About Vitamin B2
Ever heard about riboflavin? Let me describe it using everyday words. Riboflavin (aka Vitamin B2) is your cells battery. Riboflavin gives you energy at the most basic level—inside your cells. You need it to make two of the enzymes that are absolutely vital for releasing energy from the fats, carbohydrates, and proteins you eat. To make a complicated story short, riboflavin keeps you alive.
Aside from that little chore, riboflavin also does a bunch of other things in your body, either by itself or along with the other members of the B team (especially pyridoxine and niacin). Riboflavin regulates cell growth and reproduction and helps you make healthy red blood cells. It helps your immune system by keeping the mucous membranes that line your respiratory and digestive systems in good shape. If invading germs still sneak in, riboflavin helps you make antibodies for fighting them off. Your eyes, nerves, skin, nails, and hair all need riboflavin to stay healthy. It might even help your memory—older people with high levels of riboflavin do better on memory tests.
So, what kind of foods would be a good source for riboflavin. Large amounts of riboflavin are found in milk and other dairy foods. Good choices here include cheese, yogurt, and ice cream. Meat, especially liver, is a good source of riboflavin, as is fish. Vegetable foods that are high in
riboflavin include broccoli, spinach, avocados, mushrooms, and asparagus. Most breads, baked
goods, and pasta are made with flour that has been enriched with riboflavin and other B vitamins; most breakfast cereals also have riboflavin and other B's added to them.
Photo by Asif
