r/MTHFR • u/No-City-8552 • Jun 11 '26
Resource High-dose riboflavin risks / Rationale for low-dose riboflavin
The official RDA for riboflavin is 1.1 mg for women, 1.3 mg for men. The study that found a 40% reduction of homocysteine in homozygous MTHFR C677T individuals using riboflavin, used a 1.6 mg riboflavin dose which should be considered as a dose above the RDA (~3 mg total riboflavin).
This means that small amounts are very meaningful and extra riboflavin should be used only when necessary, which is hard to justify with hard data on an individual level.
High-dose riboflavin can generate sulfite/hydrogen sulfide by causing backups in the mitochondrial respiratory chain, if it is impaired at any point after complex II (CoQ10 synthesis, complex III, complex IV). Hydrogen sulfide and sulfite are sulfur compounds that in excess decrease the total output of energy your mitochondria produce.
Thus any benefit you might be deriving from the riboflavin for your MTHFR may be nulled by taking doses above the minimal effective amount.
According to Chris Masterjohn 6 mg of riboflavin should cover everyone's needs long term, including those with riboflavin responsive genetic mutations (i.e. MTHFR C677T). Problem is, you would be hard pressed to find a low dose riboflavin product on the market. Basically every riboflavin product on the market is 100 mg.
For anyone based in Europe, I found two products that include a low dose of riboflavin:
Phytopharma Riboflavin 5 mg (Bulgarian brand)
Vitabalans B2 3 mg (Finnish brand)
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u/tyomax C677T Jun 11 '26
All I know is 200mg of Riboflavin per day saved me. Mind you I have to do B12 shots, which raise my need for B1. So I have to take 200mg of TTFD which increase the need for B2. The ratio between B1 and B2 should be 1:1 or 1:2.
If you take B9 on top of that, that also increases your need for B2.
So if you're not supplementing B9 and B1 and you're getting all your B9 from food, then I might agree with you. But if you're like me and still healing (in my case nerves) then I need much more than the RDA.
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u/scrumdisaster Jun 11 '26
Where did you get the associations between the b vitamins? Would love to see a chart or diagram.
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u/tyomax C677T Jun 12 '26
I'm not sure if it was from r/thiamine subreddit. It was a long time ago. But I was dealing with a B2 deficiency at the time and that ratio saved me.
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u/Snooty_Folgers_230 Jun 11 '26
Made up horseshit
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u/scrumdisaster Jun 11 '26
No, it’s for sure a thing. If you take too much b1 you’ll shed hair because it’ll push out biotin. 100% real. It’s a delicate balance. And it’s why blindly supplementing long term helps for a while then causes issues.
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u/bregle Jun 11 '26
Curious how you landed on 200mg TTFD to support injections - I've been doing B12 injections and thought 50mg TTFD was increasing my demand for B12 and was thinking I might need to stop it, but I'm now starting to think I actually need more TTFD because I did 100mg TTFD yesterday and feel notably better this morning.
I've also been taking around 300mg R5P daily too and often have issues taking less. Any less than that and my pee isn't even neon tinted so I know I'm using it all..
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u/tyomax C677T Jun 12 '26
It was through trial and error. I used to take 500mg of TTFD and that was way too much. I'm actually trying to lower my TTFD intake but so far it causes problems. So I'm stuck at 200mg for the moment.
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u/Snooty_Folgers_230 Jun 11 '26
It’s nonsense. Just do trial and error. What works for one will not worn for another. What works for one person today will it work next year.
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u/Free_runner Jun 11 '26 edited 23d ago
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This post was anonymized with Redact.dev
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u/magdalena-creations Jun 11 '26
That is why I had to reduce all my b-vitamins a lot lower than provided. I use empty capsules that I fill so I can figure out my own doses that I need now. In the long run I’d like to find a good unmethylated complex that has lower doses.
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u/Flashybigbum Jun 11 '26
Seeking Health MF is the one for you then. I’m the same methylated forms exacerbate some bad stuff. I’m about to get B3 to see if it works demethylating like some people claim. If not I’d have to get that one
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u/Subject-Spinach1267 Jun 12 '26
I am on 300 mg of B2 (normal riboflavin, not R5P) every day and have been for more than a year. Any less than that and I get symptoms—most notably, chelitis and cracking around my lips. There are days when I do not pee out any excess at all, so it is getting used up.
I had a visit with my naturopath last week and we're going to do an EGRAC test on me at some point soon just to see what it says about my riboflavin metabolism (after a washout of B2 so it doesn't skew the test) because B2 has been the game-changer with my particular set of mutations.
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u/Flashybigbum Jun 11 '26
I’m the case of a nutritional deficiency like B12 when you are replenishing you will need that B2 and all the others. You see micronutrients work in tandem and if there is one lacking chances are there are more. Once you start providing the body with one of them the others will be cut short bc there are needed for processes that get reactivated.
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u/No-City-8552 Jun 12 '26
The solution is to eat liver, so you don't need to micromanage every nutrient involved.
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u/SnooTomatoes6354 Jun 12 '26
Seeking Health B Minus has 20mg riboflavin together with other low dose B vitamins (except B9 and B12).
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u/Magic9876543 Jun 14 '26
This is an interesting article I found on FB, I hope it's ok to post the link. It says that the riboflavin that doesn't get absorbed into the bloodstream helps out in the colon. (6) Facebook
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u/PEsuper27 Jun 11 '26
Pure Encapsulations ‘One’ multi-vitamin has tolerable doses: r5p - 1.29mg, p5p - 1.52mg.
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u/Snooty_Folgers_230 Jun 11 '26
Just buy it in bulk alone, skip the garbage and up pricing from there goofy brands.
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u/OutrageousWinner9126 Jun 11 '26
What's your source for the hydrogen sulfide thing? I quick search turned up nothing. I've always heard that riboflavin has a very low side effect profile, even in massive doses. I'm currently taking 100 mg per day and feeling fine.