I’m seeing a lot of growth in the popularity of Biotin (Vitamin B7) thanks to its alleged improvements in hair, nails, and skin health. Surveys show that Biotin supplementation has increased by about 2,800% in adults since 1999.
Now, whether Biotin actually improves hair or skin health is a subject for another time. What I’m more interested in today is the claim that Biotin intake can increase testosterone levels in men.
Frankly speaking, the complete absence of Biotin in most popular testosterone boosters — like Testoprime or Testogen — leads me to believe that it's not very effective. But, what does science have to say about this? Let’s find out.
Key findings
Biotin deficiency and testosterone levels
One of the earliest connections between Biotin and testosterone was established by an animal study back in 1989. This study tested the impact of Biotin deficiency in male rats and discovered that serum testosterone levels were decreased significantly in deficient rats.
The researchers also observed a reduction in luteinizing hormone (LH) levels. Luteinizing hormones — for those uninitiated — are a key component of testosterone production, and a reduction in their levels will lower T production.
Moreover, this study also demonstrated how Biotin supplementation reversed the condition and brought testosterone production back to normal. Testosterone treatment on the other hand had no effect on restoring the reduced T levels.
While all of this does exhibit a connection between Biotin and testosterone production, there are two points keeping me doubtful.
Impact of biotin supplementation
The second landmark demonstration of the effects of Biotin on testosterone comes from a fairly recent study from 2022. The research team behind this study tested the impact of Biotin in mice in hopes of finding an alternative treatment for HRT in older hypogonadal men.
In most test subjects, testosterone levels increased in both the serum and testes after Biotin supplementation of 1.5 mg per kg body weight. Surprisingly enough, luteinizing hormone concentration remained unchanged; an observation that might help researchers determine how Biotin affects testosterone in the future.
In an effort to research this correlation further, the study also recorded the effects of Biotin on mice testes-derived cells. This showed a similar T level increase to mice supplementation — leading to the conclusion that Biotin does have potential as a treatment for age-related low T.
Other relevant benefits
In addition to increasing testosterone production in mice, Biotin also appears to be helpful in the measurement of testosterone. Without getting too technical, researchers can create a more sensitive version of testosterone tracers by attaching biotin to it. These tracers are colored substances that bind to testosterone and make it easier to determine total T concentration in clinical tests.
Admittedly, this has little to do with boosting T levels directly. But the proliferation of this reproducible and easy-to-use method can make the diagnosis of hypogonadism a lot more efficient. This will also result in more accurate treatment prescriptions — helping men escape the clutches of low T faster.
Conclusion
It’s tough for me to form a definitive conclusion on the effectiveness of Biotin in raising T levels.
Major studies on the matter display the potential of Biotin supplements. Biotin’s effectiveness is especially apparent in the recent 2022 research.
Unfortunately, these studies are also limited by their animal test subjects. Even if researchers believe that similar benefits should apply to humans, there is no way for us to confirm that yet.
With that in mind, the answer to the question, “Does biotin increase testosterone?” is still inconclusive. That is until we get more in-depth double-blind trials with human participants.