Deficiency Diseases and Good Nutrition
Biotin
Biotin is one of those crazy vitamins that your body manufactures. Thousands of tiny microorganisms are hard at work to create this essential vitamin. You also get some from your diet. There is no known toxicity and the only way to get a deficiency is if your body doesn't work correctly. Biotin-dependent multiple carboxylase deficiency syndrome is an inherited biotin deficiency. Acquired biotin deficiency has been noted in patients who have taken TPN for a number of years. The deficiency symptoms include scaly dermatitis, pallor (extreme paleness in skin), nausea, alopecia (loss of hair), vomiting, and anorexia. There is a substance called avadin in raw egg whites that bonds to biotin. In this form, biotin cannot be absorbed and you can suffer a biotin deficiency. When egg whites are cooked, avadin is rendered ineffective. You'd have to eat 24 raw egg whites a day, though, to do this, so there's not much of a chance that you could ever get a deficiency this way.
C10H16N2O3S Biotin also helps your body retrieve energy from fat, carbohydrates, and protein. It keeps your hair, skin, bone marrow, and glands growing and working correctly. Biotin is essential in the production of glycogen which is the energy source for muscles.
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Revised: 14 Sep 99