Lots of Biotonin needed sometimes (excess protein, etc.) - Masterjohn Jan 2023


Biotonin = Vitamin B7


High-dose biotin is used for treatment of diabetes, disorders of the hair, skin, and nails, multiple sclerosis, and more. Are the high doses necessary?

Chris Masterjohn, PhD   Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor and this is not medical advice.

The use of high-dose biotin supplements has increased almost 30-fold over the last twenty years for such problems as diabetes, smell and taste disorders, disorders of the hair, skin, and nails, and multiple sclerosis. But does anyone actually need them?

This article covers the safety and efficacy of high-dose biotin for all the conditions documented in the literature, its potential anti-fertility effects, and how and when to balance it with other vitamins.

In High Protein? You Need More Biotin, I made the case that the 30 micrograms used by the FDA as a Daily Value and set by the National Academy of Medicine as an Adequate Intake, is inadequate for nearly everyone. Most people, I argued, require between 150 and 300 micrograms per day, with the particular amount required dependent on how much protein they eat. Since the average biotin intake is likely in the area of 30-70 micrograms per day, most people need more biotin.

This suggests that there would be widespread benefit to improving biotin intake from food or from supplementing with between 100 and 250 micrograms per day.

Yet milligram levels are used for treatment of diabetes, smell and taste disorders, disorders of the hair, skin, and nails, and multiple sclerosis (MS). In fact, the doses used for MS are in the range of 100 to 300 milligrams, up to 1000 times more than I believe necessary for people on high-protein diets and 10,000 times the Daily Value.

In Biotin Causes a Multitude of False Lab Tests, I described how high-dose biotin supplements — those providing between one and three hundred milligrams per day — can cause wide-ranging errors in lab tests with the potential to mask recent heart attacks, pregnancies, or allergies; to misdiagnose thyroid conditions; to give false signals about the presence or progression of tumors; to falsely raise vitamin D, B12, and folate levels; to falsely alter many hormone levels; to generate false positives for HIV and hepatitis; and to lead to unnecessary surgery and possibly even death as a result of diagnostic errors.

This can be solved by stopping biotin supplementation for four days before most lab tests, and for seven days before tests for thyroid-related antibodies.

However, it should give one pause before using high doses of biotin. There is no clearly established toxicity of biotin, but that does not mean there are no adverse effects at any dose. We at least know that using it can cause diagnostic errors if supplementation around lab tests is not carefully managed. Therefore, we should at least ask the question:
When is it better to use a high dose than a low dose, and when is it necessary to use the high dose?

Biotonin sections behind a $5/month paywall

  • How Do You Show a High Dose Is Necessary?
  • Biotin-Responsive Genetic Disorders
  • The Discovery of Biotin-Responsive Genetic Disorders
  • The Discovery of Multiple Carboxylase Deficiency
  • Isolated Deficiencies of Other Biotin Carboxylases
  • The Outlier: Biotin Treatment of a Thiamin Transporter Defect
  • What Dose of Biotin is Needed for Genetic Disorders?
  • Higher Doses Work Faster
  • Many Patients Need At Least 10 Milligrams
  • his minimal requirement was close to the 10 milligram dose.
  • 5 Milligrams Can Be Tragically Inadequate
  • Different Patients Require Different Doses
  • Massive Doses Rescue “Non-Responsive” Lethal Mutations
  • Are There Any Biotin Non-Responsive Disorders?
  • Dose Conclusions For Genetic Disorders
  • Are These Genetic Disorders “Rare”?
  • Does High-Dose Biotin Have “Pharmacological” Effects?
  • High-Dose Biotin for Loss of Taste
  • High-Dose Biotin for Brittle Nails
  • Biotin and Blood Sugar
  • High-Dose Biotin For Multiple Sclerosis
  • MS and Many Other Neurological Problems The Potential Anti-Fertility Effect of Massive Biotin Doses
  • Do We Need to Balance Biotin With Other Vitamins?

19+ VitaminDWiki pages with MASTERJOHN in title

This list is automatically updated

Items found: 19
Title Modified
Lots of Biotonin needed sometimes (excess protein, etc.) - Masterjohn Jan 2023 20 Jan, 2023
Real Anthony Fauci - book synopsis by Masterjohn Dec 3, 2021 14 May, 2022
PhD working at VAERS on problems with vacc system - Masterjohn interview and transcript- Dec 27, 2021 27 Dec, 2021
COVID natural Immunity is most likely better than vaccination immunity- literature review by Masterjohn - Oct 2021 24 Oct, 2021
High-dose Omega-3 fought COVID in 2 hospital trials (6x reduction in ICU, reduced time) – Masterjohn Oct 2021 14 Oct, 2021
Vitamin D and COVID, review of evidence, loading dose if less than 50 ng - Masterjohn Sept 2021 05 Sep, 2021
The Evolution of Diverse Vitamin D Requirements – Masterjohn video Aug 2016 18 Jan, 2017
Vitamin D is good, but must balance Vitamins A and K2 to prevent Calcification – Masterjohn Aug 2014 31 Dec, 2014
Interactions of Vitamins D, A, and K, should measure calcitriol, calcification – Masterjohn Aug 2013 28 Nov, 2014
Hypothesis – low vitamin D level may indicate Calcium deficiency – Masterjohn II Dec 2013 14 Jan, 2014
Synergism between Vitamin D, Vitamin K-2, and Vitamin A: Masterjohn – Sept 2013 03 Oct, 2013
Masterjohn on relationships between Vitamin A D and K – Dec 2010 03 Oct, 2013
Cholesterol, Vitamins D3 and K2, heart disease, sulfates, LDL, – Masterjohn Interview Jan 2013 30 Sep, 2013
Price and Masterjohn on Vitamin A Vitamin D and Vitamin K – 2010 26 Oct, 2012
Synergism between vitamin A and vitamin D – Masterjohn June 2010 26 Oct, 2012
Response by Masterjohn on vitamin A thwarting vitamin D – Mar 2010 26 Oct, 2012
Masterjohn on Tufts and vitamin A D and K April 2009 31 Oct, 2011
Latitude may not be too associated with vitamin D – Masterjohn Dec 2010 13 Mar, 2011
Vitamin D and latitude Masterjohn - Dec 2010 24 Dec, 2010


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