Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) and That Spectacular Fluorescent Yellow/Green Urine
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Riboflavin B2 is known for making urine fluorescent yellow/green. It’s especially spectacular if you are dehydrated eg after too much alcohol the night before or exercise.
As a typical man-child bodily functions intrigue and can amuse me. Though my teenage self was a shocking hyperchondriac (sic) and had a bit of a ‘wobbly’ once after eating too much beetroot and seeing red pee. This has a name - 'Beeturia'.
But the fluorescent pee does make another interesting point.
It’s caused by Riboflavin (vitamin B2). There is only a tiny amount in our formula - 10mg (milligrams) - yet it creates that effect.
But what is 10mg - how can we visualise it.
A level teaspoon of sugar weighs around 3 grams
There are 1000mg in a gram
Very roughly speaking, let’s assume an individual grain of table sugar weighs around 1mg.
There are only ten grains of riboflavin (10mg) in our capsule - yet that tiny amount can turn my pee fluorescent yellow/green!
Powerful stuff - yet no worries as there is no specified upper safety limit for Riboflavin.
Any excess is simply excreted in the urine.
For Riboflavin (not so for all nutrients) I take the view:
“Better to have too much of something essential – that can do you no harm – than too little”
Staying with tiny amounts - the next measure down from milligrams is micrograms (mcg).
A microgram is a millionth of a gram
A speck of dust.
Our Vitamin B12 at 55mcg is effectively 55 specks of dust.
The real challenge isn't measuring these tiny quantities - modern equipment can do that extremely accurately. The challenge is ensuring every capsule receives exactly the same amount when ingredients range from over a million micrograms down to just a few dozen micrograms.
Typically you may find:
1,000,000 mcg of Magnesium Citrate
10,000 mcg of Riboflavin
55 mcg of Vitamin B12
References / Sources
Riboflavin – Vitamin B2 (URMC)
Why Your Urine Turns Bright Yellow After Taking B-Vitamins (Ubie Health)
Beeturia: Why Beets Cause Pink Pee (Healthline)
Riboflavin – Health Professional Fact Sheet (NIH ODS)
Vitamin B12 – Health Professional Fact Sheet (NIH ODS)