Uncle Zhang, 65 years old, was diagnosed with high blood pressure last year and has been taking antihypertensive drugs to control his condition since then. However, he has always been uneasy about taking blood pressure medications, worried that long-term medication will have side effects and affect his body.
So Uncle Zhang searched for various alternatives to antihypertensive drugs, and by chance, he saw a video that said that vitamin B2 is the nemesis of high blood pressure, and supplementing vitamin B2 can lower blood pressure. This made Uncle Zhang eager to try and think about buying some vitamin B2 instead of blood pressure medicine.
When his wife learned about it, he scolded him fiercely, and he always listened to the wind and rain! In this regard, Uncle Zhang still feels very aggrieved, can vitamin B2 lower blood pressure?
1. A few dollars of vitamin B2 is the "nemesis" of high blood pressure, is it credible?
The claim that vitamin B2 can treat high blood pressure has been widely circulated on the Internet, and many people are convinced of it, and even directly stop taking blood pressure medication, which is actually very dangerous.
The statement that vitamin B2 can lower blood pressure spread on the Internet is actually an out-of-context study of a paper published in the international journal "Hypertension" by Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University in mainland China.
The study included data from more than 12,000 participants in the Continental Nutrition and Health Survey cohort, recorded a list of diets for the past 1 week, and estimated the participants' vitamin B2 intake. It was found that participants with a high vitamin B2 intake had a 26% lower risk of new-onset hypertension than those who consumed less.
In this regard, researchers believe that vitamin B2 can promote the synthesis of vitamin B6, and vitamin B6 can improve insulin receptor sensitivity and protect the vascular endothelium, so as to achieve the purpose of assisting in lowering blood pressure. But this does not mean that vitamin B2 has the same effect as antihypertensive drugs, it can only play an auxiliary role in lowering blood pressure at most.
Lu Linchun, director of the Department of Cardiology of Henan Luoyang New Mile Hospital, said that although vitamin B2 can accelerate fat metabolism and indirectly affect blood pressure, it cannot directly lower blood pressure.
2. The real effect of vitamin B2: it may help improve 5 kinds of health problems
Vitamin B2, also known as riboflavin, exists in the body in the form of flavin mononucleotide and flavin adenine dinucleotide, which can widely participate in the reaction of hydrogen transmission in the redox system of human cells, promote the metabolism of fat, sugar and protein, and also have a certain effect on the normal function of skin, mucous membranes and vision.
However, vitamin B2 can be destroyed by light and heated in alkali solution, so it is difficult to store a large amount in the body, and it is easy to be deficient.
If vitamin B2 is properly supplemented, it is very effective in improving the following health problems.
1. Improve oral inflammation
Vitamin B2 has a good effect on the prevention and elimination of severe reactions of the lips, tongue and skin in the mouth, such as angular cheilitis, glossitis, cheilitis, etc.
2. Improve migraine
Studies have found a link between riboflavin, mitochondrial cell function, and migraines, and riboflavin supplementation can reduce neuroinflammation-induced migraines by relieving stress.
3. Prevent anemia
Riboflavin helps to promote the body's absorption of iron, which is very beneficial in preventing the occurrence of anemia.
4. Prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases
Studies have found that high-dose vitamin B2 supplementation has a significant inhibitory effect on platelet aggregation and has a positive effect on the prevention of coronary heart disease.
5. It is beneficial to improve the quality of sexual life
Lack of vitamin B2 is easy to cause abnormalities in the mucosal layer, especially for women, causing vaginal dryness, mucosal congestion/ulceration, etc., which affects sexual desire. Proper vitamin B2 supplementation can improve the quality of the couple's sex life.
3. When vitamin B2 is deficient, there will be prompts in 4 parts of the body
People who eat a balanced diet generally do not lack vitamin B2, but in people who are picky eaters and picky eaters, it is easy to have vitamin B2 deficiency problems. When there is a slight deficiency of vitamin B2, the body will not have obvious symptoms, and once a severe deficiency occurs, 4 parts of the body will send out abnormal alerts:
Mouth: Abnormal symptoms such as pain, swelling, fissures, ulcers, and swollen tongue of the lips.
Eyes: Eyes are photophobic, tearing, blurred vision, conjunctival hyperemia and conjunctivitis.
Skin: seborrheic dermatitis, papules, eczematous scrotitis, etc.
Scrotum: including erythema, papule, eczema-type scroctitis, among which erythema type is the longest.
Fourth, it is important to supplement vitamin B2 scientifically and keep these 3 points in mind
Vitamin B2 is a water-soluble vitamin with a high safety profile. However, in the treatment of diseases, a larger dose is generally used, and if it is used improperly, it may cause some adverse reactions, so we must pay attention to these points when taking medicine.
1. Preferred food supplement
Vitamin B2 supplementation is recommended to choose dietary supplements, which are generally richer in the animal diet, and can appropriately eat animal foods such as animal offal, oysters, poultry meat, and fish, but people with dyslipidemia should pay attention to controlling their intake.
In addition, some plant foods also contain vitamin B2, such as citrus, bananas, carrots, oats, tomatoes, grains, etc., but plant foods are not recommended as the main source of vitamin B2 supplementation.
2. Appropriate supplementation
According to the recommendations of the dietary guidelines, the recommended daily intake is 1.4~1.8mg for men and 1.2~1.3mg for women.
If it is for the treatment of vitamin B2 deficiency, the dosage is generally 5~10mg once and 10~30mg a day. However, the specific dosage should still follow the doctor's instructions and should not be blindly supplemented.
3. Adverse reactions
The most common adverse reactions of taking supplements are abdominal pain, diarrhea and nausea, and a very small number of people may experience allergic symptoms such as rash and itching.
Vitamin B2 is important for health, but more is not always better, and there is generally no need for additional supplementation to ensure a balanced diet.
Resources:
[1] "Health Benefits of Riboflavin (Vitamin B2)". Harvard Health 2023-09-04
[2] What are the serious consequences of riboflavin deficiency. Tongyoutong Life Science Group 2022-08-23
[3] Understanding Vitamin B2. Public Health Center Pharmacy Services 2024-06-24
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