Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)
A deficiency nobody gets, plus two real niches: migraine prevention and one genotype's blood pressure.
C+
Evidence grade
C+
Worth it
$5-10/month
Typical cost
DoseDaily requirement is 1.1 to 1.3 mg, met by any ordinary diet containing dairy, eggs, meat, or fortified grains. The migraine protocol is 400 mg/day, a drug-style dose unrelated to nutrition. The TT-genotype blood-pressure work used just 1.6 mg/day, a nutritional dose aimed at a genetically defined bottleneck. Three different riboflavins, three different doses, one record to keep them straight.
BasisRiboflavin earns the best grade among the B singles graded this week on the strength of one real indication: migraine prevention in adults, with randomized evidence and a guideline endorsement, at a dose nobody would reach by diet.
Riboflavin is vitamin B2, the precursor of the FAD and FMN cofactors used across energy metabolism. We grade Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) C+ on evidence and C+ for worth-it at about $5-10 per month.
What it does
Riboflavin is vitamin B2, the precursor of the FAD and FMN cofactors used across energy metabolism. Its name in the market comes from two specific stories: high-dose migraine prevention and the MTHFR enzyme connection. Its deficiency (ariboflavinosis) is rare enough to be a textbook curiosity in countries with fortified food.
What the research says
Reduces migraine frequency at 400 mg/day in randomized trials
Evidence: moderate. Schoenen 1998 found high-dose riboflavin cut migraine attack frequency versus placebo (responder rates about 59 versus 15 percent), and adult meta-analyses since have supported a modest preventive effect. Neurology guidelines rated riboflavin 'probably effective' (Level B) for migraine prevention. The dose is pharmacologic (about 300 times the daily requirement), the benefit takes two to three months to appear, and pediatric trials were null, so the claim is adult-specific.
Lowers blood pressure in one genetic subgroup: MTHFR 677TT carriers
Evidence: emerging. Riboflavin is the cofactor for MTHFR. Trials from the McNulty group found 1.6 mg/day lowered blood pressure substantially (roughly 9/6 mmHg) in hypertensive patients with the TT genotype, about 10 percent of many populations, with no effect in other genotypes. A tidy piece of nutrigenetics awaiting larger confirmation.
Riboflavin earns the best grade among the B singles graded this week on the strength of one real indication: migraine prevention in adults, with randomized evidence and a guideline endorsement, at a dose nobody would reach by diet. The MTHFR-genotype blood-pressure finding adds a second, elegant niche. Outside those niches it is a deficiency nobody eating food gets. C+ for two narrow, genuine uses.
Is it worth it?
Evidence (C+) sits below the leaderboard floor, so the worth-it grade is capped at C+ however inexpensive it is; the derived value lands at the cap. About $7 a month, including at the 400 mg migraine dose. Derived from the October 2026 worth-it model.
Typical cost
$5-10/month
Common form, not a brand recommendation
Dosage context established
Daily requirement is 1.1 to 1.3 mg, met by any ordinary diet containing dairy, eggs, meat, or fortified grains. The migraine protocol is 400 mg/day, a drug-style dose unrelated to nutrition. The TT-genotype blood-pressure work used just 1.6 mg/day, a nutritional dose aimed at a genetically defined bottleneck. Three different riboflavins, three different doses, one record to keep them straight.
Worth-it leaderboard
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) sits outside the worth-it top 20.
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) sits outside the current top 20 on the gated leaderboard. The leaders below clear an evidence floor of B- before price counts at all, so cheap alone never earns a rank.
- 1AWorth itCreatine evidence A-~$5-10/mo
- 2AWorth itCaffeine evidence B+~$5-10/mo
- 3AWorth itVitamin D evidence B~$5-8/mo
See the full worth-it leaderboard →
When the evidence moves a grade, this ranking moves with it. Thursday is where you hear it first.
Safety notes
Among the safest records in this library. Excess riboflavin is excreted, producing famously fluorescent yellow urine, and no tolerable upper limit has been set because no toxicity pattern exists at oral doses. The migraine dose's only established effects are that urine color and cost. Bright urine can mask the color cues of dehydration, the closest thing to a practical caution.
Longevity Lab Report
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) news. Graded when it happens.
The grade on this page stays free. The email carries the news on Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin): expert moves, dose changes, and what is working, in plain English every Thursday.
Changelog
Last updated 2026-10-23
- 2026-10-23|Graded from the migraine trial literature and the MTHFR TT-genotype blood pressure trials. This is the strongest of the library's B-vitamin singles after B12 and folate, and its record is correspondingly specific about population and dose.
- 2026-10-23|Not listed under any goal: migraine prevention is an outcome without a corresponding goal in the library's taxonomy, and the genotype finding is subgroup-level; tags are not stretched to cover either.
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