Biotin goes by another name in nutrition science: vitamin B7. It plays a quiet role in how your body turns food into energy, and it shows up again and again in conversations about strong hair, clear skin, and healthy nails. Most people assume a supplement is the only way to get enough, but plenty of everyday foods carry real amounts of it.
This list ranks the vitamin B7 foods worth building meals around, explains why a cooked egg beats a raw one, and points out who tends to come up short even when their diet looks reasonably balanced. It also covers where a daily oral strip fits in, for the days when a full plate of biotin rich food just doesn't happen.
Why Vitamin B7 Foods Deserve a Spot on Your Plate
Vitamin B7 is a water soluble nutrient, which means your body doesn't store large reserves of it the way it stores vitamin A or vitamin D. Whatever isn't used gets flushed out, so a steady supply from food matters more than people realize. Gut bacteria produce a small amount on their own, but that alone usually isn't enough to cover daily needs.
Biotin works behind the scenes in several metabolic processes. It helps convert the food you eat, whether that's carbohydrates, fats, or protein, into usable energy. That's part of why it gets tied to hair, skin, and nail health so often, since those tissues turn over quickly and depend on a steady stream of energy and the right building blocks.
Most healthy adults who eat a varied diet get enough vitamin B7 without thinking about it. But varied is the key word. Restrictive eating patterns, food aversions, and certain diet trends can quietly cut out several of the richest sources at once, and that's where gaps start to show up. Leaning on real food first, rather than jumping straight to a pill, tends to be the more sustainable long term habit anyway.
The Best Vitamin B7 Foods, Ranked
Here's how the strongest vitamin B7 foods stack up, starting with the most concentrated sources and working down to the steady, easy additions.
- Eggs, cooked: A whole cooked egg is one of the most concentrated everyday sources of biotin. The yolk carries nearly all of it, so a plain egg white omelet won't get you far. Scrambled, boiled, or baked all work, as long as the egg is fully cooked through.
- Sunflower seeds: A small handful makes a solid contribution toward daily biotin needs. They travel well too, which makes them an easy add to a desk drawer or gym bag for a mid afternoon snack.
- Almonds: Almonds bring biotin along with healthy fats and a bit of protein, so they hold you over between meals. Raw, roasted, or as almond butter spread on toast, the biotin content stays fairly consistent.
- Mushrooms: Cooked mushrooms, especially varieties like portobello and cremini, carry a meaningful amount of biotin for a low calorie food. Sauteed and folded into eggs or a stir fry, they're an easy way to stack two biotin sources in one dish.
- Salmon: Salmon delivers biotin alongside omega 3 fats, making it one of the more nutrient dense options on this list. A baked or grilled fillet a couple of times a week adds up over a month.
- Sweet potatoes: This root vegetable is one of the better plant based sources of biotin, and it's easy to roast a batch at the start of the week for grain bowls, wedges, or a quick side.
- Avocado: Avocado adds biotin along with fiber and monounsaturated fat, which makes it a natural fit for anyone trying to eat more biotin rich food without reaching for animal products. Half an avocado on toast or blended into a smoothie both count.
- Spinach: Cooked spinach concentrates its nutrients as it wilts down, so a cup of cooked spinach carries more biotin than the same volume raw. Stir it into eggs, soup, or pasta for an easy boost.
- Bananas: Bananas contribute a smaller but steady amount of biotin, and their convenience means they're one of the easiest foods on this list to eat consistently, no prep required.
- Dairy, like cheese and plain yogurt: Cheese and yogurt both carry biotin, along with protein and calcium. Plain yogurt with fruit or a slice of cheese on whole grain crackers are simple ways to work dairy sources into a day without much planning.
Eggs and the Raw Egg Problem
Eggs earn the top spot on this list, but only when they're cooked. Raw egg whites contain a protein called avidin, and avidin binds tightly to biotin in the digestive tract. Once bound, the biotin can't be absorbed, so a raw egg white largely cancels out its own benefit.
Cooking denatures avidin and breaks that bond, which is why a scrambled or hard boiled egg behaves so differently from a raw one. This matters more than it sounds like it should, because raw eggs still show up in familiar recipes. Homemade Caesar dressing, some protein shake recipes, and raw cookie dough are common culprits.
Anyone who regularly drinks a protein shake with a raw egg cracked into it, or who eats raw egg whites for the protein content, should know that habit works against biotin intake rather than for it. Cooked eggs keep the same protein and add usable biotin on top, so there's no real downside to skipping the raw version.
Who Tends to Fall Short on Vitamin B7 Foods
Not everyone runs the same risk of falling short on biotin. A few patterns show up again and again.
Restrictive dieters. Anyone cutting out entire food groups, whether that's eggs, dairy, or a broad swath of animal products without a deliberate plan to replace them, often loses several of the richest biotin sources at once. The gap isn't always obvious, since a shortfall tends to build up gradually rather than all at once.
People on very low fat diets. Several of the foods on this list, salmon, avocado, nuts, and seeds, are naturally higher in fat. A diet built around cutting fat as low as possible tends to push these foods out first, even though they're some of the better biotin sources available. Someone counting fat grams closely may skip an avocado or a handful of almonds without realizing what else they're giving up.
Fitness focused raw egg white drinkers. This one is specific but common. Anyone leaning on raw egg whites for a lean protein boost, whether blended into a shake or eaten straight, works against their own biotin intake for the reasons covered above. Switching to cooked egg whites solves the problem without giving up the protein.
Building a Day of Vitamin B7 Foods
A realistic day might start with two eggs, scrambled and folded with spinach and mushrooms, plus a slice of whole grain toast. Lunch could be a grain bowl built around sweet potato, avocado, and a piece of salmon left over from the night before. A handful of almonds or sunflower seeds covers the mid afternoon slot, and dinner might bring salmon back into rotation with a side of roasted vegetables. A banana or a small container of plain yogurt rounds things out.
None of this requires special ingredients or a strict meal plan. It just means keeping a few biotin rich staples on hand and rotating through them instead of defaulting to the same three meals every week.
If you're already paying attention to vitamin B7 foods, it's worth glancing at vitamin B12 too. The two get grouped together constantly in nutrition conversations, and both play a role in energy metabolism, so a gap in one often travels with a gap in the other. Holy Strips also makes a vitamin B12 strip for exactly that reason.
When Food Alone Isn't Enough
Even a well planned week doesn't always go as planned. Travel, busy schedules, a stretch of eating out, or simply not loving half the foods on this list can leave a real gap in biotin intake, especially for anyone who already fits one of the higher risk patterns above.
This is where a daily backup helps more than a strict rulebook. Holy Strips makes oral strips that dissolve on the tongue, no water needed, using sublingual delivery that absorbs roughly five times faster than a pill or gummy. That speed matters on a day when food alone didn't quite cover it.
The Holy Strips Biotin Oral Strips are vegan, skip the fillers and added sugar found in a lot of gummy supplements, and come in minimal packaging. None of that replaces a plate of real food, but it closes the gap on the days when a plate of real food just doesn't happen.
Frequently Asked Questions
What foods are highest in vitamin B7?
Cooked eggs, sunflower seeds, almonds, and mushrooms tend to rank among the richest everyday sources, with salmon, sweet potatoes, and avocado close behind.
Why does cooking matter for eggs and biotin?
Raw egg whites contain avidin, a protein that binds biotin and blocks the body from absorbing it. Cooking breaks down avidin, so a cooked egg delivers its biotin content while a raw one largely doesn't.
Can a low fat diet cause a biotin gap?
It can contribute to one. Several strong biotin sources, including salmon, avocado, nuts, and seeds, are naturally higher in fat, so cutting fat aggressively often means cutting these foods too.
Is biotin the same as vitamin B7?
Yes. Biotin is the common name, and vitamin B7 is the same nutrient's technical name, and both terms get used interchangeably in nutrition science.
How does an oral strip compare to a biotin gummy or pill?
An oral strip dissolves on the tongue with no water needed. Sublingual delivery like this absorbs roughly five times faster than a pill or gummy that has to work through digestion first.
Who is most likely to fall short on vitamin B7 foods?
Restrictive dieters, people on very low fat diets, and anyone relying heavily on raw egg whites for protein are the groups most likely to come up short, even with an otherwise reasonable diet.
The Bottom Line
Vitamin B7 foods aren't exotic or hard to find. Eggs, nuts, seeds, salmon, sweet potatoes, avocado, mushrooms, spinach, bananas, and dairy all carry real amounts of biotin, and most of them already show up on a normal grocery list. The habits that create gaps, like cutting fat too aggressively, skipping whole food groups, or leaning on raw egg whites, are worth watching for.
Cooking eggs fully instead of eating them raw is a small change with an outsized effect on how much biotin actually gets absorbed. And on the days when a full plate of these foods just doesn't come together, a daily strip is a straightforward way to cover the gap without adding another pill to swallow.
Food comes first, and a strip catches you on the days it doesn't.
See the Holy Strips Biotin Strip.