Should You Use IV Therapy? The Dangers of Low Iron and Biohacking Your Omega-3 Levels
Ameer Rosic Monday May 26th 2014
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IVs can make some people squeamish. But low iron can be even worse!
Intravenous therapy is a medical procedure in which fluids and medication are administered into the veins. The skin is punctured using plastic catheter and needle, commonly known as an IV stick. It is not only life saving but also provide numerous health benefits.
1. Increases cell detoxification Intravenous therapy might help increase detoxification, which speed up the healing process. It further boosts your immune system, protecting your body against infections. Moreover, it helps kill fungi, bacteria, tumors and viruses.
2. Reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases Also, intravenous therapy reduces the chance of developing common cardiovascular diseases such as arteriosclerosis. It reduce arterial blockage and improve circulation of blood throughout the body, which boost your overall health.
Transcript (Listen to the Full Podcast Here) Ameer: Hey Emily, welcome to the Optimal Health Show. How you doing? Emily: I’m good. How are you? Ameer: I got no complaints. I’m not too sure about the people on the East Coast right now like in Toronto, they got dumped with some ridiculous snow so I feel sorry for them at the moment. Emily: So sad. So sad. Ameer: What’s happening, it’s like a bipolar weather pattern going on there. It’s like angry one day, happy the next, I don’t know. Emily: I know. I’m reconsidering living in this place next year. Ameer: I don’t blame you. When I moved out of there, like, it’s coming up like 10 months or something right now, it’s like “I don’t want back.” It’s like “Jesus, the weather is really…” Just don’t get me wrong, the summers are great, but the winters are brutal. Emily: Brutal. Ameer: Yeah. Emily: A little even more kill where you are. Ameer: Yeah. A little bit more even kill. Actually, what we’re going to be talking about today kind of like ties into this, and we’re going to be discussing IV therapy and how it can actually make you healthier, happier and smarter. For people who don’t know out there, what is IV therapy? Emily: So, IV therapy is basically high dose of vitamins that we put into a saline solution or water, infuse it right into your veins, so we’re actually getting the exact amount that we’re putting into your body and you’re absorbing it all. So it’s very cool and a really awesome therapy and used a lot in my clinic. Yeah. Ameer: Is this similar to say someone at the hospital and they got that back beside them and it’s just dripping into their veins? Emily: I mean, sort of, but we’re actually using vitamins and minerals and amino acids and potentially some naturopaths we use, cool things like homeopathics in their IVs. It’s really being used for different purposes, more as like prevention than it is for sort of recalibrating the body. Ameer: What are the benefits of doing IV therapy over say oral supplementation?
Emily: I think just as I described to you, I actually can, if I got a bag with 50 cc of vitamin C in it, I know that your body is actually taking 50 cc of vitamin C. We’re kind of bypassing your gastrointestinal tract and getting it all in there which is pretty awesome, especially today when so many people have issues with their stomachs and large intestine and small intestine with absorbing, so yeah. Ameer: Who would benefit from IV therapy? You mentioned like prevention and everything, now would you recommend it for everybody or do you kind of screen and individual before saying “I think IV therapy would be a good approach for you. Emily: There’s so many different benefits to doing IV therapy, but I definitely make sure that it fits with my patients, so I don’t know about you but I hear in Toronto, people are pretty needle-phobics, so they don’t like getting needles all the time. It’s sometimes a hard style, however I do think it’s beneficial at least once a month, give yourself an amazing rush of some vitamin C, some B vitamins, selenium, zinc, magnesium, calcium, all those things that we may be just kind of missing on a day-to-day basis, and that our basis are using up at a rapid rate, because we’re stressed out and we’re working out and all that stuff. So I use it preventively with a lot of my patients, more on a monthly basis, and then we use it a lot with our really sick patients, so anything from migraines to seizures to cancer patients. Ameer: Have you seen any like subset group of people like extremely benefit from it because you just mentioned right now like cancer or Alzheimer’s, any of those really take well to it? Emily: Definitely. I mean, most of the research is on cancer patients. Our clinic sees, as an integrative clinic, we do see a lot of cancer patients come in and IV therapy is one of the main things we’ll use with them. Some patients will opt to use it solely. Some people will opt to use it in conjunction with what they’re doing with their regular medical professional. It’s pretty awesome. You can really tailor it to an individual. Ameer: Now, what determines what goes in the IV? For example say I’m an athlete and I come to you and I’m like “Alright Emily, I want to just prevent any oxidation in my body, maybe like increase my liver pathways.” What would you determine my recipe would be for an IV? Emily: Well, I think the important thing to consider number one is we got to start off slow, see what your body can handle, and then go up from there. Now, we in the clinic as well, I mean, I like to be a practitioner that kind of looks at “Hey, before we just decide to put random stuff in your body, are you deficient in anything?” So we may use some sort of lab testing, use some blood tests to see what your B vitamins are at, what your vitamin D is at. We’ve even got ways to test omegas in your body, so I think number one, being informed as to what you are deficient in, and as an athlete, I mean you’re using more amino acids, more vitamins, more minerals than anybody else right? So adding things like calcium and magnesium and taurine, vitamin C, B-complex, acetylcarnitine, all of those minerals that you’re going to use at a rapid rate will be really beneficial to you. Ameer: Now, is there a way that someone can do IV therapy at home or this is specifically just in the care of a physician? Emily: Well right now, it’s just in the care of a physician now. From my understanding is especially in Ontario is that only naturopaths are doing this right now. If you go somewhere like in the States, I don’t if you’ve heard about it in Las Vegas and LA, they actually have vitamin drip RVs or vans. Ameer: Really?
Emily: Yeah. And I think one of them, I can’t remember the names of them, but yeah people are actually using them more as a hangover remedy than they are for anything else, which is really fascinating. But here, we use them more medically, and yeah naturopaths are the only ones. You really can’t IV yourself I mean. It’d be pretty difficult. Ameer: I think it’s dangerous as well. Maybe you don’t know how to use the equipment properly, maybe the dosaging is off. Emily: Absolutely. Ameer: Is there any like favorite mix that you have that you maybe give yourself or your patients that kind of like a rejuvenation concoction? Emily: Yeah. I mean, I personally like to just do, I don’t know if you’ve heard of what a Myers’ cocktail is. It sort of has a broad range, a small amount of everything in it. Now for me, supporting my adrenal glands, the adrenal fatigue that we all talk about is important, so I make up my vitamin C. We can actually use some herbs in our formulas as well. There’s just kind of hard to get a hold of, but I might do that and also adding in some of these really cool German homeopathics that help your lymphatic system and your circulation as well is pretty awesome. Ameer: Can you name like one or two of these homeopathics? Emily: Yeah. So, have you heard of something called Traumeel? Ameer: No, I haven’t. Emily: When you get injured, there’s a really cool cream called Traumeel and it’s got something in it called Arnica and we use it for bruising, acute injury, anybody can use it, but we can actually put it into an IV and it is amazing reducing the inflammation in your body. The other one I really like using is something I just called Lymphdiaral, and it helps the lymphatic system to drain to get rid of toxin in the body. We have a lot of stocked stress in our body, so the Lymphdiaral is really great at helping that. Ameer: You mentioned earlier that you did some testing, like fatty acid testing and nutrient testing. Is there any specific test that you know offhand that you really love to do? Emily: It depends on the patient, and a lot of our testing in the clinic ends up going through either urine or saliva. Specifically for me, I like to just send my patients to the lab, get them to get their B12 done, their iron done and their vitamin D if they can get that done as well. There is also a saliva test that tests your omega status in your omega, which is really cool because we’re taking say 2000 mg of our daily omega and you just want to make sure “Hey, is my body actually using this? Is it actually getting to where it needs to go?” So I think those are important things to do because it really looks at you as an individual, yeah. Ameer: What lab was that that does saliva for fatty acid testing? Emily: I think we use, it’s called Rocky Mountain Analytical. Ameer: They’re in British Columbia aren’t they? Emily: I think they may be in Alberta. I can’t exactly remember. So yeah, those are the ones we tend to use, but really awesome.
Ameer: Cool. Why is B12 so important and why do you test it? Emily: Well, B12 we know is so intertwined with energy for my patients, and digestion, right? If B12 levels are low, I’m like “Hey, what’s going on in there? You’re eating this in your diet and you’re not actually taking it in,” so that’s an important one especially for energy, and especially to look what your iron status is too. I see women all the time with really low iron. Ameer: How is B12 connected to iron? Emily: Well, I mean if your B12 levels are not high enough, you’re not going to absorb iron, right? So you need both of those. They’re basically just indicators as to how well the body is utilizing the other. Ameer: And, when you’re doing for example IV therapy for B12, is there a certain form of B12 like methylcobalamin or hydroxyl they’d prefer over the other? Emily: Yeah. We generally use methylcobalamin, and I can’t tell you why. That’s something that’s always on my fridge at the clinic, so yeah, we definitely use that one more than anything else. Ameer: You mentioned fatty acids and all the testing. Is there any specific say fish oils or cod liver oils or any like DHAs or EPAs that you really love? Emily: I mean, I sort of, I love companies that they only make that one product, like they’re a fish oil company so they’re dedicated to that. I specifically like, there’s one called Nordic Naturals that I really like, and Ascenta is sort of a key one as well. And then, we know for adults, it’s better have the ratio of EPA higher, so we usually say a 3:1 ratio. For children it’s opposite. You’d like the DHA to be a little bit higher for brain development. Ameer: Now what’s your take on oral supplementation. So one goes to the clinic, maybe I do a preventative IV therapy as an athlete once a month, maybe I have my own custom Ameer-mix. Would you recommend any like special supplementation or your top three recommended supplementation that people should be considering? Emily: Okay. So I think this is actually really important. I tell all my patients it’s about building a foundation. So what your foundational things? Number one, a probiotic, a good one. One that’s got at least, I’d say at least 10 billion little cultures in it. So I do that. Definitely, I think fish oil or some sort of an omega is important, and then after that, I think it becomes a little specific to the person, so adrenal glands are big ones, and whether you want to support them through herbs, you want to support them through say vitamin C, you want to support though homeopathics, those are my top three things that I think we should all be really aware of in our diets everyday. Ameer: Now, the adaptogenics and everything. You mentioned some homeopathic remedies, maybe some supplements. Do you have any favorites that people can maybe pick up from their local health food store? Emily: Yeah. So depending on where you’re at with that, I think like I said again, check your cortisol levels, what they are at? You know what that hormone is? Cortisol? Ameer: Uh-oh, I think I’m pressing out. Emily: So, I’d check those out first, see what state you are in. So are you overusing them, do they just need support, and then choose what you’re going to do from there. Using something like, there’s a herb
called Withania in Ashwagandha are really supportive to the adrenal glands that they just help them to function better. There’s a homeopathic called Pascoe now, and that is amazing. I use it with all my CEOtype patients who are just constantly in their mind thinking about the day, day in and day out, like they can’t shut their mind chatter off. And yes. There’s just so many different things you can do to help support them. Vitamin C is really great too. Ameer: Do you have a preferred variant of vitamin C? Because I know there’s a big debate between like ascorbate and ascorbic acid and buffering vitamin C versus non-buffering? Emily: In the clinic, we just tend to use the buffered. In the IVs, it’s ascorbic acid. Ameer: Are you familiar with transdermal technologies? Emily: A little bit. Do you know a little more than I do? Ameer: I know, just fascinating stuff. Well, it depends. They have transdermal patches now but obviously anything that you put in your skin is really transdermal, so it’s about actually creating the right amount of the particle size of the actual like these molecules to bypass I guess your skin and everything to go inside your cell, but it’s interesting, I’m seeing them coming out with like transdermal glutathione, transdermal vitamin C, and many other different nutrients, so I’m quite fascinated where that’s going to head. Obviously, it’s really expensive at the moment and it’s not buyable for most, very small population, so I’m excited to see maybe in five years, you can combine say “Okay I go to the clinic, I get maybe my biweekly or monthly dose of IV, and then between those, I have my patches or creams.” Emily: Yeah, to maintain that level. Absolutely. And I mean, there’s also something we said there too about, there’s sort of a symphony of the way your body produce those things, and so you don’t really want to push it too far into one extreme. Do you know what I mean? So we don’t want to always do B12 without doing the other B vitamins because it sort of pushes that balance too far in one direction, and so I think that’s something to consider as well. But the transdermal patches are awesome. I think they’re also talking about magnesium that way, maybe melatonin, I’m not sure. I think you hit the nail on the head with the way the skin absorbs. Like even with my celiac, my gluten-free patients, I make sure that the skin care they’re using is gluten-free because it totally absorbs through the skin. Ameer: Do you know any products off hand that have hidden gluten inside of their products? Emily: I don’t know of them off hand. Ameer: So that’s a really big problem. I have been reading about that. I haven’t met anyone personally that has that degree of sensitivity, so you’re saying you see it in your practice that people using skin care products that contain gluten actually react to it? Emily: Yeah. I have a really close friend actually who’s just so sensitive to it, it creates an issue in her brain, and so she has to be ever so careful on the things that she’s using. You’re using that stuff everyday, so it’s important, it’s definitely important. Ameer: So now, we’re talking about transdermal creams, we’re talking about the possibility of like new technologies and everything, and you just hit for a second something really, really important about B12 and the methylation cycle and not making everything out of balance. For example, B12 has to have certain levels compared to homocysteine, and you have to have your B2s, B3s, B6, other cofactors such as magnesium and vitamin D. Now, if a person is taking B12 right now at the moment which a lot of people are, would you recommend that they take maybe a complex B together with that?
Emily: Yeah. I mean, I do like a multi-B, so if I’m going to do, say I’m going to do an injection of B12 on one of my patients, I do like to give them some multi as well, just so that we’re not just messing with that nice balance in the body, so yeah I agree 100% with that. Ameer: I want to jump back quickly for something. You’re mentioning cortisol and doing testing. You have one doctor that says or they say that saliva testing isn’t the best and you have the opposite camp that’s saying the saliva is the greatest. In your personal opinion, what do you prefer better or do you use them in conjunction together versus blood versus saliva test? Emily: I think Ameer, it really depends on you get a patient in your office and what works for them. I really like to use the saliva. I’m just most familiar with you’ve seen these results over and over and over again so it’s easier for me to interpret them. I think when I’m constantly looking at different types of labs all the time, it can just be a bit overwhelming, and that’s not to say one is better than the other, but I just for me, prefer to look at the saliva testing, and I’ve preferred to look at a four-point right, so you’re looking at cortisol in the morning, the midmorning, the afternoon, and then the evening, so you can really gain the sense of what’s happening throughout the day. Ameer: And the beauty about those tests too is a lot of people as we mentioned at the beginning of the podcast, they don’t like needles. Emily: No, they don’t. I mean, is it different over there in the West? I hear it is. Ameer: I don’t know. People have like a tabooish type of mindset when it comes to needles. I don’t know why it is. I really don’t know why it is, but the beautiful thing about that cortisol test, whatever lab you use, there are a couple of them out there is it’s done at home, in your own comfort, and basically just spit in tubes. It can’t get easier than that. Emily: Yeah. Send it away in the mail and it comes back to me, yeah. Definitely. Ameer: Now, what’s your take on stool testing? I use it highly in my practice depending on the case and the scenario, what’s going on? Emily: Yeah. How do you find the people responded, doing that pretty well for you? Ameer: Yeah. For like really the complex cases, maybe they’re coming back with like mole toxicity or even some parasites or maybe pylori or some gram-negative bacteria. It works well. Emily: I mean, I think they’re great. Again, it’s really fitting with the patient and which they’re willing to do. I think so many of the parasites and the issues in digestion are missed in conventional stool testing. So I definitely agree that those are great and well-worthy investment to do. Ameer: Now, if someone’s interested in IV therapy and they’re considering doing it, what would you suggest their first steps be? Emily: I guess I can speak here in Ontario, I know every place is a little bit different, but I go in to visit your local naturopaths because at this point I don’t really know who else does them in Canada. In the States, Integrative MD would do it as well. Go in and just speak to them about what’s going on for you and what your goals are and have them assess whether I would be worthwhile for you. I guess the other thing I should mention is not every naturopath does IV therapy. It’s a special branch of it that you go and do after you get out of school, so you’d have to make sure a practitioner who’s actually running that therapy for you.
Ameer: Emily, if you had to summarize, what would be your number one optimal health tip? Emily: My number one optimal health tip, I think my number one optimal health tip is to actually live all of the stuff you know. I think we got bogged down with a ton of information everyday about how to eat, how to work out, and we stop actually living it and taking actual steps. So I think my number one tip is actually do it, go out there, go for a run. Take your probiotics, take your omega-3. Live the things that you know, and it will work for you so much better. Ameer: True that. I agree. Emily, where can people find more information about you? Emily: So they can find me at my clinic’s website which is mypurebalance.ca. There are bios and blogs there and they can connect with me. Ameer: Cool. Awesome, well thank you so much for coming on the Optimal Health Show. Until we meet again, have an amazing day. Emily: Thanks Ameer.
Ameer Rosic
Ameer Rosic is obsessed with health. A Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Functional Diagnostic Practitioner and Functional Medicine Practitioner, Ameer has spent years empowering himself with knowledge about optimal health, and now his passion is to share that with you! From interviews with top health experts to fitness and nutritional advice and more, Ameer Rosic can help you live a life of optimal health!
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