Clinic

“Women are more likely than men to have these symptoms of a heart attack:

• Neck, jaw, shoulder, upper back or upper stomach pain.
• Shortness of breath.
• Pain in one or both arms.
• Nausea or vomiting.
• Sweating.
• Lightheadedness or dizziness.
• Unusual fatigue.
• Heartburn, also called indigestion.

These symptoms may be vague but more noticeable than the chest pain [20].”

Reminder: This information is meant to educate, not diagnose. Always consult with your healthcare provider before starting any new supplement or treatment regimen.

I hope you found this post educational and helpful.

Thank you for reading. Please feel free to share.

As always it is about so much more than the hair.

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References:

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK547751/
[2] https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Biotin-Consumer/
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK554493/
[4] https://wardelab.com/warde-reports/biotin-supplementation-may-interfere-with-clinical-laboratory-test-results/
[5] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5582478/
[6] https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319427
[7] https://jddonline.com/articles/the-infatuation-with-biotin-supplementation-is-there-truth-behind-its-rising-popularity-a-comparativ-S1545961617P0496X/
[8] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11221127/
[9] https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Biotin-HealthProfessional/
[10] https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Biotin-Consumer/
[11] https://www.thyroid.org/patient-thyroid-information/ct-for-patients/january-2022/vol-15-issue-1-p-7-8/
[12] https://health.clevelandclinic.org/biotin-side-effects
[13] https://utswmed.org/medblog/biotin-risks-postpartum-hair-loss/
[14] https://www.singlecare.com/blog/biotin-side-effects/
[15] https://nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/biotin-vitamin-b7/
[16] https://www.webmd.com/diet/health-benefits-biotin
[17] https://www.verywellhealth.com/biotin-for-hair-growth-89236
[18] https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/critical-thinking-pseudoscience/so-you-want-grow-hair
[19] https://www.today.com/shop/best-ingredients-for-hair-growth-rcna149008
[20] https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/in-depth/heart-disease/art-20046167
[21] https://consensus.app/results/?q=What%20fatty%20acids%20are%20most%20effective%20for%20hair%20growth%3F&pro=on

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