Vitamin B2, or riboflavin, is an essential vitamin for development and overall health. The body primarily uses riboflavin to break down proteins, carbohydrates and fats as well as utilize oxygen, but it is also necessary for skin health. Riboflavin is prominent in the North American diet. In areas where there is no starvation, deficiency is rare. However, there are factors that may result in the requirement of more than normative riboflavin intake. Normal adult women require 1.1 mg per day, while men require 1.7 mg per day of riboflavin.
Skin Benefits
Riboflavin regulates cell production and maintenance, including skin cells. It also boosts immunity, ensuring that infections, damage and other inflictions do not adversely affect skin for sustained periods. Another means of maintaining overall health, including in the skin, is by acting as an antioxidant. Finally, riboflavin acts as a co-factor to chemical activities involving niacin and pyridoxine, two vitamins that are necessary for skin health. Within riboflavin, neither niacin nor pyridoxine will be able to perform their essential functions in the body.
Effects from Deficiency
Given that riboflavin is necessary for skin health, deficiencies in it can result in various skin ailments. The most obvious condition resulting from a riboflavin deficiency is itching and peeling skin, particularly on the nose and scrotum. However, other indications of a riboflavin deficiency include mouth sores, tongue pain, itching or burning eyes and light sensitivity.
Excessive consumption of riboflavin may cause strong urine that's deep in color. However, vitamin B2 is water soluble and excretes with urine. Subsequently, it requires continual ingestion to maintain proper levels.
Considerations
Although riboflavin appears so prevalently in the human diet, deficiencies are rare. Nonetheless, they do occur and usually as a result of lifestyle influences and health difficulties. Behaviors that could result in a riboflavin deficiency include alcoholism, stress and drug use. Health difficulties that can result in deficiencies of vitamin B2 include sustained fever or diarrhea, burns and other injuries, thyroid disorders, cancer, liver disease, intestinal disease and surgical removal of the stomach.
Sources
Riboflavin appears most prevalently in red meats like beef, venison and lamb. It also appears in green leafy vegetables, including chard, romaine lettuce, broccoli and spinach. You can find riboflavin in most dairy products, like milk and cheese, as well as eggs. Moreover, the FDA requires that some breads and cereals are enriched with certain essential vitamins, riboflavin being one of them. Therefore, any grain-derived foods fortified with nutrients contain vitamin B2.
References
- LifeClinic.com: Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)
- MayoClinic.com: Riboflavin (Oral Route)
- "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vitamins and Minerals"; Alan H. Pressman and Sheila Buff; 2007
- MayoClinic.com: Riboflavin (Oral Route) Side Effects
- "Nutrition"; Paul Insel, et al; 2007
