Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)
Vitamins
It serves to draw energy from fats and proteins, and to recycle other vitamins.
Destroyed by light: that is why milk bottles are opaque. It colors urine bright yellow when there is more than needed.
Effects and benefits
The yellow vitamin that glows under UV. It helps draw energy from fats and proteins, maintains skin, mucous membranes and vision, and activates other vitamins.
Riboflavin comes from ribose and flavus, yellow: it is also a coloring, authorized as E101. It forms two coenzymes, FAD and FMN, at the heart of cellular respiration; without it, B6 and B3 cannot be activated.
It contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism, to the maintenance of normal mucous membranes, skin and vision, to normal iron metabolism, to normal red blood cell formation, to the protection of cells from oxidative stress and to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue (Regulation 432/2012).
By sex and age: EFSA sets the reference intake at 1.6 mg a day for an adult, 1.9 during pregnancy and 2 during breastfeeding (EFSA, 2017).
In one trial, 400 mg a day, a supplement dose, at least halved the frequency of migraines in nearly six participants out of ten, against 15% on placebo (Schoenen et al., 1998).
Sources: EU Regulation 432/2012 · EFSA, 2017 · Schoenen et al., Neurology, 1998
Where to find it (11)
- Almond
- Black soybean
- Button mushroom
- Nutritional yeast
- Oyster mushrooms
- Quinoa
- Sesame seeds
- Shiitake
- Soybeans / edamame
- Spinach
- Sunflower seeds