Intravenous Nutrient Therapies: Safe, Effective and Powerful Natural Treatment

“That IV plus the B12 shot felt amazing” – Sarah Brebner

The intravenous delivery of nutrients is a very safe and effective way to provide the body with therapeutic and nutritional agents. The advantage of intravenous (IV) therapy over taking oral doses is that the vitamins or nutrients bypass the digestive system and get delivered directly into the bloodstream and onto the cells and tissues of the body. In chronic and depleted conditions, where digestive functions are often compromised, large doses of nutrients call be delivered comfortably and safely. Additionally, IV administration allows for much larger therapeutic doses of certain nutrients to be administered without causing any gastrointestinal disturbances. Treatments have a long history of use by medical doctors and naturopathic doctors locally and internationally.

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Intravenous therapies are an invaluable treatment tools for:

Cancer Care
Infections – to significantly speed recovery colds, flus, viral and bacterial infections, to stop lingering infections, and address non-responding infections eg cellulitis, herpes, pneumonia, bronchitis, sinusitis, mononucleosis, hepatitis, for immune boosting to prevent illness.
Nutritional Deficiency due to gastrointestinal issues eg. IBS, Crohn’s, Colitis etc.
Fatigue, Burnout, stress,
Chronic Fatigue, Post-viral Fatigue, Fibromyalgia
Migraine Headaches
Arrhythmia
Hypertension
Heavy Metal Toxicity
Neurological Issues: Parkinson’s disease – cessation of motor symptoms and to
Athletic Recovery and better performance

and more..

Nutrients commonly used in IV treatments:

Vitamins: vitamin C, B vitamins
Minerals: calcium, magnesium, zinc, selenium, potassium, chromium, boron etc.
Amino acids (protein)
Antioxidants: vitamin C, glutathione
Glutathione

What is glutathione? (coming)

How To Get Started

1. Book an Initial Intake and Assessment Appointment:

We need to see you for the one hour initial intake and assessment appointment. This allows us to gather enough information about your health history and concerns to be able to treat you safely and to treat your body and your issue optimally.

2. Fill out the intake forms before hand and bring them with you to your appointment.

Our health history forms must be filled out before hand and brought to your appointment so that we understand any medical conditions, allergies, medications, supplements or other concerns that can effect the safety of IV therapies. Depending on your concerns and symptoms, we may need to do some additional screening blood work before hand.

3. Bring any recent blood work and imaging studies (in the case of a cancer diagnosis).

IV therapy is extremely safe, however, it’s still very important to know exactly what’s happening in your body to ensure best treatment and correct diagnosis.

More On Specific Conditions

IV’s are a wonderfully way to prevent aging, preserve health and feel a boost of energy to get you through that busy period your life is demanding of you.

Fatigue, Chronic Fatigue, Post-viral Fatigue

IV therapies really shine for these conditions. The etiology of fatigue can be complex. Sometimes there is sub-clinical immunodeficiency, subclinical adrenal or thyroid deficiency, issues with poor absorption and assimilation of nutrients (unbeknownst to the patient), which are all addressed when nutrients are given directly into the blood stream. In practice I see significant results in eradicating this condition when nutrients are given intravenously. It’s exciting to see.

Infection Fighting, Cold Prevention and Treatment

Feel a cold coming on and can’t afford to be sick? You’ve been sick for 2 weeks and you can’t quite lick it? Seems like you’re getting sick every month or every other month? You keep getting things like cellulitis – infections that won’t heal? Using IV nutrients (vitamin C, b vitamins, selenium, zinc) are invaluable for helping your immune system strengthen up and beat the infection you are fighting. It really works.

Athletes – shortened recovery time and optimal reserves for optimal performance

Athletes have an enhanced metabolic requirement for every nutrient – often beyond what is contained in your diet and what your digestive system is absorbing. IV nutrients really help the body recover from intense exercise more quickly and ensure it has enough building blocks and cofactors to perform at your best, naturally. This is NOT pharmaceutical performance enhancing. B12 shots are also helpful. Glutathione injections ensure minimal free radical damage and optimal recovery.

IV Vitamin C and Cancer

Overview of Intravenous Vitamin C and Cancer

Leesa Kirchner, BSc, ND, FABNO

It has been known for years that vitamin C has several actions that may offer protection against cancer. It protects cellular structures, including DNA from damage. Vitamin C also helps the body deal with environmental pollution and toxic chemicals, enhances immune function, and inhibits the formation of cancer-causing compounds such as nitrosamines. More recently there has been an emergence of scientific evidence showing that vitamin C can preferentially kill cancer cells; meaning it is only toxic to cancer cells and not normal healthy cells. As a result, it can be given at very high doses without harming other cells.

Vitamin C is found naturally in many fruits and vegetables. We need 60 mg per day to prevent scurvy which is the disease associated with vitamin C deficiency. However, the low dose that is required to prevent scurvy is not what we should obtain on a daily basis to optimally run all functions in the body and to prevent disease from developing in the first place.

In order for vitamin C to act as a cytotoxic (toxic to cells) agent, very high doses (50-100 grams which is 50,000-100,000 mg) must be given. However, there is a limit to the amount of vitamin C that can be absorbed when taken orally (by mouth). Generally, people will experience diarrhea at doses anywhere from 2000 mg to 10,000 mg (2-10 grams) depending on their tolerance and tissue saturation. When given intravenously (through a catheter directly into a vein) the digestive system is by-passed, thus much higher doses can be administered without causing any bowel concerns. In addition, research has shown that blood levels of vitamin C are approximately 400% higher when administered by IV versus taken orally. This significantly increased blood level of vitamin C is what contributes to its anti-cancer activity.

The use of vitamin C as a cytotoxic agent is not new. High doses of intravenous vitamin C have been used in cancer care for over 30 years. Many positive results on various cancer types have been obtained, but much of this evidence was anecdotal (meaning many doctors were getting good results, but it wasn’t published in journals thus was hard to substantiate). Recently, a very prestigious medical journal, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published results showing that IV vitamin C was able to shrink various tumors in mice. At the moment there are several clinical trials in humans being conducted at various university medical centers throughout North America.

Vitamin C preferentially kills cancer cells through two mechanisms

1. In low doses vitamin C works as an antioxidant BUT in high doses, vitamin C changes roles and becomes a pro-oxidant, causing hydrogen peroxide to be formed. Hydrogen peroxide is a free-radical that damages DNA and other cell structures. In healthy cells, this hydrogen peroxide is immediately neutralized/destroyed by an enzyme called catalase. Cancer cells differ from healthy cells in that they are deficient in catalase. Thus, in cancer cells, hydrogen peroxide builds up and kills the cells. Healthy cells remain unharmed.

2. The other way vitamin C works is to increase collagen production, the glue that holds the body together. To make collagen we require an amino acid called proline. The biochemical process called hydroxylation requires the presence of vitamin C, which renders proline available for collagen production. Research has shown that vitamin C dramatically increases the collagen within tumor cells, an act that tends to immobilize the cells, “gluing” them into place. Without mobility metastasis is blocked.

The frequency of administration of the vitamin C needs to be individualized to each patient and will depend on factors such as the staging of the cancer, and any treatments such as chemotherapy or radiation that are currently taking place.

A common recommendation for treatment is 2-3 times per week, and each treatment lasts 1-2 hours depending on the dose required. When administered properly, intravenous vitamin C is very safe. Patients need to be screened with a simple blood test prior to beginning treatment.

Intravenous vitamin C as a natural adjunctive therapy not only makes scientific sense, but is steadily becoming more recognized as the body of evidence showing that it is both safe and effective is growing.

Clinically we reliably see better tolerance to conventional treatments, better quality of life for patients, life extension, faster recovery from standard treatments, and for some patients, tumor reductions.