14 Signs and Symptoms of Vitamin B2 Deficiency

Vitamin B complex is a group of 8 vitamins that performs several functions in the human body. The deficiency of any one of these vitamins causes life-threatening diseases.

Therefore, it is crucial to include this vitamin in your diet to combat deficiency diseases. For your convenience, we have collected information from several sources and put together this piece on vitamin B2 deficiency diseases, their symptoms and causes.

Without further ado, let’s delve deeper!

If you do not include vitamin B2 rich foods in your diet, there is a fat chance of you contracting a deficiency disease. Anyone who has a poor diet is at significant risk of vitamin B2 deficiency. More often than not, a person with B2 deficiency may also lack other vitamins in his body.

Generally speaking, there are two types of B2 deficiency:

• Primary: When a person’s diet lacks vitamin B2 rich foods in their diet, they suffer from this kind of deficiency.
• Secondary: Deficiency occurring for any other reason other than poor diet is secondary riboflavin deficiency. This happens when the intestines cannot absorb this nutrient, or the body cannot use it or excretes out the vitamin too rapidly.

Therefore, it is vital to include foods that contain vitamin B2 in your diet on a daily basis to avoid riboflavin deficiency or ariboflavinosis.

However, if you are unsure of your daily intake of B2 rich foods, you might develop some vitamin B2 deficiency symptoms.

While riboflavin deficiency is relatively rare in the developed world, up to 50% of people in developing nations may suffer from a moderate deficit. Thyroid issues may raise the chance of a deficit. A riboflavin deficit often coexists with other nutritional deficiencies, such as malnutrition.

Most cases of riboflavin insufficiency occur in underdeveloped nations in Asia and Africa. Since the body cannot absorb much riboflavin when taking birth control pills, older persons, alcoholics, and women are more prone to suffer from riboflavin shortage.

In addition to inadequate intake, vitamin B2 deficiency causes include abnormalities concerning endocrine like hyposecretion of thyroid hormone and some other diseases. 

Here is a list of factors that contribute to B2 deficiency:

• Improper consumption of meat, fortified foods and dairy products.
• Chronic disorders like diarrhoea, liver problems and alcoholism.
• Malabsorption of food.
• Blood filtration procedures, such as haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis.
• Using barbiturates for a prolonged period.
• Apart from this, certain groups of individuals are more prone to riboflavin deficiency than others.

Diagnosing vitamin B2 (riboflavin) deficiency involves clinical assessment, dietary history, and laboratory testing. Here are the methods used for diagnosis:

1. Clinical Assessment

The initial step involves evaluating symptoms that could indicate riboflavin deficiency. Common symptoms include cracks or sores at the corners of the mouth (cheilosis), inflammation and redness of the lining of the mouth (stomatitis), a swollen, red tongue (magenta tongue), and dermatitis. Eye symptoms such as sensitivity to light (photophobia) and itching, burning, or watering of the eyes may also be present.

2. Dietary History

A detailed history of the patient's diet is important because riboflavin deficiency is often linked to inadequate dietary intake. Questions about the consumption of dairy products, meat, fish, green vegetables, and fortified cereals can provide clues about riboflavin intake.

3. Blood Tests

Measurement of riboflavin levels in the blood can help diagnose deficiency. However, direct measurement of riboflavin itself is not commonly done due to technical challenges. Instead, indirect markers such as erythrocyte glutathione reductase activity coefficient (EGRAC) are used. EGRAC increases in the presence of riboflavin deficiency.

4. Urine Tests

Urinary excretion of riboflavin and its metabolites can be measured. Low urinary excretion indicates riboflavin deficiency, as the body conserves riboflavin when intake is insufficient.

5. Genetic Testing

In some cases, genetic testing may be used to identify specific genetic disorders that affect riboflavin metabolism, leading to deficiency.

6. Response to Riboflavin Supplementation

One of the confirmatory tests for riboflavin deficiency is observing clinical improvement in symptoms after starting riboflavin supplementation. Improvement in symptoms such as cheilosis, stomatitis, or skin lesions supports the diagnosis.

7. Biopsy (rarely)

In severe cases where other methods are inconclusive, a biopsy of the tongue or other affected tissues may reveal characteristic changes associated with riboflavin deficiency.

Include adequate vitamin B2 rich foods in your diet to prevent deficiency. Below are the top foods rich in vitamin B2 to include in your diet:

Fruits to Overcome Vitamin B2 Deficiency

Vegetables to Overcome Vitamin B2 Deficiency

Other Eatables to Overcome Vitamin B2 Deficiency

The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for both men and women over the age of 19 is 1.1 mg and 1.3 mg daily, respectively. The dosage rises to 1.4 mg and 1.6 mg per day during pregnancy and lactation, respectively.

Estimated average daily intake level that satisfies 50% of healthy individuals' needs; typically used to evaluate nutrient intakes of groups and develop diets that are appropriate for them, but it can also be used to evaluate nutrient intakes of individuals.

Studies show that long-term deficiency of vitamin B2 can lead to heart and brain disorders and even some cancers. Therefore, if you are wondering about which diseases are caused by deficiency of vitamin B2, you must know that patients have chances of developing migraines and cardiovascular diseases in the long run.

However, overconsumption of riboflavin beyond recommended intakes can result in toxicity. This happens because the gastrointestinal tract can absorb the nutrient up to a specific limit. Therefore, it is necessary to consume vitamin B2 foods or supplements as per the recommended dietary allowance.

Riboflavin deficiency symptoms include swollen throat, blurred vision, and fatigue. It can harm the skin around the mouth, leading to dermatitis, inflammation, and fissures. In addition to problems with reproduction, there may be oedema and hyperemia around the throat, liver damage, and hair loss.

Skin disorders, hyperemia (excess blood), oedema of the mouth and throat, angular stomatitis (lesions at the corners of the mouth), cheilosis (swelled, cracked lips), hair loss, reproductive problems, and sore throats are all symptoms of riboflavin deficiency, also known as ariboflavinosis.

The ideal way to prevent diseases that occur due to deficiency of vitamin B2 is to increase the intake of vitamin B2 rich foods. Patients must consider taking riboflavin supplements or daily multivitamins in more serious cases like malabsorption, haemodialysis, etc.

To combat vitamin B2 deficiency diseases, doctors or physicians prescribe oral intake of riboflavin along with other water-soluble vitamins. The RDA for human beings of age 19-50 years is 1.3 mg(for males) and 1.1 mg(for females). In the event of deficiency, higher intake of riboflavin is unlikely to be harmful as the excess amount is flushed through the urinary system.

After diagnosing B2 deficiency by therapeutic trials and laboratory testing, doctors prescribe a treatment protocol for patients, including oral tablets and riboflavin injections. However, the recovery time depends on the severity of your condition.

In simpler cases, a proper diet rich in vitamin B2 can compensate for the loss of riboflavin in your body. However, there might be some serious effects on the nervous system and other anatomical changes in some cases. In that case, such conditions may take a longer time to rectify.

Regardless, knowing about the severity of vitamin B2 deficiency diseases along with their causes and symptoms will help you take preventive measures starting now.

Given below are some groups of people at the risk of contracting vitamin B2 deficiency diseases:

1. Vegetarian Athletes

Athletes undergo rigorous exercises that produce stress in the metabolic pathways and result in using up riboflavin. Therefore, they need additional riboflavin in their bodies to avoid deficiency diseases. However, vegetarians exclude consuming meat products rich in vitamin B2, increasing the potential risk of deficiency.

2. Pregnant and Nursing Mothers and their Infants

Lactating mothers or pregnant women who rarely consume meat are at a higher risk of riboflavin deficiency. This, in fact, leads to birth defects in infants as the mother’s deficiency has adverse effects on their babies.

3. Vegan or Ones Consuming Minimal Dairy Products

Meat and dairy products contain a substantial amount of riboflavin. Therefore, vegans who avoid intake of these vitamin B2 rich food items are prone to B2 deficiency. Furthermore, individuals belonging to developing countries lacking proper access to meat and milk are also at a greater risk.

4. Individuals with Riboflavin Transporter Deficiency

This rare neurological disorder can occur anytime between infancy and young adulthood. It results in loss of hearing, respiratory difficulties and other symptoms. As this disease results from genetic mutations that encode riboflavin transporters, patients are unable to absorb and transport riboflavin resulting in a deficiency.

All these individuals must follow a proper diet and increase consumption of vitamin B2 to maintain a healthy body. However, serious symptoms are difficult to reverse and lead to long-term effects.