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22.08.2022

Biotin, a feel-good vitamin?

Maybe, just maybe, a high intake of biotin boosts overall mental health. If so, then researchers from Iran have discovered this association. But Baharak Mahdavifar and his colleagues are not going to bet their money on it.

Biotin
Good sources of vitamin B8 (in Europe) or vitamin B7 (in the US) or biotin are eggs, dairy, soy, tree nuts and peanuts. Adult people need about 40 micrograms of biotin daily, according to the European EFSA.

Biotin is involved in breaking up fats, carbohydrates and proteins. The higher your metabolism and the more intensively you exercise, the higher your need for biotin.

Because fragile nails and brittle hair are a symptom of a biotin deficiency, you can often find the vitamin in supplements and functional foods that should help keep nails and hair healthy.

Study
Baharak Mahdavifar, a nutrition scientist from Iran University of Medical Sciences, analyzed the data of 7,387 adult residents of Iran. Their ages ranged from 20-70 years.

Mahdavifar knew the study participants' diets and was able to calculate their intake of B vitamins. The study participants also had questions answered about their mental health. Mahdavifar then looked at whether he could find an associations between dietary intake of B vitamins on the one hand and mental health on the other.

Results
The more biotin the study participants consumed, the higher their chance of good mental health. The higher the intake of biotin, the lower the risk of stress, anxiety and depression.

Vitamin B6 also reduced the risk of stress.

The researchers split their data separately for men and women. Back then, both men and women with high intakes of biotin were still less likely to experience stress symptoms, anxiety and depression than men and women with lower intakes, but the difference was only statistically significant in women.

No explanation
In fact, the researchers had expected that other B vitamins would be related to how people function mentally. Vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid are known to play a role in the production and breakdown of neurotransmitters in the brain. The researchers are unable to explain the fact that biotin in particular correlated with mental health.

"The relationship between dietary biotin and depression, anxiety, and stress could be explained by other beneficial components of a biotin-rich diet, writes Mahdavifar.

"The role of B vitamins requires further investigation in randomized controlled trials."

Source:
J Affect Disord. 2021 Jun 1;288:92-8.

More:
More grip on anxiety with vitamin B6 22.07.2022
Vitamin B reduces stress | Meta study 07.10.2020
High-thiamine diet reduces chance of depression 08.03.2014
50 mg vitamin B1 supplement improves your mood and speeds up your reactions 02.03.2014

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