Biotin is actually vitamin B7 or Vitamin H. Biotin is a water-soluble vitamin that
has been associated in recent times to hair loss; not getting enough biotin from
one’s daily diet could spell potential disaster to your hairline.
Though the empirical perimeters of this claim have not yet been completely established,
here’s what medical science is sure of: biotin is responsible for speeding up the
release of energy from raw biological substrates such as carbohydrates. Biotin also
functions as a catalyst that helps in the formation of fatty acids.
Biotion As Hair Loss Treatment
Medical science has been able to come up with a recommended daily allowance of biotin:
30 to 100 micrograms of the stuff should be enough per day.
Don’t worry; you don’t need to spend too much on the vitamin because it’s already
present in the following foods:
• Leguminous food stuffs
If you’re not getting enough biotin, there’s a chance that your lashes and eyebrows
might drop off. Persons who have a penchant for raw eggs might suffer from biotin
deficiency because a particular compound, avidin, prevents the full use of biotin
in the body.
What Is Biotion?
What Does It Do?
Collier’s Yearbook in the year 1958 describes the search for biotin’s precise use
as a “long one”. Finally, after years of research, scientists back then were able
to identify just what it was that biotin did in biological systems.
On the molecular level, biotin serves as a cofactor for a particular enzyme called
carboxylase. Carboxylase is a vital enzyme that is entrusted the role of transferring
carbon dioxide on the cellular and molecular level.
We’re not talking of just any kind of carbon dioxide. We’re not referring to the
kind of carbon dioxide emitted by factories, cars, cows and humans. No, actually
referring to an activated form of carbon dioxide that is vital to the survival and
operation of other substances responsible for the metabolism of two types of acids.
These acids are amino acids and fatty acids.
Creating The Chain Of Importance
It may appear that biotin’s role is a small one, but we must explore this dimension
a bit more to do this compound some justice. Let’s go back to the two main substances
that it affects:
• Amino acids
• Fatty acids
What are these compounds, anyway?
Amino acids are actually a whole class of compounds that contain carboxyl and amino
groups. From this large class of acids, 20 have been identified as vital for the
actual formation of protein. In addition, as you may already have known, if there’s
no protein, there’s no skin, scalp, or hair.
Did you know that our skin is made up of 2 kinds of vital proteins, collagen and
elastin? Collagen is also present in connective tissues and is responsible for over
70% of the weight of the skin itself.
Without collagen, the skin would have no way to resist environmental and internal
biological processes from tearing the skin asunder. The second group that makes full
use of biotin are the fatty acids. Fatty acids are the byproducts of metabolic processes
and are also necessary for the normal functioning of the body.