the water soluble B complex of vitamins and has of course been
well known as an essential nutrient for many years, hence its
popularity as a fortifying agent in commercially produced
breakfast cereals and breads etc. But in the current craze for
tracking down new anti-oxidant "superfoods" it's easy to
overlook the more familiar, but nonetheless vital, nutrients
such as the B complex vitamins.
Riboflavin, for example, is essential for the body's production
of certain enzymes, known as flavocoenzymes, which are needed
for the production of energy through the metabolism of the
proteins, fats and carbohydrates consumed in the diet.
Flavocoenzymes are important in the breaking down and the using
or neutralizing of chemicals, including drugs and toxins within
the body, and it has also been noted that they are a precursor
of the specialized proteins needed for the proper functioning of
the brain cell mitochondria.
Impaired oxygen metabolism within these mitochondria has been
identified as a possible cause of migraine headaches, Although
tested on only a small sample of patients, supplementation with
high levels (400 mg) of riboflavin has been duly found to have
significant effects in reducing the frequency of migraine
attacks when continued over a three month period. Despite the
limited scope of the research so far, orthodox medicine regards
riboflavin as worthy of further investigation for use in
conjunction with conventional drug therapies.
Riboflavin is also important as an anti-oxidant in enabling the
proper functioning of glutathione, the crucial anti-oxidant
enzyme. Glutathione is needed to neutralize the hydrogen
peroxide which is released as a by-product of normal metabolic
reactions within the body. Left unchecked hydrogen peroxide can
interact with other free radicals to produce hydroxyl, the most
damaging of all. Glutathione is particularly important in
protecting the delicate fatty structures, eg the membranes, of
every cell in the body.
Although anti-oxidants are required to protect every cell in
the body, particular attention has been focussed on their role
in the lens of the eye, where light induced oxidative damage has
been found to be a risk factor for the development of cataracts,
one of the most significant causes of vision loss in the
elderly.
Measuring by reference to glutathione activity, research has
suggested that individuals in the highest quintile of riboflavin
levels may have only around half the risk of developing
cataracts as those in the lowest quintile.
In addition to facilitating the action of the fat soluble
glutathione, riboflavin is also essential for the body's
manufacture of another enzyme, xanthine oxidase, which is needed
for the formation of uric acid, one of the most powerful water
soluble anti-oxidants.
In common with all the vitamins of the B complex, a deficiency
in riboflavin is likely to be associated with, and to cause, a
deficiency in each of the others. Deficiency in riboflavin,
however, has also been particularly associated with problems in
the absorption of iron, and consequent anemia and lowered immune
system function.
The US Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for riboflavin is
set at the very low sounding levels of 1.3 mg per day for men,
and 1.1 mg for women, In Europe the slightly higher figure of
1.6 mg is suggested. To put these in perspective, a cup of
fortified cereal may provide between 0.6 and 2.3 mg; 8 oz milk
perhaps 0.35 mg, and a single large egg 0.3 mg. Meat, fish,
chicken and green vegetables also provide a certain amount.
So these food values would seem to suggest that the RDAs should
be easily achievable by those eating a normally balanced diet –
and indeed they should. The problem is that the RDAs are set at
levels designed to ensure protection against outright deficiency
disease, which is not at all the same as optimal health. There
is also good evidence that few of us in any case, in fact
succeed in eating such a diet, and this can be a particular
problem for older adults. Some research suggests that as many as
a quarter of over 65s fail to achieve their RDA of riboflavin
though their normal daily diet, and of course that which they do
take in tends to be less well absorbed than that consumed by
younger people. The result is that as many as 10% of the over
65s show signs of severe deficiency, an alarming and
unforgivable statistic in wealthy Western societies.
But such symptoms of deficiency may not be confined to the
elderly. Younger adults who achieve only these minimal levels of
riboflavin intake may also be at risk if subjecting their bodies
to unusual stresses, amongst which must be included physical
work, intensive athletic or sporting activity, and the use of
alcohol, tobacco or other drugs.
There are no known toxicity issues with any quantity of the B
complex vitamins conceivably likely to be consumed, and the Food
and Nutrition Board has specified no upper safe limit. The
vitamins are water soluble with any excess being easily excreted
by the body. So given the difficulties of absorption which
become more pronounced as the body ages, and the increased
requirements for these vitamins which seems to arise with the
increasingly stressful lives we lead in the 21st century – not
to mention the nutritional poverty of much of the heavily
refined and processed foods we now routinely consume, there
seems no reason not to supplement with riboflavin and the other
vitamins of the B complex.
About The Author: Steve Smith is a freelance copywriter
specializing in direct marketing and with a particular interest
in health products. Find out more at
http://www.sisyphus
