Don’t be in (Vitamin B) two minds... this nutrient is both energising and nutrifying
How much Vitamin B2 do we need?
All B vitamins are water-soluble nutrients. It’s an essential nutrient which means each day we need to consume multiple B2-rich food sources because our body cannot produce it on its own.
You can have too much of a good thing, and you are not recommended to exceed 40mg of Vitamin B2. However, the body can only absorb 27mg of vitamin B2 at any one time. On most occasions, especially when a deficiency isn’t present, 1.4mg/day is more than enough for an adult.
Adults over the age of 19 years are recommended to consume 1.4mg of Riboflavin, now this seems a rather arbitrary amount when we have no reference of how much vitamin B2 can be found in food. These references can be found below.
Food sources of Vitamin B2
To put the figures into perspective, here are some typical foods you might consume each day and how much vitamin B2 they contain:
- Scrambled egg- 0.2mg
- 30 grams of almonds- 0.3mg
- 30 grams of spinach- 0.1mg
- Wholemeal bread- 0.1mg
- Brown rice- 0mg
- White rice- 0.1mg
- A large apple- 0.1mg
Below you can see some of your heavy-weight foods, packing the biggest punch of vitamin B2
- Beef – 0.9mg/100 grams
- Tofu with B2 fortification- 0.4mg/100 grams
- Milk- 0.2mg/100 grams
- Mushrooms- 0.5mg/100 grams
Deficiency of Vitamin B2
Vitamin B2 deficiency is rare if people are eating a well-balanced diet. However, if you are a person has many food intolerance/allergies or is someone who takes a class of medication called Anticholinergic Drugs, then this may inhibit Vitamin B2 uptake from the gut. This form of medication is used to treat gastrointestinal spasms, asthma, depression, and motion sickness. Other at-risk groups may include people with thyroid disorders, women who are pregnant or breastfeeding and the elderly.
Common symptoms of Vitamin B2 deficiency include:
- Swelling in the mouth
- Anaemia
- Itchy, flaky skin
- Skin that is prone to rashes
- Hair loss
- Swelling of the tongue
- Cracked lips
Health benefits of Vitamin B2
Vitamin B2 has many roles within the body. Vitamin B2 is a helping hand to many activities, reactions and processes throughout the body. An easy way to remember the role of Vitamin B2 is, whatever the process, you probably need vitamin B2, too! Below you can read about how Vitamin B2 can support and maintain your well-being:
- Riboflavin contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism
- Riboflavin contributes to normal functioning of the nervous system
- Riboflavin contributes to the maintenance of normal mucous membranes
- Riboflavin contributes to the maintenance of normal red blood cells
- Riboflavin contributes to the maintenance of normal skin
- Riboflavin contributes to the maintenance of normal vision
- Riboflavin contributes to the normal metabolism of iron
- Riboflavin contributes to the protection of cells from oxidative stress
- Riboflavin contributes to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue
- Riboflavin contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism
Get to know your Vitamin ABCs and follow the We are Nutrified’s blogs for your full Vitamin Alphabet.
References
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Riboflavin-HealthProfessional/
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