VITAMIN B2

Riboflavin or vitamin B2 is a member of the group of vitamins referred to as vitamin B complex, which is a water-soluble vitamin. It is essential to the formation of two major coenzymes, flavin mononucleotide and flavin adenine dinucleotide. These coenzymes are involved in energy metabolism, cellular respiration, and antibody production, as well as normal growth and development. The coenzymes are also required for the metabolism of niacin, vitamin B6, and folate.

Burning fat requires almost twice as much riboflavin as burning carbohydrates. You use riboflavin to burn anything for energy, and you need all the other Vitamin B’s to burn fat. But none of the other Vitamin B’s stand out as so clearly related to fat-burning as riboflavin. This doesn't mean that extra riboflavin will help you lose weight. But it does mean that when you lose weight you need more riboflavin.

Functions:
- It helps you absorb and utilize iron, which prevents anemia.
- It prevents oxidative stress. It's the wear and tear on our tissues that occurs with age. It contributes to a lot of diseases, and a lot of diseases make it happen more. So does exposure to toxins like cigarette smoke and alcohol.
- It keeps the eyes healthy by preventing cataracts.
- It prevents preeclampsia. This is a dangerous condition in pregnancy involving high blood pressure and swelling. About 5% of women with preeclampsia wind up with eclampsia, which causes seizures, hemorrhage, and in the worst cases death.
- It lowers homocysteine, which may protect against heart disease and cancer.
- It supports a process called methylation, which contributes to mental and physical health.
- It helps keep blood pressure under control.
- It helps you feel energetic and feel good when you exercise.
- In people who suffer from migraines, high doses of riboflavin make the migraines shorter and make them happen less often.

Riboflavin deficiency is rare as it is ubiquitous in a variety of food choices. However, individuals following a diet scarce in milk and meat, which are one of the best sources of riboflavin may be prone to its deficiency.
Common features of riboflavin deficiency are:
- Lips become red, dry, fissured, or ulcerated.
- Angular cheilitis is often a feature.
- The tongue gets dry, atrophic, magenta red, or sometimes blackish.
- Seborrheic dermatitis may be present on the face.
- The scrotum or vulva may get hyper-pigmented, resembling zinc deficiency.
- Conjunctivitis
- Sore throat
- Fatigue

Causes of deficiency:
- Low stomach acid hurts protein digestion, which is needed to release riboflavin from the proteins in food.
- Alcohol hurts your ability to absorb and use riboflavin. Alcoholics often have low intake too.
- Low thyroid or adrenal hormones hurt your ability to activate riboflavin and cause you to lose more in your pee.
- Poor magnesium status acts just like low thyroid and adrenal hormones.
- Diabetes, stress, trauma, and kidney dialysis (a treatment for people with poor kidney function) cause you to lose riboflavin in your pee.

Requirements:
The RDA is the recommended dietary allowance, the official recommendation for how much we need in a day. The RDA is 1.3 milligrams per day (mg/d) for men and 1.1 for women.
However, our true needs are probably closer to 2-5 mg/d.

Sources:
Liver
Organ meat
Red meat
Cheese
Eggs
Salmon
Milk

Supplementation:
- Free riboflavin, plain old normal cheap riboflavin, is the first form.
- Riboflavin 5'-phosphate is the other form. It's often called FMN or "activated" or "coenzymated" riboflavin.
There is NO EVIDENCE that the second form is EVER better than the first! Why? Because you cannot absorb it until you convert it into the cheap stuff.