What are the benefits of IV therapy?

The benefits of IV Vitamin Therapy include the benefits of delivering nutrients via an intravenous mechanism as well as the beneficial effects and mechanisms of the nutrients themselves.

Benefits of IV delivery of nutrients vs supplementation and diet alone:

  1. Increased absorption and delivery of nutrients

    While oral supplementation and diet requires adequate gastrointestinal absorption and “first pass metabolism” through the liver, IV Nutrient Therapy delivers nutrients directly to the circulation and to the cells where the nutrients are needed.  In addition, whereas oral absorption may be 1-25%, IV’s provide nearly 100% of nutrients delivered to be available to cells for repair and health.  This circumvents the problem of malabsorption, gastrointestinal disease, and liver dysfunction to allow the nutrients to have immediate and direct action promoting improved health and function.

    • Oral absorption of nutrients requires numerous steps involving the gastrointestinal tract and liver.  Digestively, there are a series of steps required for breakdown of food and/or supplements to make these nutrients bioavailable, and many variables that can impact optimal absorption.  Such variables include optimal enzyme activity, proper acid production, healthy gut flora, healthy and non-inflamed gastrointestinal lining, peristaltic tone (pumping action of GI tract), and other processes.  After nutrients are transported from the GI tract to the blood, they are then delivered to the liver for filtering and detoxification, after which they are then released to the bloodstream for delivery to organs and cells where they are needed. This process is referred to as “first pass metabolism.” A compromised liver (or genetic mutations of certain liver enzymes) can make certain nutrients inactive, ineffective, or bound for excretion before given the opportunity to have their effect in the body.

    • In a healthy person, many essential minerals/nutrients have as little as 1-25% absorption rate via the enterohepatic route (GI and Liver systems.) This number decreases further when taking into consideration the prevalence of factors that can interfere with enterohepatic function and cause some degree of malabsorption, such as gastrointestinal disease, poor diet, fatigue, illness, environmental toxin exposure (heavy metals, PCB’s, pesticides, dioxins, smog), chronic medication use (especially PPI’s and acid blockers), chronic stress, hormone imbalances, diabetes, aging, infections, suboptimal liver function, and so on.

    • IV therapy is especially beneficial for people with any condition that causes malabsorption, including IBD, IBS, and other conditions affecting the digestive tract. IV Therapy is also beneficial for patients taking medications such as PPI’s that may interfere with nutrient absorption. 

  2. Ability to use natural substances at higher levels than possible via oral supplementation for enhanced therapeutic result

Though nutrients may have numerous effects in the body, some of these effects are only attained after reaching very high levels.  For example, vitamin C has been demonstrated to have different therapeutic effects at higher serum concentrations of 10-15 mg/dL. These levels are not achievable via oral route even in a healthy individual.  The highest plasma concentration achieved through oral administration of vitamin C is 9.2 mg/dL. This means that no matter how much vitamin C someone ingests, they will be unable to raise their blood levels beyond a certain point. To put that in perspective, a standard, preventative dose of 2.5 grams/day of vitamin C will only raise the serum concentration to about 1.2-1.5 mg/dl.  Even if we could achieve higher and higher serum concentrations from super dosing of vitamin C, such high oral dosing often causes disagreeable gastrointestinal side effects such as diarrhea and nausea. A similar effect is found with other nutrients including magnesium, supplementation, where oral supplementation has a peak serum concentration beyond which even super-dosing with oral magnesium cannot surpass. Similar absorption issues may also apply to certain B vitamins, Glutathione, and other antioxidants.

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3. Fast-Track boost for weakened systems and suboptimal cellular health

IV nutrient therapy  provides a “kick start” by making nutrients more readily available and easier to transport inside the cells. By providing higher nutrient concentration in the blood than can be achieved with oral therapy, cells are no longer reliant on energy dependent mechanisms to transport nutrients inside. This higher serum concentrations of nutrients makes it easier for cells to access the nutrients they need for optimal functionality, as diffusion is on the cells’ side.  Diffusion is the net movement of a substances from areas of high concentration to low concentration.  Higher nutrient levels in the blood creates a pharmacodynamic state favoring the transport of nutrients from blood to cells.  Cells can receive these nutrients using less energy, and at a much faster rate, to promote cellular recovery even in weakened and damaged states.

4. Optimizes hydration

Adequate hydration is essential to optimized health.  IV therapy is an efficient and quick method of improving immediate hydration status