The human body needs the help of numerous different vitamin and minerals to maintain health and properly function.
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), is one such vitamin.
As a student at Edison Institute, a holistic nutrition diploma program online, vitamin B2 is one of the vitamins you’ll learn in depth about.
For those pursuing a career in holistic nutrition, vitamin B2 is certainly something you’ll want to keep on your radar.
From skin health to acne control, the health benefits of vitamin B2 are virtually endless.
This is part of an ongoing series on the various different essential vitamins for the human body.
So far we’ve looked at:
Stay tuned for more vitamin profiles.
In the meantime, keep reading for a run down of some important facts surrounding vitamin B2 and why it’s so good for you.
What Is Vitamin B2?
Vitamin B2, or riboflavin, is a water-soluble vitamin. widely found in both plant and animal-based foods alike, such as milk, eggs, nuts, green vegetables, and enriched flower.
Water soluble vitamins are ones that quickly dissolve into your bloodstream and absorbed by your tissues for immediate use but not stored in the body.
Vitamin B2 plays an important role in a wide variety of your bodily processes, such as:
- Healthy skin development
- Digestive tract lining
- Production of red blood cells
- Maintenance of healthy brain function
- To metabolize sugar
- A natural acne management solution
- Muscle cramp relief
- And much more
What Is Vitamin B2 Good For?
As you can see, vitamin B2 provides your body with numerous great benefits.
Let’s take a closer look at some of them.
1. It Can Help Relieve Migraines
Research continuously points to vitamin B2 as a method of migraine management.
If you’ve ever been unfortunate enough to experience a migraine, you know just how unpleasant they can be.
Migraines are a severe type of headache believed to be brought on by changes in your brainstem or imbalances in your brain chemicals.
Vitamin B2 provides your body with improved respiration and energy production within your brain cells in order to overcome these imbalances and improve migraine symptoms.
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2. It Has Anti Cancer Properties
Not only can vitamin B2 help relieve those pesky migraines, it might also be helpful in preventing certain types of cancer.
Evidence suggests that vitamin B2 can offer your cellular DNA protection against cancer causing agents, such as cigarette smoke.
Cancer occurs due to an abnormality in cell production that causes them to reproduce excessively.
Researchers believe that vitamin B2 might be able to stabilize the structure of cellular DNA and therefore protect against certain cancers, such as esophageal cancer and cervical cancer.
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3. It Can Help Manage Cataracts
Some side effects of aging are pretty hard to avoid.
Age related vision problems offer a compelling case and point.
Cataracts are a common aging relating condition which causes the lens in your eyes to cloud over and subsequently reduce vision.
Research suggests that people with high levels of vitamin B2 in their diets might be at a lower risk for developing cataracts.
One of the reasons for this is vitamin B2’s help in the synthesis of niacin, another B vitamin which helps protect against cataract risk.
Similarly, vitamin B2 drops are sometimes used with UV light therapy to treat degenerative eye disorders, such as keratoconus.
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4. It Regulates Homocysteine Levels
Homocysteine is a nonessential amino acid found in your blood.
In nutritional terms, “essential” means it’s something your body can’t produce on its own.
Vitamin B2, for example, is essential, but homocysteine is not, because your body makes it on its own.
At high enough levels, homocysteine is associated with numerous adverse health conditions, such as stroke, dementia, and heart attacks.
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Getting enough vitamin B2 has been shown to help reduce homocysteine levels and its associated side effects.
It may also help to reduce your risk of developing certain neurocognitive disorders, such as dementia and Parkinson’s disease.
5. It Can Improve Sleep
No one likes getting a bad night’s sleep.
Sleep is crucial for our bodies to rest and heal injuries.
In combination with vitamin B1, vitamin B2 has been shown to help your body produce melatonin, the hormone that makes you sleepy.
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What Foods Are High In Vitamin B2?
Now that you’ve learned all about the health benefits of vitamin B2, you might be wondering how to fit more of it in your diet.
Fortunately, vitamin B2 isn’t hard to find.
A wide range of common foods contain significant amounts of vitamin B2.
These include:
- Salmon
- Asparagus
- Ground beef
- Roasted chicken
- Cooked spinach
- Skim milk
- Eggs
- Almonds
- Fortified cereals and grains
Cooking the food won’t destroy its vitamin B2 content, so these foods can all be baked, boiled and roasted.
Although it’s not sensitive to cooking, vitamin B2 will begin to break down when exposed to light.
Therefore, all food products containing vitamin B2 should be stored in opaque containers.
What Happens If You Are Low In Vitamin B2?
Since it’s so easy to find in everyday foods, significant vitamin B2 deficiencies are thankfully rare.
Some conditions, such as severe malnutrition or impaired vitamin absorption, raise your risk of developing a vitamin B2 deficiency.
Not getting enough vitamin B2 may lead to a variety of side effects and complications, such as:
- Fatigue
- Stunted growth
- Digestive issues
- Cracks and sores on the mouth
- Swollen, magenta colored tongue
- Eye fatigue
- Throat swelling and soreness
- Light sensitivity
If you are feeling the above symptoms, and missing vitamin B2 in your diet, it’s possible you are deficient.
Can Too Much Vitamin B2 Be Harmful?
Once vitamin B2 enters your body, most of it becomes quickly absorbed into your intestines.
It is a water soluble vitamin so it’s not stored in your body.
Instead, whatever isn’t needed is eliminated in the urine.
As a result, it’s very difficult to overdose on vitamin B2 through your diet.
However, taking too many vitamin B2 supplements can still cause adverse reactions, such as:
- Itchiness
- Diarrhea
- Stomach cramps
- Numbness
- Light sensitivity
- Blurriness
- Burning sensation on skin
Want To Become A Holistic Nutritionist? Contact Edison Today.
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