What is an IV drip and how does it work?
If you’re looking for an innovative treatment that keeps you healthy, boosts your energy and has anti-ageing qualities to give your whole body a new lease of life, then IV therapy could be for you. This article will explain what exactly IV therapy is, how it works and what it’s used for.
What does IV mean?
The acronym ‘IV’ stands for intravenous therapy, with the ‘intra’ part meaning within or inside and ‘venous’ referring to the veins. As you can work out from the name, IV therapy is a way of administering fluids into the body via the blood vessels, delivering essential nutrients to your body in the most efficient way possible.
These fluids, or cocktails (not those types), contain vitamins, antioxidants and other nutrients that get transfused straight into the bloodstream. Each mixture differs depending on the needs of each patient, but some common cocktails include:
- Saline — great for dehydration and curing hangovers since sodium, or salt, is a vital electrolyte.
- Vitamins — vitamins and antioxidants boost our energy and strengthen the immune system.
- Electrolytes — these hydrate our bodies, regulate nerve function and regulate blood pressure. Other than the previously mentioned sodium, your body needs electrolytes such as potassium, calcium, bicarbonate, magnesium, chloride and phosphate.
- Amino acids — to directly help improve immune function, enhance muscle growth and cut recovery time after exercise, improve nervous system function and help liver detoxification.
- Curcumin, CoQ10, resveratrol, NAD, nano-phosphatidylcholine, artesunate and others — used in specialised IV drips, these are very potent and highly effective as a treatment of certain conditions.
How does IV drip therapy work?
To administer an IV drip — containing your special cocktail of vitamins and nutrients — a needle is inserted into a vein. The drips are performed for around 45-60 minutes with up to 1000ml of fluids inserted per session. During a drip clients can read, work or relax.
The advantage of this therapy is that it bypasses the whole digestive tract, which has a compromised absorption ability. Even if you took larger doses orally, they will merely be excreted rather than absorbed. In an IV drip, however, the infused nutrients go directly into the bloodstream to provide nourishment.
For example, using an IV drip to infuse 7.5g of vitamin C will give blood levels 10 times as high than supplementing orally with 15g throughout the day. In summary, IV drips are incredibly more efficient at absorbing nutrients than the digestive system. This makes them vital for those with chronic and depleted conditions who often require high levels of nutrients in order for the body to respond appropriately.
What is an IV drip used for?
It is common for intravenous nutrients to be administered in hospitals to patients who are dehydrated, nutrient-deficient or unable to take medications orally. Some of the main benefits using an IV drip are improved well-being, immune health and helping people recover from addiction. We will go through these and more below.
Improved overall well-being
IV drips can improve physical and emotional wellness by giving your body the fuel it needs to stay in top condition. When you have the ideal balance of vitamins and nutrients, you’ll feel better, get ill less often, and enjoy improved mental clarity. While the exact level varies depending on the individual, the demands of daily life make it difficult to ingest the correct amounts of these essential vitamins. This is especially true given the lack of quality of nutrients in the most convenient foods.
Even for people who use multivitamins, it is impossible for your body to absorb all the nutrients due to the metabolic process in digestion. Also, it is not uncommon for people to have impaired absorption, which further reduces the body’s ability to effectively convert micronutrients into usable energy. As discussed, IV drip therapy byapsses the metalbolix process, filling you in with the vitamins, minerals and electrolytes you need. As a result, your body receives 100% of the nutrients and you are better equipped to combat fatigue, have higher energy levels and improve your immune health (which will be discussed next).
Better immune health
IV vitamin drips can improve your immune system by delivering all the vitamins and antioxidants you need directly to your cells. Here are some specific examples:
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is a well-known vitamin found in citrus fruit, such as oranges and grapefruit, plus food like broccoli, sprouts and potatoes. It acts as an antioxidant vitamin that helps your body remove excess free radicals: harmful toxins that can cause cellular damage. A recent study found that high doses of intravenous vitamin C may be an effective treatment for people diagnosed with COVID-19. This is because vitamin C’s antioxidant properties help to destress one’s immune system.
B-Complex vitamins
B-complex are eight different vitamins that perform a range of vital functions, including cardiovascular support and helping your body convert food into energy. They have been proven to help circulate antibodies to antigens, which supports and quickens immune system responses to infections.
Glutathione
Also known as the master antioxidant, glutathione detoxifies your body, in turn providing immune system support. This is because glutathione-enhanced cells are able to produce more infection-fighting antibodies. It is also a very potent antiviral and has been shown to be effective against EBV, herpes and Covid. In our clinic we only use the advanced form of activated glutathione (S-Acetyl-L-Glutathione), which is about 10 times as effective as the standard type.
Hydration
While not a vitamin, IV hydration is an essential part of our service. Staying hydrated ensures that your cells have the fluids they need to operate at their best, which is particularly important if you are trying to prevent a cold or recovering from an illness. These problems put greater demands on your body because of the extra energy your cells need to fend off microscopic invaders, meaning it has to use more fluid than usual to get the job done.
Appearance and beauty
Unlike topical (applied to external skin) creams and oral supplements, IV therapy contains antioxidants to remove free radicals, which are molecules that cause ageing and tissue damage. Getting rid of them reduces the appearance of wrinkles, repairs ultraviolet (UV) damage, and helps your body cleanse toxins. Moreover, IV will strengthen hair, nails, skin, and eyes, and improve blemishes. Pretty cool, right?
Here at London Natural Therapies, our IV drips contain several important nutrients, like amino acids and trace minerals, as well as homeopathics, that help directly with collagen production and enhance skin repair processes.
Boosted athletic performance
Intensive training is taxing on the body, requiring more nutrients and vitamins to maintain peak performance. Workouts not only break down muscles, but also lead to the gradual buildup of free radicals. As mentioned prior, flushing these out promotes healing, as well as providing thorough rehydration and helping to maintain muscle mass. These IV drips also contain amino acids, the building blocks of proteins that help the body during the recovery and muscle building process.
Addiction recovery
Addiction recovery is hard. While there are numerous effective methods you should look into, IV treatments is an ideal co-therapy alongside a professional addiction recovery programme. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is the enzyme used for this, and can help reduce symptoms of withdrawal by repairing neurotransmitters in your brain which are damaged by addiction.
Here at London Natural Therapies, we provide a unique selection of high potency IV cocktails as part of our IV therapy service. These are only available in a few clinics worldwide, with all the ingredients German pharmacy manufactured and of the highest standard with proven efficacy. If you would like to hear more information about our service, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We are very happy to answer any questions you might have.