The Complete Guide to IV Vitamin Therapy

 

  

 

Right now, Americans are pretty big on vitamin supplements and pills. There are a number of reasons why someone might feel the need to pop a vitamin pill every day. Perhaps using vitamin supplements helps people believe that they’re being proactive about their health by getting an extra supply of nutrients. Maybe they read about how the supplements can bring down the risk of a certain disease, and they’re using the pills for exactly that reason.

But unsurprisingly, there’s little scientific evidence that suggests that vitamin supplements drastically improve your overall health. Now, this isn’t to say that we’re just writing off vitamin supplements as complete fads. Taking your supplements does help, but only if you had known vitamin deficiencies.

It’s also interesting to consider how some of the times, it may only be a mere placebo effect that people start to feel better after taking a supplement. This is because many supplements on the market today are nothing but low quality nutrients and cheap fillers. But knowing what benefit they’re supposed to bring about gives you the false impression that they are working, when really, they’re not.

Data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) showed how vitamin supplement users self-reported feeling healthier by 30% compared to nonusers. But in actuality, physical and mental assessments between the two groups revealed that vitamin takers scored no better than people who were taking no supplements at all.

Though vitamin supplements may or may not work depending on quality, one thing is for sure; there’s no replacing eating a healthy diet that is rich in vitamins and other important nutrients. Any type of nutrient pill is supposed to play a supplementary role in supporting your diet, and not act as its replacement. If anything, there’s more evidence that suggests how taking vitamins via other, more invasive methods is far better than simply popping a pill.

The IV vitamin therapy is one such method that is a better alternative to taking vitamin supplements if for some reason you’re unable to completely rely on your daily meals for a full-scope of vitamins. 

 

 

Intravenous Vitamin Drip Therapy

When you take an oral vitamin tablet, the absorption rate of the nutrients into your blood is about only 8%, which means you’re not really going to get the desired results you’re hoping for out of these supplements. Whereas when you get your vitamins delivered via an IV drip, the absorption rate is 99.9%.

“IV” or intravenous therapy refers to a delivery technique of fluids that supplies important things to your body directly via your bloodstream. This method is effective because the nutrients are skipping going through your digestive tract altogether, which means they’re more readily available in the desired quantity for your body to use up.

Whenever you consume anything orally, the absorption rate via your digestive system depends on how healthy you are, how active your metabolism is, and whether you have any nutrient deficiencies or hormonal imbalances or both. So a lot of the times, your vitamin supplements may be rendered ineffective just because your bodily functions weren’t efficient enough to support their absorption into your blood.

The Ingredients in a Vitamin IV Drip

For Vitamin IV drip therapy, you can opt for an injection of one kind of vitamin, or a combination of many. Some healthful vitamin nutrients to pick are:

Vitamin B12: This is an essential vitamin that your body needs but can’t produce naturally on its own. Vitamin B12 plays an important role in the normal functioning of your neurons, red blood cell formation, and bone health support. This is why Vitamin B12 has the ability to lower your chances of getting anemia, osteoporosis, and can even improve your mental well-being by supporting good memory and alleviating symptoms of depression and anxiety to a degree.

Vitamin B5: This vitamin plays an important role in metabolism, especially in the breaking down of fats and carbohydrates for energy production that your body can use up. Moreover, it serves a critical role in red blood cell production as well. Vitamin B15 is therefore beneficial for healthy skin, hair, and eyes, and enables normal functioning of your liver and digestive system.

 

Vitamin B6: The functions of Vitamin B6 are to metabolize nutrients for energy, manufacture red blood cells, help form DNA, and breakdown an excess amount of homocysteine—which is an amino acid that puts you at a greater risk of heart disease. Additionally, it also helps create serotonin and norepinephrine, which are hormones that help regulate your mood.

Vitamin D3: The Vitamin D3’s role is to facilitate the absorption of calcium and phosphorus into your bloodstream, which helps keep your bones strong and maintain good bone health.

Vitamin B Complex: Vitamin B complex or Vitamin B Co encompasses 8 different group B vitamins, and therefore brings about the combined effect of all the vitamins. Its roles include various bodily processes like metabolism, red blood cell production, and normal brain function.

 

 

 

How Often Should You Get the IV Vitamin Treatment?

The need for vitamins differs from person to person. Some people may not need any additional vitamins at all because they get enough from their normal diet. Others may need one before or after an important event, like a major surgery or a sport tournament.

To assess your vitamin requirement, your doctor may run a nutrition level blood test on you to determine how deficient you are on certain vitamins, and then recommend you a vitamin IV treatment accordingly.

Disclaimer: This postis only intended for educational purposes and shouldn't be used as a substitute for medical advice.

About the Author

The author is a healthcare provider at Tavicare, a healthcare facility in Maryland that specializes in functional care—a medical practice that uses a big-picture approach to treating and managing various health concerns. The team’s services include everything from preventive care, testing services and COVID-19 treatment to customized nutrition plans and age management therapies.