Why should I get vitamins and nutrients through an IV?

This is a great question I get asked all the time. My usual answer is that intravenous (IV) vitamins, minerals and nutrients delivered directly into your bloodstream carries the nutrients straight to your cells where they can do their job as cofactors for a wide variety of cellular processes immediately. Intravenous delivery is the most efficient method of administration for any compound or medication, not just vitamins. IV antibiotics work better and faster than oral antibiotics. IV pain medications work better and faster than oral pain medications. IV saline solution works better and faster than drinking a glass of water. It’s simply a universal truth of medicine.

But this answer typically leads to another question: Why do we need to administer extra vitamins and nutrients by an IV? We ingest vitamins every time we eat so shouldn’t that be enough?

My answer is: “Maybe not … especially if you’re feeling a little ‘off’”.

Here’s why. Our digestive tracts have to break down the food we ingest to extract everything from minerals to amino acids to antioxidants to fat and even water soluble vitamins. This process is very complex and it’s actually pretty inefficient. Only a small amount (20-30%) of the vitamins we ingest get absorbed. The rest are excreted. Plus a lot of things can go wrong in the process of extracting nutrients from food… especially when we are STRESSED!

Here’s a quick list:

1. Poor breakdown: Eating too fast without chewing and pH  changes in the level of stomach acidity affect the breakdown of food and the activation of enzymes and vitamins like B12.
2. Poor quality food: Let’s face it …under stress we tend to eat comfort food which is usually of poor nutritional quality.
3. Poor digestion: Stress triggers the “fight or flight” sympathetic nervous system which decreases blood flow to the digestive tract and lowers the output of pancreatic enzymes by as much as 20,000 fold. These enzymes are responsible for the break down of fats, carbohydrates and protein into small absorbable pieces and for the release of vitamins and nutrients from food so they can be absorbed into the circulation.
4. Poor absorption: The healthy bacteria in the gut, which also produce vitamins and regulate our immune systems, die under stress. Unhealthy “pathogenic” (bad) bacteria and fungi grow in their place. These bugs disturb digestion and trigger inflammation causing damage to the gut lining. When the gut lining of the small intestine (which is where nutrients are absorbed) suffers under stress, vitamins, minerals and nutrients are not taken up properly into the blood to be transported to our cells.

The bottom line is this: nutrients in food are harder to break down, digest and absorb because the digestive tract itself is a very complex, sensitive mechanism that doesn’t perform well under stress.

Now I can hear you ask the next question that inevitably comes up: Who cares if my supply of nutrients is low if nothing else is wrong?

Well, there’s more bad news. Stress increases our need for energy. Brain cells need more neurotransmitters, cells need to divide and make DNA, stress hormones need to be manufactured, muscles need to contract harder. The liver may have to work overtime to clean up toxins if we decide to “soothe” our nerves by drinking alcohol and smoking.

The energy for all this extra activity is made in your mitochondria—the microscopic power plants in each of our cells—with the help of vitamins, minerals and nutrients. We already know these are in short supply, because of the negative effects of stress on the digestive tract. So guess what? You’re going to have a very difficult time making enough energy to maintain your stressed out state if you’re suffering from a nutrient deficit.

Understand this process takes place even under a mild stress from relationships, overworking or over exercising. In these situations our energy needs go up, but our gut function is adversely impacted and we simply don’t have enough of the vitamins, nutrients, antioxidants, we need to maintain health. Eventually the low supply and high demand situation leads to a breakdown in health, so it is best to be proactive. Lower stress and increase micronutrients and vitamins, especially with IV nutritional therapy.

This imbalance in the process described above  is more dramatically compounded if you are suffering from more severe stressors which have already caused issues like fatigue, headaches, upset stomach, insomnia, frequent infections, aches and pains, and a wide variety of other symptoms. Basically, if something doesn’t feel right you can be pretty certain it’s due to some kind of nutrient deficiency. If this goes on too long cells begin to suffer, symptoms worsen, and chronic illness can result.

To review, here is how intravenous (IV) vitamins and nutrients therapy works:

1. IV Therapy bypasses the entire digestive system including your liver. This means we don’t have to worry about the breakdown, digestion and absorption of food, because we administer the nutrients directly into blood.
2. IV Therapy increases blood and tissue concentrations of vitamins far above the levels we can ever achieve even by taking vitamins orally.
3. IV Therapy temporarily and safely floods cells with an oversupply of the nutrients needed to make energy and the building blocks of our cells like proteins, fats, DNA and cells membranes.
4. IV Therapy can deliver fat soluble vitamins (A, E, D and K), water soluble vitamins (C, B1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9,12) , minerals (magnesium, calcium, zinc), amino acids…and more directly to all cells.

The effects of making these nourishing vitamins available to your cells in abundance can be dramatic and almost instantaneous. Many patients report an increase in energy, better mood, less anxiety, improved immunity and sleep, faster recovery from muscle fatigue and a lifting of their mental “fog” very soon after treatment.

Now if you’ve read this far, I assume you’re suffering from some issues yourself and are interested in testing out IV therapy to see how it will work. So I have some questions for you…

How are you feeling? Do you need a boost? Would you like us to test and see how  well your digestive tract is performing and exactly what nutrients are deficient?
We can help! Just click here to book your first appointment now and discover how IV nutrient therapy can help you recover your health virtually overnight.