Today we return to T-Nation and an interesting article about receiving micronutrients and “anti-oxidative” agents intravenously (IV.) While the author, Cy Wilson, like 99.9% of all fitness- and health-writers are indoctrinated slaves and get most things backwards, this is a really interesting and important subject – and if you’re familiar with how our physiology actually works, you likely already know where this is going.
And yes, I too was a slave trapped in this faulty belief-system for most of my career, working professionally within the fitness-, health-, coaching-, supplement-, pharmaceutical-, and medical industries. However, on the bright side, working +20 years at the highest level in these industries means that I know their faulty inverted “science” inside and out, and that made it really easy to see all the lies once I discovered the truth and everything just clicked.
So, with that said, let’s take a quick look at this article.
Cy starts with talking about the gatekeeper and controlled opposition Joe Rogan, the actor-comedian (the Fool/Joker archetype) used to lure baby-truthers and people just waking up from their slumber into doing really stupid and unhealthy things, as in going the ‘alternative’ route and take extremely harmful poisons like Ivermectin, or in this case, do different kinds of IV-therapies.
Fortunately, Cy mentions that the scientific evaluation for IV-therapies is scant, and what little does exist isn’t very promising. As for the basic idea behind vitamin drips, it stems from the notion that oral administration isn’t as effective as intravenous. Consequently, proponents argue, that you can achieve much higher blood-concentrations that could never be reached orally. Cy then continues with listing three points that he considers true.
Oral vs. Intravenous
- Oral bioavailability (the amount reaching the bloodstream) for most micronutrients isn’t going to be 100%. This may be due to limited/poor absorption or extensive metabolism, referred to as the “first-pass effect” by the liver and/or GI tract.
- IV administration allows 100% of the administered dose to reach the bloodstream (bypassing the issues above) and allows for high concentrations that could never be reached with tablets and powders.
- IV administration allows for a much more rapid rise in concentrations of a given micronutrient than oral.
Yes, these bullet points are true. As for oral administration, as in the natural way to get any kind of nutrients, it all depends on bioavailability. The only bioavailable nutrients for humans, as we are obligate hyper carnivores, are from animal-based foods, such as meat, animal fats, eggs and dairy. Any kind of “nutrient” found in plant foods, such as vegetables, seeds, nuts, fruits, supplements, etcetera, are not bioavailable. These “nutrients” are non-organic and your body has to remove and reattach different bonds in an effort to convert them to something useful, a process that at best might yield a 12% kickback, and at worst only 4% or less. Also, what is left of these non-organic “nutrients” need to be discharged from the body as they are inherently toxic, and if your detoxification system is not working as efficiently as it should, some of the remains will be stored away in tissues to be detoxified later when an emergency protocol is activated, as experienced with a “common cold” or the “flu.”
However, if these detoxification processes are cut short, as when using drugs/medicines or “remedies” to stop the detoxification, build-ups of these toxins will continue, and ultimately you will develop severe “diseases,” especially in your organs, such as liver and kidney damage, cardiovascular disease, cancer/tumors, and as for non-organic nutrients, you might develop calcified arteries, blood clots, and kidney stones. Remember, your liver and kidneys are your filtration stations, doing their best to remove any toxins from what you ingest or inject into your system. Also, remember that any kind of symptoms your experience, as for example when experiencing the “common cold,” are from the healing process. If you do something to quickly remove the symptoms, as in taking a drug or a “remedy,” it means that you have stopped the healing. However, you did absolutely nothing about the underlaying problem that caused the detoxification, the healing response, and thus the experienced symptoms. You might feel good again and think that you got better, but you simply stopped the healing and whatever caused it will continue to accumulate, causing even more damage.
With all that said, Cy continued with the question if reaching a higher concentration in the bloodstream really matters.
Does Any of That Matter?
Yes, IV administration provides for higher plasma concentrations, but the difference between 40-60% and 100% reaching your bloodstream is negligible when it comes to physiological effects (1,2). Furthermore, IV administration won’t provide a superior pharmacokinetic profile, so daily or at least weekly administration would still be required.
This leaves only the potential for achieving much higher concentrations in the bloodstream with IV versus oral administration as a potential advantage. However, IV administration is really only effective if you’re attempting to bypass an area responsible for a first-pass effect (the liver or GI tract).
IV administration doesn’t solve issues with other pharmacokinetic variables. For example, it doesn’t solve issues with rapid elimination from plasma (at least not inherently), and it doesn’t solve poor distribution and penetration issues to target tissues or high protein binding once it reaches the bloodstream.
Yes, once again Cy is correct. However, the big elephant in the room is that of real organic nutrients as found in meat, in animal-based foods, versus non-organic nutrients found in dirt and plants, or even worse, artificial chemical man-made versions of them. Do you really want to inject and reach abnormal high blood-concentration of a substance that your body do not really recognize? A substance that your body will perceive as toxic, as a poison? And what are the consequences of doing so? Yes, those of you reading this equipped with a high intelligence and understanding has already figured this out. And we’ll get to it in a minute.
But before we do, Cy continues with the question if there actually are people in need of IV therapy.
Who Really Needs the Needle?
In rare cases where you’re dealing with someone who’s extremely deficient in a micronutrient, rapidly hitting higher plasma concentrations makes sense, at least initially. However, it’s not a long-term solution unless you’re planning on daily or weekly IVs.
Alternatively, IV drips make sense for people who are critically ill, septic, have intestinal cancer, or are unable to ingest anything (3). IV administration of micronutrients is called for in those circumstances. Otherwise, it’s effectively a waste for a normal, healthy adult.
Well, Cy, your reasoning is correct, unfortunately your understanding of nutrients is not. Any kind of man-made vitamin or antioxidant supplement is a far cry from anything resembling real nutrients found in animal-based foods (or our own cells.) Only infusions of some minerals, glucose, and perhaps some amino acids will work, but that will not fix any nutrient deficiency. It might however be enough to keep someone alive long enough for he or she to recover enough to be able to eat again.
But What About Hitting Those Magic Levels?
Proponents argue that there’s a physiological range for various micronutrients and other agents that serves basic functions. But to really experience downright amazing benefits, you must get those concentrations into a “pharmacological” range.
This concept is nothing new, and there’s no evidence that anything worthwhile occurs. Even if a high concentration of a given micronutrient is able to hit a given molecular target (albeit transiently), what actual benefit would you see unless you’re doing this constantly, every single day? Probably not much, and even then, it’s questionable.
Yes, if we imagine that you could actually provide real bioavailable nutrients directly into the bloodstream, your body would still only use what is needed for the moment and discard the rest, as it ALWAYS does. Nothing magical would happen by trying to “saturate” cells. They only absorb what they currently need.
Cy then brings up Vitamin C, which is extremely toxic as it cannot be replicated as found in nature. Also, humans, in contrast to herbivores, do not produce their own vitamin C because we are carnivores meant to run on a fat metabolism (ketosis) which produces perfect levels of uric acid, the most potent antioxidant known in existence. I’ve covered the vitamin C scam in several articles.
“It Worked for Me!” – Placebo Pete
Most of the alleged benefits from IV solutions are probably due to a strong placebo effect (15). The fact that you’re paying good money to have a trusted healthcare provider inject you with something they claim provides benefits produces a pretty powerful psychological effect.
Actually no. And this is where my intelligent readers already know what I’m about to say. The reason why some people get fooled into taking any of these IV-therapies is because they might feel a bit fatigued compared to how they used to feel only a few years ago, or that they are experiencing some kind of symptoms, as in feeling ill. So, what happens if you inject something like Vitamin C or vitamin D3 that your body identifies as toxic, as a poison? Well, it reacts in the same way as when you orally take a drug or a “remedy,” but with a much more impactful effect, as the toxins hit the bloodstream directly and in larger quantities without having to go through your digestive system and your organs. Yes, you get acutely poisoned. Much more so than you could by taking it orally. Your body goes into emergency mode. All healing that is taking place is shut down as removing toxins from the bloodstream has the absolutely highest priority, or you would die. Hormones are jacked up, as in adrenaline and other hormones to rev-up your metabolism and aid in elimination. The effect might be comparable to that of a high dose of caffeine or some other stimulant (which kind of work in the same toxic way.) In other words, you will immediately feel better, even ‘wired,’ but it’s all an illusion due to your body fighting for your survival.
So, it’s not really a placebo effect, although that might contribute as well, especially after your body has eliminated whatever poison you injected, as you still might think that you did something beneficial.
Still, the most likely cause of feeling better for a while after such an IV-therapy is that you eliminated whatever healing process that was currently taking place and all the symptoms connected to it thus disappeared. And unfortunately, by doing so, you took another BIG step towards real life-threatening disease, especially cancer (as tumors are grown to incapsulate toxins to stop them from damaging critical tissues.)
The Risks
Cy then continues with the risks of IV-therapies and mentions the risks of infections or simply getting low-quality supplements or drugs manufactured in less-than-ideal conditions. And while this is true, the real risk is obvious as anything other than a few minerals and perhaps amino acids will be toxic and it will shut down your healing processes.
So, for once, I have to say that Cy Wilson did a fairly good job with his article, even if he missed the big picture, the elephant in the room, he at least was very critical of this idiotic and retarded IV practice. And props to T-Nation for actually publishing this. Now all we can wish for is for them to really wake up from the inverted pseudo-science. However, as they are funded through selling toxic man-made supplements, that will likely not happen.
With all that said, if you really want to experience a natural and extremely powerful boost in performance, all you need is to consume some raw veal/beef liver. That is nature’s true “multivitamin.”
And if you need help with anything health and/or nutrition-related, my consulting and coaching services are always available.