Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Safety
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not strictly regulate herbs and supplements. There is no guarantee of strength, purity or safety of products, and effects may vary. You should always read product labels. If you have a medical condition, or are taking other drugs, herbs, or supplements, you should speak with a qualified healthcare provider before starting a new therapy. Consult a healthcare provider immediately if you experience side effects.
Allergies
Riboflavin supplementation has been associated with rare reports of allergy/anaphylaxis.
Side Effects and Warnings
In general, the limited capacity of human adults to absorb orally administered riboflavin limits its potential for harm. Riboflavin intake many times higher than the RDA is apparently without demonstrable toxicity. Nevertheless, the photosensitizing (sensitivity to light) properties of riboflavin raise the possibility of some potential risks. Other possible reactions to very high doses include itching, numbness, burning/prickling sensations, and yellow discoloration of the urine.
Very low birth weight infants who receive pre-term infant formulas (PIF) augmented to provide riboflavin at levels five times that in term infant formulas have demonstrated high plasma levels of riboflavin and urinary riboflavin concentrations; lower doses can be considered in this setting.
Pregnancy and Breastfeeding
Riboflavin is generally regarded as being safe during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
NS_patient-riboflavin
Portions of this document last updated:Sept. 1, 2009
THE NATURAL STANDARD RESEARCH COLLABORATION
(www.naturalstandard.com)
