Before we get into how much biotin to take for hair growth, let’s first discuss what biotin actually does for your hair.
Biotin is one of the B-complex vitamins. Sometimes people also refer to it as Vitamin B7 or Vitamin H (vitamin H? WTF?). Anyway, there’s been a lot of talk about using Biotin when your hair starts thinning or taking it to grow new hair and make your hair grow faster than it already does. You’re also going to notice is does the same thing with your nails so be prepared for more cutting and filing!
But, how much do you take? You want to be sure you’re getting only safe levels and not going overboard as too much of anything is NOT a good thing. You also want to ensure you’re getting enough to actually give you some results otherwise you’re just wasting your time.
One thing to make note of right now is that when taking Biotin in supplement form, everything is in mcg (micrograms) and not milligrams as is commonly seen with many other supplements.
4000 – 5000 mcg seems to be the most common dosage for people taking it for their hair. Most brands will sell it in capsule or tablet form, with each tablet having 5000 mcg. This means you only need to take one a day in order to get the most common dosage.
Stick to that dosage or do even less. People are having good results with it and taking any more on a daily basis probably won’t do anything good for your body. Also remember to talk to your doc about this (yeah, boring stuff, I know – but it’s necessary to bring up).
Now, most people don’t have a deficiency (unless you’re an alcoholic because alcohol depletes B vitamins and many other nutrients). This vitamin can come from a variety of food sources you’re probably already eating.
Biotin is found in:
- cheese
- egg yolk
- liver
- spinach
- salmon
- tomatoes
- carrots
- onion
- cabbage
- milk
- chicken breasts
- mushrooms
- yeast
- nuts
- cucumbers
So, for those of you who prefer an even more natural approach, stick to eating more of the above foods instead.
How much biotin for hair growth you take depends largely on what source you plan to get this vitamin from and how aggressive you are with supplement usage. Whatever you do, remember not to go crazy and overdose because it can harm you and f@$% up your hair even more!
