Can super cheap vitamin B2 help lower blood pressure and delay the onset of disease?

A friend who suffers from high blood pressure told Huazi that he heard that taking vitamin B2 can help control high blood pressure and is more effective than antihypertensive drugs. Is this true? Huazi told him that this question is a bit complicated. Vitamin B2 has an auxiliary therapeutic effect on high blood pressure, but it is only limited to special groups of people.

However, vitamin B2 is very cheap, only a few cents per tablet. So for people with high blood pressure, although supplementing with vitamin B2 may not necessarily help lower blood pressure, it can prevent vitamin B2 deficiency and has no harm.

1. The role of vitamin B2

Vitamin B2, also known as riboflavin, is a component of the flavonoids. It participates in biological redox reactions in the human body and is closely related to human nutritional metabolism. Moreover, the human body cannot synthesize vitamin B2 on its own, nor can it be stored in large quantities. It can only be supplemented through daily diet .

If vitamin B2 is deficient, it is easy to cause metabolic disorders of mucosal cells, resulting in inflammation of the oral cavity, eyes, urogenital system, etc. It is mainly used as an auxiliary treatment for skin and mucosal inflammations such as angular cheilitis, cheilitis, glossitis, conjunctivitis, and seborrheic dermatitis.

Second, it is only effective for specific people with high blood pressure

It is not a rumor that vitamin B2 has an auxiliary therapeutic effect on hypertension, but this information lacks a limiting condition in its dissemination.

Among the population, some people have the MTHFR (methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase) 677TT gene mutation , which causes disorders in multiple basic biochemical processes of the body. For example, problems with cell cycle regulation and DNA replication can cause various diseases such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and cancer.

The effect of antihypertensive drugs on this group of people with genetic defects is also lower than that on normal hypertensive patients, but after supplementing with 1.6 mg of vitamin B2 daily, the antihypertensive effect will improve after 16 weeks.

3. Vitamin B2 cannot replace antihypertensive drugs

Vitamin B2 has an auxiliary therapeutic effect on hypertension in people with MTHFR677TT gene mutation. Some studies have also pointed out that daily intake of vitamin B2 greater than 5.9 mg can reduce the risk of new-onset hypertension.

But so far, vitamin B2 has not been included in any hypertension treatment guidelines.

Therefore, the effect of vitamin B2 on hypertension is only an auxiliary treatment for specific populations. Not all hypertensive patients will benefit from taking vitamin B2. Vitamin B2 cannot replace the effect of antihypertensive drugs .

4. Reasonable supplementation of vitamin B2 is safe

Vitamin B2 is widely present in nature. It is found in animal foods such as animal liver, milk, eggs, fish, and vegetables and fruits such as carrots, soybeans, tomatoes, and oranges. People who can eat a normal diet will generally not be deficient in vitamin B2 as long as they maintain food diversity .

However, people with a monotonous diet may lack vitamin B2, and they can also take medicine to supplement it. Vitamin B2 is a water-soluble vitamin, and it is safe for people with normal kidney function to supplement vitamin B2 reasonably .

When the supplemented vitamin B2 exceeds the body's requirement, the excess vitamin B2 will be excreted through the kidneys, making the urine yellow, but it has no effect on health.

To sum up, vitamin B2 only has an auxiliary therapeutic effect on specific people with hypertension, it does not have a beneficial effect on all hypertension, and cannot replace antihypertensive drugs.

However, vitamin B2 is cheap enough, and people with high blood pressure can take appropriate supplements, which may be beneficial, and can also prevent skin and mucous membrane inflammation caused by vitamin B2 deficiency, with a high cost-effectiveness ratio. Moreover, as long as there is no problem with kidney function, even if vitamin B2 is taken in excess, it will be excreted, and it will not accumulate and become toxic, so it is very safe.

If you have any questions about medication, please consult a doctor or pharmacist. I am pharmacist Huazi, welcome to follow me and share more health knowledge.