Over Medicated? What about Nutrient Deficient?

Medications DEPLETE your body of nutrients that directly impact your life later…

Did you know taking medications NO MATTER WHAT IT IS will deplete your body of VITAL nutrients that will affect you at some point in your life, most likely sooner than later. 

Have you ever been to your doctor and they are wanting to put you on a medication and he or she says to you, “you need to come off any supplements while taking this medication so that they don’t interfere.” Why are they saying this to you? Do they not know that what they are prescribing you will draw out of your system the very nutrients you need in order for your organ systems to function properly?

Let’s get into this deeper. Buckle up we’re going in! 

When your doctor is prescribing a medication for you, you assume it will be temporary to “fix the problem” right? Well the problem is most of the time it doesn’t “fix the problem” and 3 years have passed and you’re still on the same medication that you have taken EVERY day since ( ex. Antacids for re flux of Barrett’s esophagus). Why is this a problem?

Well that chemical structure you are ingesting is pulling nutrition/vitamins/minerals/enzymes/probiotics/important co-factors out of your body every day. This leads to malfunctioning of your other systems or even the very system you’re trying to fix. There is a direct relationship to disease with nutrient depletion. The research tells us this very thing. Yet we are still prescribed a pill for every ill or a drug for every bug. Instead of looking for the root cause of the problem in order to treat the body and not the symptom. 

A prime example of our confusing medication cycle is as follows. 

When you are prescribed a statin drug like Crestor or Lipitor it draws CoQ10 out of the body. Without CoQ10 over a period of time it can lead to congestive heart failure. THAT IS SERIOUS. There are other cholesterol medications that draw CoQ10 and much more out of the body such as Folic Acid, Iron, and Magnesium, Vitamin A, Vitamin B, Zinc and more. Many people don’t “feel” the loss of minerals leaving their body day to day but only know there is a problem when things start to malfunction. For example zinc deficiency causes depression. How long will it take you to realize you have a zinc deficiency? When you’re depressed and you can’t figure out why? What will you do then? 

Go to your doctor and tell him you’re not feeling yourself these days. He will then prescribe you another medication for depression. Anti-depressants deplete the body of CoQ10, and B2. So where are we? We have made a full circle. You still have high cholesterol, and now your depressed and have a weakened immune system making you prone for sickness while working your way into congestive heart failure AND now you’re on two medications that deplete you of CoQ10. DO YOU SEE THE PROBLEM? That is only the story of 1 medication….

There are mineral/nutrient depletions for ant-acids, contraceptives, anti-fungals, antivirals, antibiotics (OH don’t get me started here), psycho therapeutics, NSAIDS (anti-inflammatories), water pills, Parkinson’s medication, ulcer meds, laxatives, salicylates(aspirin), cardiovascular meds(BP meds) and Anticonvulsants(Dilantin) just to name a few. 

So what are we to do? Are all medicines bad? What if you need to be on one?

Here’s the problem. 

We are over medicating in the United States. Your doctor isn’t properly educated on nutrient depletions from medications and therefore doesn’t understand or prescribe the appropriate vitamin/mineral to replace what’s being taken out by the medication or just prescribing a vitamin instead of a medication (a novel thought).  Also we are on medications to long instead of getting to the root cause of the problem and getting off the medication once the condition has healed or been treated appropriately. 

A recent example of over-medicating happened just yesterday. I had a patient come in for her usual treatment. She showed me her recent blood work. The doctor ran her TSH for her thyroid and then she was called in a prescription for Levothyroxine (a thyroid medication). What was strange is that her thyroid marker TSH was normal and even within the Functional Lab Range we use at the office. She was confused as to why she had been prescribed something she wasn’t informed about nor seemed to need. If anything more thyroid numbers needed to be run in order to come to a better conclusion as to the function of her thyroid. This happens all the time and had my patient not been smart enough to question the validity of her numbers she may have started a medication she didn’t necessarily need. The doctor also never called to explain the prescription write up. This is a case of over prescribing. 

When your doctor says for you to come off your supplements when you start a medication you have the right to question that. You also need to do your research on the medication you are being prescribed (the pill book from Wal-Mart is a great resource to own). Do you truly need it, can your symptom be treated naturally and what is being depleted in the body by the medication? Be sure you are taking the right mineral or supplement to replenish your systems. PAUSE before you PILL. Pause and think about why you are taking that pill and if it is needed. See below for more common nutrition depletions from prescription meds.