My topic today leads down a road where many are scared to step into, your liquid output. Have you ever had bright yellow greenish urine and can’t understand why? Well, I would bet that earlier in the day, you supplemented with a B-Complex vitamin containing a high amount of B2 (riboflavin).
It Would Make A Lovely Dye
In Europe many countries use riboflavin as an orange-red food color additive. Using an essential nutrient as a safe color is a great idea. Why can’t we do that in the U.S.?
The name riboflavin comes from the Latin flavus, which translates to yellow. Ribose means sugar, which a portion of the riboflavin vitamin is a sugar-like molecule. So this yellow sugar is the only vitamin that will color your urine. Great topic at parties…for urologists.
Not many people know that black light will cause riboflavin to glow in the dark. Tonic water does the same thing. Black light gives off UV (ultraviolet) rays which reflect off the molecules of riboflavin showing up as a bright glow. So you can spot individuals with bad aim in the “john” with the use of a black light. Those now dried “wet spots” will glow like a lighthouse beacon.
Previously, Renovating Your Mind has discussed B1 (thiamine):
and also B12:
B12-Highest Numbered B Drives Up The Complexity
Riboflavin, is another member of the family of eight, that makes up the B-Complex group. It aids as part of the human hardware in getting energy from carbohydrates, fats and proteins. All the B-Complex family are interdependent on each other. Riboflavin works hand in hand with thiamine (B1), niacin (B3), pyridoxine (B6), folic acid (B9) and B12 (cobalamin). It even works with a trace mineral called selenium. Riboflavin, is part of the bucket brigade that passes electrons around the cell keeping them stabilized and enabling them to work smoothly. This prevents any cell damage and transfers electricity to other parts of the cell. Electricity means energy for the heart to beat, the lungs to contract and expand, the kidneys to filter, etc.
Nikola Tesla Knew How To Throw A Bitchin’ Party
Food gets broken down into the same form of energy that runs our appliances and give us heat or air conditioning in the house. Electricity that flows not only through the walls of our home but also throughout the cells of our bodies. Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla designed efficient systems to allow electricity to flow to every house in our nation. Mother Nature does the same thing with food and has designed the B-Complex family to help make this process work properly. That is why we are called “the body electric”.
Strange things go on between thiamine (B1) and riboflavin in the body which can affect riboflavin status. If you have sufficient levels of thiamine, this could increase levels of riboflavin. So enough thiamine in the body gives riboflavin a protective status. If levels of B1 go extremely high then you will lose more thiamine than normal in the urine. In this case, higher levels of thiamine take it out on riboflavin making more leave the body through the kidneys.
All in all, unless you are under a health professionals supervision, it is best to get all your B’s from food. They all work together in a symbiotic fashion in the diet. They may get out of sync when taken in varying doses with supplements. This could cause serious problems down the road.
Besides acting as a B2 vitamin, riboflavin is being used successfully to treat migraine headaches. It has been used for decades to treat neonatal jaundice by breaking down toxic substances in the child’s blood. Riboflavin has also been used to destroy different types of harmful bacteria, viruses and parasites in sterilizing blood/plasma products.
Males need only about 1.3 mg and females at least 1.0 mg per day.
Alcoholics are most at risk for deficiencies. Also, teenage girls that substitute diet soda for milk and cut down on food intake to lose weight show decreased intake of B2. You will find problems with lack of riboflavin in individuals that are lactose-intolerant and those patients with anorexia. These groups are all at high risk for a serious riboflavin dietary shortage.
Deficiencies of this vitamin will show up as cuts in the mouth, a red tongue, sores or cracks on the lips, sore throat and a moist, scaly skin problem. The patient may have very red eyes and tests will show an anemia. When you have one deficiency in the B-Complex family, there are usually shortages of other family members.
Good Riboflavin Eating
Riboflavin is found in the highest amounts in mushrooms, spinach, yogurt, eggs, collard greens, asparagus, summer squash, broccoli, turnip greens, green beans (especially the ends), mustard greens, fortified cereals, dairy products and lean meats.
Retro Milk-Just So No!!!!
Make sure your milk is in either opaque or milk cartons. Riboflavin is destroyed by UV light from the sun. So milk packaged in glass containers have most of their riboflavin destroyed by light.
Renovating Your Mind 