Supplement evidence

014 / 575Vitamin

Riboflavin (B2)

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The short answer

Treating deficiency; higher-dose riboflavin may reduce migraine frequency in some adults.

Evidence and scope: Conditional or population-specific
This status does not grade the ingredient for every goal, outcome, or person.
Important limitation: Migraine evidence does not imply general neurologic or lifespan benefit.
Before deciding: Usually well tolerated; bright-yellow urine is expected and harmless.

01 / PRACTICAL GUIDE

Dose, absorption, and combinations

These are indication-specific reference or studied ranges—not a personalized prescription. Start with the objective, then check the form, label, medicines, and health conditions.

Reference range by objective

Meeting usual needs1.1 mg/day women; 1.3 mg/day men

Reference or studied range—not a personalized prescription. The product label or a clinician may specify a different dose.

Dose source ↗

Migraine prevention400 mg/day is commonly studied for prevention

Reference or studied range—not a personalized prescription. The product label or a clinician may specify a different dose.

Dose source ↗

More is not automatically better. A clinician or product label may specify a different amount.

Absorption / solubilityWater-soluble

Water-soluble or readily water-dispersible. This does not mean excess is always harmless.

How it is commonly taken

Take with food if it causes nausea.

Do not combine casually

Bright-yellow urine is expected; migraine dosing should be coordinated with a clinician.

Dose and use source ↗

Dose and use links lead to primary or official source material. Search links are discovery tools, not proof that every returned paper applies.

02 / EVIDENCE

What the research says

We keep supportive, mixed, negative, safety, and contextual findings together. The headline never replaces the underlying papers.

4research papers in this ledger

16unique primary studies represented

1,123unique participants represented

These are audited counts for this JIVANA collection, not search-result totals. Participants are counted once when multiple papers use the same cohort; review papers are not added again to participant totals.

Open the research timelineResearch timeline

Entries are ordered by publication year. A study period appears only when the source reports it.

2026

Mixed or qualifiedPMID 41769676

The effect of riboflavin on the mean attack frequency, severity, and duration of migraine headaches

Pooled frequency and duration favored riboflavin, with a linear dose-response through 400 mg/day. Very high heterogeneity and small or uncontrolled contributing trials limit certainty and product-wide generalization.

Published: 2026n=749 participants12 primary studies represented

Study design and methods

Design: Systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of 12 clinical trials
Population: 749 participants with migraine across adult and pediatric trials
Intervention: Riboflavin regimens up to 400 mg/day versus control
Outcome: Migraine frequency, duration, and severity

Funding or conflict note: The authors declared no conflicts of interest.

Open research record ↗

2025

Mixed or qualifiedPMID 41123035 · CD015464

Riboflavin supplements for blood pressure lowering in adults

The effect on systolic and diastolic pressure was very uncertain; most trials were at high risk of bias and confidence intervals included little or no clinically useful effect. Evidence is insufficient for general blood-pressure treatment.

Published: 2025n=374 participants4 primary studies represented

Study design and methods

Design: Cochrane systematic review of four randomized trials
Population: 374 adults, mainly with hypertension and selected MTHFR-genotype groups
Intervention: Oral riboflavin supplements versus inactive control
Outcome: Systolic and diastolic blood pressure, medication, adverse events, and riboflavin status

Funding or conflict note: The review reported author disclosures and public or charitable fellowship support; no product sponsor was reported.

Open research record ↗

2013

Mixed or qualifiedPMID 23608654 · ISRCTN23620802

Blood pressure in treated hypertensive individuals with the MTHFR 677TT genotype is responsive to intervention with riboflavin

Systolic pressure favored riboflavin by 5.6 mmHg, while the diastolic effect was not significant. This genotype-targeted small trial does not establish a general antihypertensive effect.

Published: 2013Duration: 16 weeksn=91 participants

Study design and methods

Design: Targeted randomized placebo-controlled trial
Population: 91 treated hypertensive adults with the MTHFR 677TT genotype
Intervention: Riboflavin 1.6 mg/day or placebo
Outcome: Systolic and diastolic blood pressure

Funding or conflict note: This trial is represented in the 2025 Cochrane review and is excluded from aggregate totals.

Open research record ↗

1998

Supports a specific usePMID 9484373

Effectiveness of high-dose riboflavin in migraine prophylaxis

Attack frequency and headache days favored riboflavin; 59% versus 15% achieved at least 50% improvement in headache days. Two minor events occurred with riboflavin, but the sample was small.

Published: 1998Duration: 3 monthsn=55 participants

Study design and methods

Design: Randomized placebo-controlled trial
Population: 55 patients with migraine
Intervention: Riboflavin 400 mg/day or placebo
Outcome: Attack frequency, headache days, response, and adverse events

Funding or conflict note: This trial is represented in the 2026 migraine synthesis and is excluded from aggregate totals.

Open research record ↗

Unscreened discovery appendix—not evidence490 candidate publicationsSearch run: Aug 21, 2026

Complete for the displayed PubMed query at the search timestamp—not for all databases or every possible synonym. Candidates can be irrelevant, duplicate the same study, or report negative findings. They are never summed as evidence or participants until screened.

03 / SOURCES

Start with the source material

Official evidence overviewNIH Office of Dietary Supplements Live PubMed discovery searchNational Library of Medicine

The live search is for discovery only. Search-result counts change and are not included in the audited totals above.

Recent PubMed discovery recordsDirect links to the first 12 records returned by the reproducible search. These are discovery candidates—not reviewed summaries or a count of supportive findings.

04 / EXPERT CONTEXT

Expert context—not evidence

Expert positions are dated context—not scientific evidence. They never raise the evidence status or become consensus by repetition.

No direct, source-verified endorsement is currently recorded. Research authorship or discussion alone is not treated as endorsement.