Vitamin B2

Another name for this vitamin, familiar to everyone, is riboflavin. It is also called latoflavin, and also vitamin B2. What are the properties of riboflavin and why does a person need it?

Properties B2

This vitamin belongs to a large group of flavins. It is colored yellow due to the yellow pigment that is part of vitamin B2. This vitamin is destroyed when it is exposed to bright daylight, then there is almost no vitamin B2 left. But when boiled, it does not lose its beneficial properties, it is almost not destroyed.

Vitamin B2 is one of the few vitamins that are synthesized by the human body, in particular, by the small intestine. Its daily dose is from 1.5 to 2.5 mg.

The need for vitamin B2 increases when a person does a lot of physical work or when a mother is breastfeeding, as well as during chronic stress.

What is the best way to take vitamin B2?

Vitamin B2 is easily absorbed from green vegetables, but they need to be cooked to ensure that the riboflavin is in an easily absorbed form.

Vitamin B2 is absorbed much better when a person has eaten. On a full stomach, vitamin B2 or preparations containing it are absorbed 2-3 times better than on an empty stomach. Therefore, it is best to take vitamin B2 after or during a meal.

The effect of vitamin B2 on the body

Riboflavin, or vitamin B2, controls the formation of erythrocytes - blood cells, and the synthesis of some sex hormones, as well as thyroid hormones. Thanks to vitamin B2, a person's vision can significantly improve, because this micronutrient protects the retina from bright sunlight, as well as artificial, ultraviolet rays.

Thanks to vitamin B2, a person sees well in the twilight, this vitamin helps the eye to adapt when lighting deteriorates. Riboflavin in the right doses can improve visual acuity, as well as improve the perception of colors and their shades.

Thanks to vitamin B2, the body undergoes important processes of protein metabolism, as well as the breakdown of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. That is, all the food we eat.

Riboflavin is a component of more than ten biologically active enzymes.

Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) should be consumed by people who have suffered serious injuries and stress - this element strengthens the nervous system, helps restore bone and muscle tissue, and affects their growth.

Thanks to riboflavin (vitamin B2), the skin becomes smoother and healthier, nails do not split, hair grows better. The nervous system also needs vitamin B2.

This micronutrient is essential for pregnant women: it ensures normal gestation, helps the baby grow inside the mother, and affects all vital processes in the pregnant woman’s body.

Vitamin B2 Compatibility

This vitamin helps to ensure good vision in combination with vitamin A, promotes a more pronounced effect on the body of vitamins B6, PP, and folic acid. With the active participation of vitamin B2, all these elements have a more powerful effect on the development of the body.

Symptoms of Vitamin B2 Deficiency

• The skin peels not only on the hands, but also on the lips, in the nasolabial fold area, on the nose and even on the ears
• Microcracks form near the mouth, as well as herpes in the corners of the lips (the so-called angular cheilitis, as they say)
• Dry pupils, feeling of sand in the eyes
• Severe itching in the eye area, eyelids, the whites of the eyes become red, tears may flow from the eyes involuntarily
• The tongue becomes swollen, red in color, rough
• The wounds heal slower than usual, the skin does not want to grow together, it fester
• A person develops photophobia
• The character changes, excessive phlegmatism appears or, on the contrary, irritability, depression, low self-esteem

If there is a lack of vitamin B2 for a long time, this can be indicated by the upper lip, which decreases in size. In combination with flaky skin of the face (especially in the area around the mouth), this sign clearly indicates a lack of vitamin B2 in the diet.

When there is a lack of vitamin B2 in the body, the functions of the stomach and intestines may be disrupted, food is poorly absorbed and digested. Protein products are especially poorly digested.

If a person has had the flu, a cold or other infectious diseases, increased norms of vitamin B2 are needed, because its consumption in the body increases significantly.

Vitamin B2 is needed much more if a person is diagnosed with thyroid disease, cancer, and if the patient suffers from fever.

Storage of Vitamin B2

It is poorly preserved during thermal and heat treatment. It is destroyed by about 40% during cooking. When boiled in boiling water and processed at high temperatures, vitamin B2 may not be destroyed very quickly, but it is very poorly preserved in bright light and when in contact with alkali.

Natural sources of vitamin B2

• Pine nuts contain the most vitamin B2 – 88.05 mg
• Almonds are also a good source of vitamin B2 – there is 0.65 mg of it in almonds.
• Champignons are slightly behind almonds in terms of vitamin B2 content - 0.45 mg
• Mackerel is a good source of B2 - it contains 0.36 mg of this vitamin.
• The liver contains more than 2.2 mg of vitamin B2
• Goose meat contains 0.23 mg of vitamin B2
• Spinach contains 0.25 mg of vitamin B2
• Chicken eggs contain 0.44 mg of vitamin B2.

If you eat foods rich in vitamin B2, the human nervous system will be normal, and vision and the condition of hair, nails and skin will remain at their best for a long time.