Sometimes referred to as Vitamin B7 or Vitamin H, biotin is a B complex vitamin that’s crucial in converting food into energy, and helps in the promotion of cell growth. If you don’t have enough biotin in your diet, it can lead to hair loss, brittle nails or even itchy skin.
While it’s easy to pop a pill, getting your biotin from the food you eat can actually be more beneficial than a supplement. Here are some foods you can add to your diet for healthy hair, skin and nails.
#1: Egg Yolk
While the egg yolk has a bad rep of containing high cholesterol, anybody worth their chops will actually tell you that eggs actually consistently raise HDL (the “good”) cholesterol in your body, and now we’re here to tell you that egg yolks can help you grow the mermaid hair of your dreams. A whole, cooked egg can provide up to 10 mcg of biotin, but make sure that the eggs are cooked before eating. Cooking separates a protein called dietary avidin, which is found in raw egg whites and binds to biotin. Only after cooking can the body absorb biotin in the digestive tract.
#2: Avocado
Like you need an excuse to order that avocado toast. A whole avocado contains between 2 to 6 mcg of biotin, and it also contains Vitamin E.
#3: Fatty Fish
Salmon, herring, and mackerel are excellent sources of omega-3 fatty acids, which have been linked to hair growth. Of course, you can also pop fish oil supplements too.
#4: Liver
Order that foie gras, because livers contains the highest concentration of biotin among the foods in this list. Of course, liver packs a lot of protein, which helps the body produce new hair to replace the ones that have shed.
