What to Take With Biotin and What to Skip.

The short answer: Most vitamins and minerals are fine to take with biotin. The NIH biotin fact sheet's warnings cover certain medicines and lab tests, not other nutrients. So what to take with biotin is really a question of overlap. Our 5,000mcg Biotin Strips already list 20 mcg of vitamin D3 and 240 mcg of folic acid per 1-strip serving. Add those rows to your other labels before buying more, and mention biotin before blood work.

Key takeaways

• Most pairings with biotin come down to arithmetic: add the rows two labels share, then compare the total with the federal limit.
• The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) caps adult folic acid from supplements and fortified foods at 1,000 mcg a day. Our strip plus our Biotin & Horsetail Hair Capsules lists 1,120 mcg.
• Our Biotin & Horsetail Hair Capsules plus our Magnesium Glycinate Capsules list 395 mg of magnesium, above the 350 mg adult limit ODS sets for supplements.
• High-dose biotin can skew certain lab results, so mention it to whoever orders your blood tests.

Before the math, a disclosure: Betterly sells every bottle we add up here, and some of our own pairings land over a federal limit. We've left those in.

What can you take with biotin?

Biotin pairs with most vitamins and minerals, and the interaction section of the ODS biotin fact sheet names medicines and lab tests, not nutrients.

According to the ODS consumer page on biotin, biotin (vitamin B7) helps your body turn food into energy, and adults need 30 mcg a day. The same page says biotin "has not been shown to cause any harm."

So the better question is what your biotin product already holds, because few are biotin alone. Take our strip. Its 5000 mcg of biotin (16,667% DV) shares the panel with 20 mcg of vitamin D3 (100% DV) and a folate line of 400 mcg DFE. Printed just under that folate figure: 240 mcg of folic acid.

Add a vitamin D or folic acid product and you're doubling a row that's already there. Our Daily Multivitamin Capsules carry biotin too, as do our Biotin & Collagen Gummies and Biotin & Horsetail Hair Capsules. One serving of each lists:

All four list folic acid and vitamin D. The strip is the leanest, so it's the simplest to pair.

Can you take biotin with vitamin D?

Biotin and vitamin D are fine together, though our 5,000mcg Biotin Strips already carry 20 mcg of vitamin D3 per strip, so count that before adding more.

The ODS vitamin D fact sheet puts the adult ceiling at 100 mcg (4,000 IU) a day, and that ceiling includes food and drink as well as pills.

Our Vitamin D3 Softgels list 50 mcg (2,000 IU) per softgel, so one of each comes to 70 mcg. Add the multivitamin's 10 mcg and you're at 80 mcg from supplements. For scale, ODS says a cup of fortified milk carries about 3 mcg.

The strip's 20 mcg already equals 100% of the Daily Value, so a second D product is optional.

Can you take biotin and folic acid together?

Biotin and folic acid can be taken together, as long as your total folic acid from supplements and fortified foods stays under the 1,000 mcg adult limit.

That limit comes from the ODS folate fact sheet. Natural food folate doesn't count toward it, but ODS says the folic acid in enriched grains and fortified breakfast cereals does.

One wrinkle on the strip's panel: its folate row leads with 400 mcg DFE, a unit that adjusts for how much of each form you absorb. The ceiling counts plain folic acid, so 240 mcg is the figure to add.

Now the sums, in folic acid per serving:

• Strip plus our multivitamin: 640 mcg
• Strip plus our 19mg Iron & Folate Strips: 480 mcg
• Strip, iron strip and multivitamin: 880 mcg
• Strip plus our Biotin & Horsetail Hair Capsules: 1,120 mcg

Only the last pairing crosses 1,000 mcg on supplements alone. The capsules cross it with our multi or our iron strip as well, since their 880 mcg leaves just 120 mcg of room. The three-product stack stays under, but with only 120 mcg to spare for enriched bread and cereal.

From our shop: 5,000mcg Biotin Strips — 30 strips, each listing 5000 mcg of biotin, 20 mcg of vitamin D3 and 240 mcg of folic acid with no minerals, so there's less to add up next to your other supplements.

Can you take biotin with magnesium?

Yes, biotin and magnesium can go together, and our 5,000mcg Biotin Strips list no magnesium.

The check matters when biotin comes inside a bigger formula. The ODS magnesium fact sheet puts the adult upper limit at 350 mg a day, counting only magnesium from supplements and medicines.

Our Magnesium Glycinate Capsules list 275 mg of magnesium per 3-capsule serving. With the strip, that stays at 275 mg. Add our multivitamin's 50 mg and you land at 325 mg, still inside the limit.

Swap the strip for our Biotin & Horsetail Hair Capsules, though, and the math turns. Their 120 mg plus the glycinate's 275 mg makes 395 mg, 45 mg past the ceiling. ODS says high intakes from supplements can cause diarrhea, nausea and cramping.

Can you take biotin with iron or zinc?

Yes. Our 5,000mcg Biotin Strips list neither iron nor zinc, so the strip adds nothing to either total.

Our 19mg Iron & Folate Strips list 19 mg of iron and 240 mcg of folic acid per strip, which is why they appear in the folic acid sums above. Our hair capsules already list 14.5 mg of iron per 2-capsule serving, so ask your pharmacist before adding separate iron to those.

Zinc turns up in most of our biotin formats, just not the strip. Per serving, the gummies list 2.7 mg, the capsules 7 mg and the multivitamin 15 mg. The ODS zinc fact sheet sets the adult upper limit at 40 mg a day, and unlike magnesium's, that count includes food.

Even all three together, which we'd steer you away from for the biotin and folic acid reasons above, list 24.7 mg of zinc (2.7 + 7 + 15). That leaves 15.3 mg for everything you eat.

What should you not take with biotin?

Skip a second high-dose biotin product, and skip any stack that pushes folic acid past 1,000 mcg; those overlaps cause more trouble than any single nutrient does.

Doubling biotin is the common slip. Our strip plus our gummies would come to 11,000 mcg a day, against the 30 mcg adults need. ODS hasn't linked biotin to harm, but the second product buys you nothing the first didn't.

Prescription medicine is a question for your prescriber or pharmacist. The ODS biotin sheet says some medicines can lower biotin levels, and the folate sheet names several that interact with folic acid.

Collagen is the easy one. Our Collagen Peptides Powder (Unflavored) holds 20 g of hydrolyzed collagen peptides per 1-scoop (20 g) serving, and none of its rows appear on the strip's panel. Our biotin vs collagen comparison covers what each one does.

Six of the eight pairings fit. The two to skip both repeat a full dose of biotin, and the capsules also carry enough folic acid to cross the limit. The multivitamin raises biotin too, but by 300 mcg rather than a second 5,000-plus.

How do you take biotin with other supplements, per the label?

Follow each label on its own terms: our 5,000mcg Biotin Strips call for one strip on the tongue daily, and every partner product keeps its own directions.

The strip's wording is short: "Place 1 oral strip on the tongue daily and allow it to dissolve." It mentions neither food nor a time of day. Of the partners here, only the multivitamin sets a clock, asking for two capsules "in the morning with a meal." The magnesium label asks for three capsules once daily, and the D3 label asks adults for one softgel daily.

So breakfast is the one moment that fits every label in this guide. For biotin, that's purely convenience: neither our strip's label nor the ODS biotin sheet ties biotin to food. Vitamin D is another story, as the next section explains.

Every one of these labels also says "Do not exceed recommended dose," and stacking doesn't change that.

Before any blood test, tell the person ordering it that you take biotin. ODS warns that taking more biotin than recommended may cause false results on some lab tests, thyroid hormone tests among them. Our 5,000 mcg biotin explainer covers that conversation in more depth.

From our shop: Daily Multivitamin Capsules — its 2-capsule serving lists 300 mcg of biotin, 400 mcg of folic acid and 10 mcg of vitamin D, so for some people this one bottle replaces a separate biotin product rather than joining it.

What should you take with biotin for absorption?

You don't need to take anything with biotin for absorption: neither the ODS biotin fact sheet nor any of our biotin labels names a helper nutrient.

It's a common question, but we found no federal basis for a companion nutrient.

Vitamin D is the row where food does come up. The ODS vitamin D sheet explains that vitamin D dissolves in fat, so it's absorbed best with a meal or snack that has some fat in it. That covers the D3 in the strip and in our softgels, though neither label mentions food.

A second product is the other thing you can often skip. If your multivitamin has a biotin row, a biotin supplement on top adds amount, not coverage: our multi's 300 mcg already clears the 30 mcg adult figure. Our guide on whether a hair formula belongs next to a multivitamin weighs that choice, food sources and the evidence included.

Still want a dedicated biotin product? The hair, skin and nails collection lists our strip, gummies and capsules together, full panels included.

Who should check with a healthcare provider first?

Talk to a doctor or pharmacist before stacking biotin with other supplements if you're pregnant or nursing, under 18, on medication, facing surgery or managing a health condition.

The partner products in this guide add reasons of their own:

• Adding iron. Our 19mg Iron & Folate Strips and hair capsules both warn that accidental overdose of iron-containing products is a leading cause of fatal poisoning in children under 6. Ask a provider whether you need more iron, and store it out of reach.
• Under 18. The Biotin & Horsetail Hair Capsules say "For adults only." For teens, ODS keeps the 350 mg magnesium cap from supplements but lowers folic acid's to 800 mcg for ages 14 to 18. Our strip, iron strip and multivitamin together (880 mcg) would pass that.
• Taking medicine of any kind. Those ODS interaction lists are examples, not full lists, so have a pharmacist check every bottle against your prescriptions.
• Surgery on the calendar. Hand your surgical team the full supplement list at the pre-op visit, the biotin strip included.
• Pregnant, nursing or could become pregnant. ODS advises 400 mcg of folic acid a day for anyone who could become pregnant. The strip's 240 mcg doesn't reach that, so let your provider choose the product.

FAQ: what to take with biotin

Can you take biotin and vitamin B12 together?

Yes, biotin and vitamin B12 can go together, and several of our formulas already combine them. Per serving, our Biotin & Collagen Gummies list 8 mcg of B12, our Biotin & Horsetail Hair Capsules 12 mcg and our Daily Multivitamin Capsules 27 mcg. Our strip lists none. The pairing to watch is folic acid with B12. The ODS folate sheet explains that when folic acid runs high, low B12 can go unnoticed, because the folate covers some of its signs.

Does vitamin B5 block biotin absorption?

Not according to the federal sources we checked: the ODS biotin fact sheet doesn't list pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) among biotin's interactions. The idea circulates online, but we couldn't trace it to ODS. Plenty of formulas combine the two. Our Biotin & Collagen Gummies list 10 mg of pantothenic acid per 2-gummy serving, and our Biotin & Horsetail Hair Capsules list 30 mg per 2-capsule serving. Our strip lists none.

Can you take biotin with a B-complex?

Yes, but read the B-complex label first, because it may already contain biotin. The ODS biotin fact sheet names B-complex supplements as one place biotin is sold, and the folate sheet says the same of folate. Stacked on our 5,000mcg Biotin Strips, a B-complex adds a second biotin source and more folic acid on top of the strip's 240 mcg. If its folic acid row reads 760 mcg or more, the pair reaches the 1,000 mcg adult limit.

Can you take biotin and vitamin E together?

Yes, biotin and vitamin E can share a routine, and our two strips don't overlap. Each of our Collagen & Vitamin E Strips holds 6 mg of vitamin E (40% DV) plus 100 mg of collagen peptide. Our 5,000mcg Biotin Strips hold only biotin, vitamin D3 and folate. Both labels give the same direction: one strip on the tongue daily, left to dissolve.

Sources

• Biotin: Fact Sheet for Consumers, NIH Office of Dietary Supplements
• Folate: Fact Sheet for Consumers, NIH Office of Dietary Supplements
• Vitamin D: Fact Sheet for Consumers, NIH Office of Dietary Supplements
• Magnesium: Fact Sheet for Consumers, NIH Office of Dietary Supplements
• Zinc: Fact Sheet for Consumers, NIH Office of Dietary Supplements

If this left you looking for somewhere to start, read biotin strips with vitamin D3 and folate — its amounts per serving are listed on the page. For the practical questions this raises, how dosing, sourcing and subscriptions work is answered in one place.