Dietary Sources

The best sources of riboflavin include:

• Brewer's yeast
• Almonds
• Organ meats
• Whole grains
• Wheat germ
• Wild rice
• Mushrooms
• Soybeans
• Milk
• Yogurt
• Eggs
• Broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• Spinach

Flours and cereals are often fortified with riboflavin.

Riboflavin is destroyed by light. So food should be stored away from light to protect its riboflavin content. While riboflavin is not destroyed by heat, it can be lost in water when foods are boiled or soaked. Roasting and steaming foods preserves more riboflavin than frying or scalding your foods.

Available Forms

Riboflavin is generally included in multivitamins and B-complex vitamins. It also comes separately in 25 mg, 50 mg, and 100 mg tablets.

How to Take It

As with all medicines, check with a health care provider before giving riboflavin supplements to a child.

Daily recommendations for dietary riboflavin are as follows.

Pediatric

• Infants, birth to 6 months: 0.3 mg (adequate intake)
• Infants, 7 to 12 months: 0.4 mg (adequate intake)
• Children, 1 to 3 years: 0.5 mg (RDA)
• Children, 4 to 8 years: 0.6 mg (RDA)
• Children, 9 to 13 years: 0.9 mg (RDA)
• Boys, 14 to 18 years: 1.3 mg (RDA)
• Girls, 14 to 18 years: 1 mg (RDA)

Adult

• Men, 19 years and older: 1.3 mg (RDA)
• Women, 19 years and older: 1.1 mg (RDA)
• Pregnant women: 1.4 mg (RDA)
• Breastfeeding women: 1.6 mg (RDA)

Riboflavin is best absorbed when taken between meals.

People who do not eat a balanced diet every day may benefit from taking a multivitamin and mineral complex.

Precautions

Because of the potential for side effects and interactions with medications, you should take dietary supplements only under the supervision of a knowledgeable health care provider.

Riboflavin is generally considered safe, even at high doses. Riboflavin does not seem to cause any serious side effects. Very high doses may cause:

• Itching
• Numbness
• Burning or prickling sensations
• Yellow or orange urine
• Sensitivity to light

Taking any one of the B vitamins for a long period of time can result in an imbalance of other important B vitamins. For this reason, you may want to take a B-complex vitamin which includes all the B vitamins.

Possible Interactions

If you are currently being treated with any of the following medications, you should not use vitamin B2 supplements without talking to your health care provider first.

Anticholinergic medications: Doctors use anticholinergic drugs to treat a variety of conditions, including gastrointestinal spasms, asthma, depression, and motion sickness. These drugs may make it hard for the body to absorb riboflavin.

Tetracycline: Riboflavin interferes with the absorption and effectiveness of the antibiotic, tetracycline. All vitamin B-complex supplements act in this way. You should take riboflavin at a different time during the day than when you take tetracycline.

Tricyclic antidepressants: Tricyclic antidepressants may reduce levels of riboflavin in the body. These include:

• Imipramine (Tofranil)
• Desimpramine (Norpramin)
• Amitriptyline (Elavil)
• Nortriptyline (Pamelor)

Antipsychotic medications: Antipsychotic medications called phenothiazines (such as chlorpromazine, or Thorazine) may lower riboflavin levels.

Doxorubicin: Riboflavin interferes with doxorubicin, a medication used for the treatment of certain cancers. Also, doxorubicin may deplete levels of riboflavin in the body. Your doctor will let you know whether you need to take a riboflavin supplement or not.

Methotrexate: This medication is used to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. It can interfere with how the body uses riboflavin.

Phenytoin (Dilantin): This medication, used to control seizures, may affect riboflavin levels in the body.

Probenecid: This medication used for gout may decrease the absorption of riboflavin from the digestive tract and increase how much is lost in the urine.

Thiazide diuretics (water pills): Diuretics that belong to a class known as thiazides, such as hydrochlorothiazide, may cause you to lose more riboflavin in your urine.

Supporting Research

Antoon AY, Donovan DK. Burn Injuries. In: Behrman RE, Kliegman RM, Jenson HB, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. Philadelphia, PA: W.B. Saunders Company; 2000:287-94.

Bruno EJ Jr, Ziegenfuss TN. Water-soluble vitamins: research update. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2005 Aug;4(4):207-13. Review.

Colombo B, Saraceno L, Comi G. Riboflavin and migraine: the bridge over troubled mitochondria. Neurol Sci. 2014;35 Suppl 1:141-4.

Cumming RG, Mitchell P, Smith W. Diet and cataract: the Blue Mountains Eye Study. Ophthalmology. 2000;107(3):450-56.

Fishman SM, Christian P, West KP. The role of vitamins in the prevention and control of anaemia. Public Health Nutr. 2000;3(2):125-150. Review.

Head KA. Natural therapies for ocular disorders, part two: cataracts and glaucoma. Altern Med Rev. 2001;6(2):141-166. Review.

Jacques PF, Chylack LT Jr, Hankinson SE, et al. Long-term nutrient intake and early age-related nuclear lens opacities. Arch Ophthalmol. 2001;119(7):1009-19.

James. Andrews' Diseases of the Skin: Clinical Dermatology. 11th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2011.

Katuzna-Czaplinska J, Socha E, Rynkowski J. B vitamin supplementation reduces excretion of urinary dicaroxylic acids in autistic children. Nutr Res. 2011;31(7):497-502.

Keligman. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 19th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2011.

Kuzniarz M, Mitchell P, Cumming RG, Flood VM. Use of vitamin supplements and cataract: the Blue Mountains Eye Study. Am J Ophthalmol. 2001;132(1):19-26.

MacLennan SC, Wade FM, Forrest KM, Ratanayake PD, Fagan E, Antony J. High-dose riboflavin for migraine prophylaxis in children: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. J Child Neurol. 2008 Nov;23(11):1300-04.

Magis D, Ambrosini A, Sandor P, Jacquy J, Laloux P, Schoenen J. A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial of thioctic acid in migraine prophylaxis. Headache. 2007 Jan;47(1):52-57.

Maraini G, Williams SL, Sperduto RD, Ferris FL, Milton RC, Clemons TE, Rosmini F, Ferrigno L. Effects of multivitamin/mineral supplementation on plasma levels of nutrients. Report No. 4 of the Italian-American clinical trial of nutritional supplements and age-related cataract. Ann Ist Super Sanita. 2009;45(2):119-127.

Mauskop A. Alternative therapies in headache. Is there a role?. Med Clin North Am. 2001;85(4):1077-84. Review.

Ramu A, Mehta MM, Leaseburg T, Aleksic A. The enhancement of riboflavin-mediated photo-oxidation of doxorubicin by histidine and urocanic acid. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 2001;47(4):338-46.

Silberstein SD, Goadsby PJ, Lipton RB. Management of migraine: an algorithmic approach. Neurology. 2000;55(9 Suppl 2):S46-S52. Review.

Zhao H, Yang X, Zhou R, Yang Y. Study on vitamin B1, vitamin B2 retention factors in vegetables. We Sheng Yan Jiu. 2008;37(1):92-96.