This Nutritional Therapy is 10x More Effective Than Supplements

What if I told you that for many of you, your expensive supplements might be doing almost nothing because your body can't absorb them? Did you know that there are many celebrities, professional athletes, CEOs, and even ER doctors that are using a special type of nutritional therapy to bypass the gut entirely? And it promises better energy, faster healing, and even anti-aging effects.

It's called vitamin IV therapy. Today I'll be breaking down the science, the risks and which vitamins and nutrients are the most effective to go right into your bloodstream. Welcome to the Dr. Josh Axe Show. Now, vitamin IV therapy involves the administration of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other nutrients that go directly into your bloodstream through an intravenous drip.

And this method bypasses the digestive tract, unlike many supplements, right? So if you're taking an oral supplement, a capsule or tablet, you are— obviously it's going through your esophagus, your stomach, your small intestine, where then it needs to be absorbed. Where if your gut microbiome isn't healthy, you may not be absorbing any of the nutrients you're consuming.

I'll tell you a quick story. I had a woman come in once and she brought in 2 Whole Foods bags full of vitamins and supplements. She was like taking 20 supplements, over 80 pills a day. And after working with her for just a few days, I said, listen, I think all of these supplements you have right now are creating really expensive urine.

I said, your problem right now is that you are absorbing almost none of the nutrients you're taking. And so for many of you, you might be in that same boat. You are taking all these vitamins, all these supplements, taking, you know, 100 pills a day or even 10 pills a day, but you're not absorbing them.

And the great thing about IVs is they ensure nearly 100% nutrient bioavailability, and they can even boost absorption in people that otherwise can't absorb certain nutrients, especially those with gut and liver dysfunction.

And IV therapy was originally used in hospitals for patients with severe dehydration and nutrient depletion, but now we're seeing today in functional medicine clinics, in integrative medicine, a lot of clinics now are utilizing IV therapy in order to help patients who have poor nutrient absorption and to treat numerous conditions, everything from cancer to longevity to autoimmune disease to infertility to the common cold and flu.

People are getting more and more IVs, and you've probably noticed this, there are so many more clinics now popping up that are offering IV therapy. Now I want to walk you through the timeline and also go through which nutrients are best for what.

So if you're a person suffering with hypothyroidism, mold toxicity, Lyme disease, maybe next time you have the cold or flu, you want to know, okay, if I go and get an IV, what are the top nutrients I should consider? I'll also be sharing with you my experience in getting numerous IVs, including methylene blue. In fact, after getting this IV, my urine was blue.

And I'll walk you through the treatments that I went through, my personal experience in treating thousands of patients with IVs and recommending those as well. But to start, I want to say this: 1600s. I mean, we're talking about these IV therapies go back over 400 years.

And Sir Christopher Wren used these quills and animal bladders to inject everything from wine to opium into dogs, and the efforts were abandoned due to so many people getting infections. You can imagine doing IVs in the bloodstream from animal bladders, some of the infections that happened then. And so, you know, that, that, that it was ineffective then.

And then a couple hundred years later, in 1831, IV therapy was used for cholera. Now, Dr. Thomas Latta used IV of saline today for helping people with dehydration. You can imagine with cholera, you've got Sometimes throwing up, but obviously a lot of diarrhea, loose stool. This causes major, major dehydration.

So this Dr. Thomas Latta started using sodium chloride and other forms of sodium to bring hydration to the body. Then in the 1940s, Dr. Frederick Klenner used vitamin C to treat polio, pneumonia, scurvy, viral infections to help patients heal. So really the 1940s is the first time we started seeing the introduction of vitamin IVs.

Then in the 1960s, we saw Dr. Myers create the— Dr. John Myers create the Myers Cocktail, which was a blend of magnesium, calcium, B vitamins, vitamin C to treat fatigue, migraine headaches, and even chronic illness. And then in the 1970s, we started seeing the rise of this in integrative medicine. Linus Pauling, for instance, promoted the use of high vitamin C for treating cancer.

We saw Dr. Hugh Rorden develop the Rorden Protocol for cancer with doing about 100 milligrams of IV vitamin C. And then of course today in functional medicine, we see IV that is expanded to every— using everything from vitamin C to NAD+, glutathione, alpha-lipoic acid, different amino acids, vitamin D. curcumin, mistletoe, all of these used for everything from detoxification to longevity to even cancer therapy.

So IV therapy has come a long way, or vitamin IV therapy, from starting with hydration all the way now using it for cancer therapy. But again, the big reason why nutrient IV therapy works is it bypasses the digestive system. You know, a lot of times our nutrients aren't broken down by stomach acid or they're not properly absorbed into the small intestine and then into the bloodstream.

And this is very, very common. If you're a person or know somebody who has leaky gut syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's, colitis, any sort of gut issue, which sometimes doesn't even mean you have a digestive issue, obviously an issue like bloating. I mean, that's, you know, a symptom you could have, but not always.

There's lots of people with leaky gut or poor nutrient absorption that don't have gas or bloating or stomach pain. The great benefit of IV therapy is really, really high nutrient absorption rates, and it's going to help reach your tissues and cells faster than oral supplementation.

Now, oral supplements undergo digestion and metabolism, sometimes via the liver, before entering the bloodstream, which affects absorption. Factors like, again, digestive health, the presence of food, And even someone's metabolism limits how many nutrients you absorb. In fact, here's the research.

IV therapy allows for up to 90% of nutrient absorption compared to approximately 50% or less with oral supplements by bypassing the digestive system. Now again, that 50% number, if you have autoimmune disease, food sensitivities, leaky gut, any of those issues, it's probably lower than 50%.

I mean, some patients I've seen could have 10% nutrient absorption, especially patients with issues like IBS. Now, when looking at the absorption rate, typically vitamin C can be around 70% for somebody who has good absorption. Vitamin B12, listen to this, only about 10% or less of oral vitamin B12 is absorbed.

So if you're taking a vitamin B12 supplement, you're typically absorbing less than 10% of that. And then magnesium, about 30 to 40% is absorbed. So you might think, oh, I'm getting 100 milligrams of magnesium, when in reality you're probably getting more like 30. Or 100 milligrams of vitamin B12, you're getting maybe 5% of that, a very, very low dose.

And that's where IV therapy can have a great benefit, going right into the bloodstream. The other great thing about certain nutrients is you can do ultra-high doses. Vitamin C, for instance, if you do an ultra-high dose of vitamin C, it can cause loose stool. Okay.

And you're not absorbing as much versus if it goes in via IV, you can do ultra-high dose, which is needed with certain conditions like cancer. And one of the great things is you can create a tailored and targeted approach by combining different vitamins and minerals and amino acids together to help the body heal.

Now, the main reasons why people use IV vitamins and nutrients, number one is actually dehydration. I remember this has happened to my wife Chelsea a couple of times. One is I remember she was pregnant with our daughter, Aelin. This was about 2 years ago, she was in that sort of end of the first trimester. She was about 3 months pregnant. And she got really sick.

She caught the flu that somebody had. And so, she was throwing up and really sick. And we really wanted to make sure that she was recovering quickly. And so, we actually had somebody come to our house. We did a vitamin IV and really focused on hydration and B vitamins for her at that time. And then we were on a trip to Europe. This last summer. We were in Rome and she got very sick again.

And so we had somebody come to the hotel room and we did, we did a vitamin IV there as well to help her with hydration. And so hydration is one of the most common reasons why people get IVs, if not the most common reason. And I actually see this. So I'm not embarrassed for myself for this. I'm embarrassed for other people. But, you know, I live in Nashville, Tennessee.

Nashville is known as sort of the bachelorette, I think, uh, capital. I think I'm saying that right in terms of like all the bachelorette parties. If you're ever in downtown Nashville on the weekends, just don't go downtown. Okay. I have not, I went downtown one time when I first moved here and never went again. I stick to other areas like 12 South and the Gulch and other areas of Nashville.

But, um, a lot of people there go downtown, they drink too much and they end up with a hangover. And so I will see, I, I, I've asked people this, the, I have friends who own IV and functional medicine businesses throughout Nashville, and I'll say, hey, what's the number one reason why somebody comes in to get an IV from you?

You know the number one reason I hear in some of them, at least the ones downtown Nashville? Hangovers, okay? When you drink too much alcohol, it is— alcohol is a diuretic. I mean, dehydration is the single biggest reason why you get a hangover and the depletion of B vitamins. So a lot of people also will do it as a recovery or cure for hangovers.

Of course, the reasons why I tend to recommend it the most tend to be issues related to functional medicine. Somebody has a severe nutritional deficiency. And it supports everything from overcoming illnesses, like chronic illnesses, like autoimmune disease, Lyme disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, you know, leaky gut, all those sort of issues, but also different acute issues like the cold and flu.

Also, I will say when I've taken IVs, it— I do, if I'm coming down with a cold or flu, I will go and get a Myers cocktail or a very specific IV. But I also just do it for longevity and wellness. I get NAD+ nutrients, I do taurine, I do carnitine, I do glutathione for supporting anti-aging and detoxification.

So there's loads of reasons why you might consider getting a vitamin IV, but to go through the list here, If you have a nutritional deficiency, if you get blood work done and you see, oh, my zinc is low or magnesium or vitamin D, that's one great reason. We mentioned dehydration. Exercise recovery.

If you're an athlete, let's say you're a CrossFitter or a triathlete and you want to recover from your workouts or prepare for an upcoming event or recover from you just did an Ironman or a marathon or something like that, that's a great reason to do it for athletic recovery and performance. Yeah. Preventing illness in the first place.

We mentioned hangover relief, cold and flu relief, pregnancy symptom alleviation, anti-aging and longevity, increasing your focus and stamina, and also supporting mitochondrial function. There are loads and loads of reasons. In addition, some of the most common reasons why I recommend people get vitamin IVs, one is boosted energy.

You could do a combination of a B complex including B12, NAD+, carnitine, and really enhance your mitochondrial function, ATP synthesis. So you're really going to— your body's going to be able to create more cellular energy. Great reason. Number 2, immune support. Doing high doses of vitamin C, zinc, and selenium, and vitamin D. This is great for boosting your immune system. Liver detoxification.

Doing glutathione and alpha-lipoic acid and B-complex vitamins helps with Phase 2 liver detoxification, skin regeneration, anti-aging. As I mentioned, vitamin C is a great one for that. Cognitive clarity, NAD+ and acetyl-L-carnitine and phosphatidylcholine. And rapid rehydration, electrolytes like sodium, potassium, and magnesium.

These help restore fluid balance post-illness or exercise or after consuming alcohol for detoxification. Now, what I want to do is walk you through the top 10 IVs you should consider getting next time you go in for a nutrient IV. Okay, number 1 here, and by the way, one other thing I'm going to mention at the end is there's differences in quality.

Vitamin C, for instance, you can take an ascorbic acid that's taken from genetically modified corn or do one that's more natural from a higher quality substance. I'll get into that in a minute, but let's go through just generally the top 10 IVs you should consider. Number 1 is a Myers cocktail. It is the OG of IV therapy developed by Dr. John Myers in the 1970s.

This is best for people with chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, migraine headaches, asthma, allergies. I think generally as a wellness cocktail, it's one of my favorites. A 2009 study that included adults with fibromyalgia taking the Myers Cocktail found that it significantly improved pain, depression, and quality of life. However, the placebo group also reported some improvements as well.

So while it was better than the placebo, the placebo also did see some improvements. So there was a little bit of a placebo effect. However, it was still effective in one of the largest studies done on a Myers cocktail.

Now, what's included in a Myers cocktail includes number 1, vitamin C for immune support, number 2, B complex for energy, then magnesium, which we know calms the body and the nerves. Calcium, of course, is great for bone health and muscle contraction. So numerous things there.

And oftentimes, people will also include in their own Myers cocktail sometimes glutathione, sometimes zinc, depends on the Myers cocktail you're getting. Okay, so look at all the nutrients there. I really like adding glutathione to a Myers cocktail. I think make it even more effective. And some Myers cocktail naturally has that included.

Number 2, high-dose vitamin C. This is often used at doses between 10 to 50 grams per session. I want you to think about this. Oral absorption maxes out at around 500 milligrams to 1 gram. Okay? So if you're getting 10 grams or 50 grams, you're getting at least 10 to, if not 50 times the dose of vitamin C that your body is absorbing. Okay?

So we're talking about much, much higher levels of absorption. We know vitamin C is an antiviral. It's an antioxidant. It's anti-inflammatory. Some studies suggest that high-dose vitamin C may improve quality of life in cancer patients and reduce inflammation. But again, this is probably the number one nutrient used in treating cancer and those with any type of immune illness.

And it was the first nutrient ever given as part of an IV and shown to be effective at numerous conditions including polio and others. Number 3 is glutathione. Glutathione is a tripeptide composed of glutamine, cysteine, and glycine, and it's known as the body's master antioxidant.

It's best for people with oxidative stress, poor liver detoxification, toxicity, mold exposure, and skin pigmentation issues. But glutathione, again, is really going to support your detoxification channels and your liver. So it's great. It's great for that hangover recovery. It's great As part of a Myers cocktail, but it's great for anti-aging, really powerful.

The big benefits of a glutathione IV includes neutralizing free radicals, helping regenerate other antioxidants like vitamin C and vitamin E. It supports liver detoxification and also supports cellular health. You know, when we talk about longevity, we usually think about diet, exercise, and supplements, but what about your skin.

Your skin is your body's largest organ, and keeping it strong and resilient is key to how you age, both inside but even outside. That's why I love OneSkin. Their entire mission is centered on skin longevity, and their science-backed approach sets them apart from anything else out there.

Their OS-1 peptide works at the cellular level to improve skin health, reducing the buildup of senescent or zombie cells that contribute to wrinkles, sagging, and inflammation. These cells don't just affect your appearance, they actually accelerate your body's overall aging process.

Since I started using OneSkin, my skin looks healthier, feels stronger, and I love knowing that I'm proactively supporting its longevity at a deeper cellular level. Listen, if you're looking to keep your skin youthful and resilient for years to come, you've got to check out OneSkin. Go to oneskin.co And use the code AXE for 15% off your first purchase. That's oneskin.co/Axe to get 15% off today.

Number 4 is NAD+ therapy. NAD+, this is known as nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, and it's a coenzyme involved in over 500 cellular reactions. In order for your cells to make cellular energy, to make ATP, You have to have NAD+, okay? Oral NAD+ and precursors like NMN or NADH, they have limited bioavailability, but IV NAD+ reaches your cells directly.

You can also do NAD+ via liposomal or a subcutaneous injection, and it's also highly absorbed that way. Now, how do you know if you should be using NAD+ in an IV? Well, here's the biggest one. If you have fatigue, okay? If you are chronically tired or have chronic fatigue or hypothyroidism, but just you have low energy, that's the number one reason why you should do NAD+.

Again, it is the, it is the most important nutrient for mitochondrial function. Also, if you have brain fog, addiction recovery, and anti-aging protocols, if you want to age more slowly for longevity, NAD+ is probably the number one thing you should take. Again, big benefits: mitochondrial function, DNA repair, Neurotransmitter balance, anti-aging and brain health. Big benefits there of NAD+.

It's one of my favorites to get when I go. Now, I will say it's one of the most expensive, and you tend to feel a little bit nauseous the first hour or 2 when you take it. But afterwards, you will notice a significant lift in energy. Okay. And again, you just— that cellular energy really starts churning.

And if you're a person with chronic fatigue or fatigue, it's probably the single best thing you could take as an IV. All right, number 5 are amino acids. These are very important for athletes, for recovery, for neurological support, gut healing, even recovering from issues like kidney disease and serious illness. Some of my favorites include, number 1 is taurine.

This calms the nervous system and supports bile flow. So if you have poor liver function, taurine is an amazing, amazing amino acid. You know, there is a an oral supplement. It's combined with bile and taurine. It's called Tudca, T-U-D-C-A. They actually take it from bears.

It's an ancient Chinese medicine remedy where they take the gallbladder of bears, they take the bile, and they actually supplement it with patients because that bile helps break down fat and relieve some stress on the liver and gallbladder. But taurine itself is really amazing for For the nerve system and for liver and gallbladder health. Another favorite of mine is arginine.

This promotes nitric oxide production and vasodilation. So somebody with heart health issues or a weak heart, it's very good for that. Carnitine is another one that I love. It helps transport fatty acids into the mitochondria for energy production. And carnitine is found in the highest amounts in heart tissue. So it's very good for the heart.

Very good for the mitochondria and creating cellular energy as well. In fact, if you've got a cellular energy issue, number one should be NAD+. Number two should probably be carnitine. And after that, some of those, those B vitamins. And then glutamine. Glutamine supports gut lining and immune function. Now, you could also do that as a powder, but I would say it can be good as an IV infusion.

But I would say taurine, arginine, carnitine. If you've got a real big immune deficiency, lysine. Is another amino that can be beneficial there as well. But those would probably be the top amino acids to consider, with taurine being at the very, very top along with carnitine and arginine. Number 6 is B complex vitamins.

These are water-soluble vitamins that assist in energy production, red blood cell formation, nervous system function, and detoxification. Okay, and if somebody has a methylation issue, they tend to be not absorbing B vitamins well. That's also why it's good to take a methylated B complex orally, but Also, getting a B complex in its methylated form is incredibly powerful.

B vitamins help convert food into your cellular energy. They're important for also relieving stress, for, as I mentioned, blood formation, mood balance. The big thing, though, there is energy and detoxification and cellular energy creation, but energy detoxification. Is the biggest benefits of B complex.

If you are getting something via dehydration or hangover or any of those issues, B vitamins are a must, very helpful. They're also really good for people with chronic fatigue, adrenal burnout, post-illness recovery. Let's say you're suffering from a viral infection like Lyme or mold, very post-COVID, very good for that as well.

And I would say in addition, if you have those issues, you also want to take a methylated B complex. But getting an IV can be really helpful as well. Probably the most common B vitamin used in IVs today is B12 or methylcobalamin. This enhances energy. B12 is known as the energy vitamin, and it's going to be helpful with almost all the things we just talked about. B6 is used in mood regulation.

Now, this is also important for any women that are pregnant. If you have nausea, okay, one of the biggest reasons why women get nauseous during pregnancy is due to a deficiency of vitamin B6, which is pyridoxine, and magnesium.

So if you're really feeling ill that first trimester, you can go and get an IV of B6 and magnesium or B complex and magnesium, and it can really help sort of just, just relax the body and calm the nausea. Okay, very, very effective in that as well. The next step here, number 7, is zinc. Zinc is a trace mineral known as your immune mineral.

Also, it's good for wound healing, for healing your gut and leaky gut. Also has antiviral properties. If you have a cold, if you have a flu, if you have a digestive issue, if you have autoimmune disease, leaky gut, zinc is the first thing you should take. Literally, probably the first thing you should take.

While small amounts are found in food and oral supplements have moderate absorption, IV of zinc, a zinc IV allows you to have rapid delivery into your immune system. So if I ever feel like, okay, I might have a cold or flu coming on, I run to my local IV place and I get a Myers cocktail with zinc. Okay, so I make sure I get zinc, vitamin C, sometimes vitamin D to, to, to help.

Okay, it's really one of the, the first things I get is a zinc IV along with some of those other nutrients. Now also, it's really good for chronic infections. If you're a person that's been ill for a long time with a viral infection, mold, bacterial like Lyme, any of those issues, zinc IVs are great. They enhance T-cell and natural killer cell activity. This is also good for fighting cancer.

It's been shown in studies to shorten the duration of viral infections. It supports wound healing, tissue repair, healing of leaky gut. So loads and loads of benefits there. Number 8 is magnesium. Now we know magnesium plays a role in over 300 biochemical reactions including muscle contraction, nerve signaling, Hydration, cardiovascular and heart function.

Oral forms can cause GI upset and they have poor absorption, while magnesium delivers as an IV really fast effects. In fact, I will get a magnesium IV sometimes and it's something that just calms your body. If you're in a fight or flight state a lot, going and getting a magnesium IV— Yeah. And I also like doing this with a B complex. It just calms your nerves.

I mean, you would just feel sort of the tension just melt off your body. Okay, so it is a good way to sort of break that cycle. If you feel like, you feel like, okay, I'm really stressed, you could go get a magnesium IV with some B complex and it just, just calms that entire system. It's a great thing to do. It's also good for muscle cramps, migraine headaches.

If you're in the middle of a migraine, going and getting a magnesium IV with B complex and hydration is very good. Anxiety, hypertension, even PMS. It can also be used to treat seizures and to control preterm labor. Here's what it does.

It relaxes your muscles, moves your body out of a fight-or-flight state into a parasympathetic state, supports your blood vessels, eases those migraines or any type of headache. Basically, it just calms the nerve system, lowers blood pressure, helps control your heart rhythms. Loads of benefits there of magnesium. And then selenium.

This is a potent antioxidant mineral that is really involved in thyroid hormone production and immune regulation. It works synergistically with glutathione and is often depleted when you are chronically exposed to toxins and other forms of stress. It's best for thyroid disorders, autoimmune conditions, detoxification, and immune support.

Again, one of the biggest benefits, it's great to do in combination with glutathione when you're getting an IV done, especially if you— and with B complex, methylated B complex, if you have a thyroid issue, is where I really, really like it there for that as well. And the number 10 is coenzyme Q10.

I'm going to have a bonus here after CoQ10, but CoQ10 is a fat-soluble antioxidant which is needed for mitochondrial function. It's needed for heart function. If you've ever taken a statin drug, if you've taken a diabetes medication, there are numerous medications that deplete your body of coenzyme Q10. Okay, but it's best for cardiovascular health and for mitochondrial function.

But if you've ever taken a statin drug, this can be very, very helpful because of what it does for the heart health, brain health, and cellular energy. And then some other targeted nutrients you may consider: vitamin D. Now, this is typically not given via an IV. It's given what we call a subcutaneous push, very similar to the way you take a peptide.

Okay, so very effective for getting your vitamin D levels up. Alpha-lipoic acid— this is a potent antioxidant that's very good if you have diabetes or insulin resistance. I like taking this in combination with glutathione. It's also good for mitochondrial health. Curcumin— this is the active ingredient found in turmeric. It's anti-inflammatory, it's an antioxidant.

This helps with cancer recovery and fighting cancer. It also sometimes is used liposomally, but again, this is another good one. And then mistletoe. This is used as part of integrative cancer treatments for immune modulation and fighting tumors. So I have a friend of mine and his daughter was diagnosed with kidney cancer.

And one of the things they had did for 2 years is they regularly went in once a week and their daughter got an IV. And it tended to be a blend of mistletoe. Sometimes they would do glutathione, they would do curcumin, they would do zinc, but mistletoe was the number one thing they did on a regular basis along with vitamin C for fighting cancer.

And so we do know that if somebody has cancer, there are some really, really specific and targeted nutrients that can be helpful, mistletoe being one of the biggest ones. Mistletoe has the ability to go and help the body better detect cancer. Kill cancer cells as well, activate those T cells and natural killer cells, which fight and kill cancer. Another one I really like here is ozone therapy.

You know, while it's not a vitamin or an amino or nutrient per se, ozone has the ability to kill off pathogens. So if somebody has mold toxicity, Lyme disease, a post-COVID infection like long COVID, Different viruses like Epstein-Barr, CMV, ozone therapy is really fantastic. I like it. I really like it for mold in particular. But ozone therapy, and you could do that via an IV.

Over time, you can do something a little more advanced called a 10-pass or an EBOO, where it's filtering your blood out with ozone. But ozone therapy is another type of IV that can be very effective. And one of the last— the last one I want to cover here, IVs you may consider, is methylene blue. So you've probably seen the headlines: inflation, tariffs, recession.

And the truth is, there's a lot to be concerned about. Our national debt has now soared past $36 trillion. In response, the government is making some big changes, cutting the budget, lowering taxes, and imposing tariffs. Now, these changes may help long-term, but short-term, we could feel some real economic pain.

Many economists are warning that a recession could be coming soon, and just like we take steps to protect our physical health, we also need to take steps to protect our financial health. And that's why I'm turning to physical gold and silver to help protect my retirement and savings. You know, I am a big fan of biblical wealth.

I remember my dad growing up gave me a silver coin and encouraged me to start investing in the right way and diversifying myself financially. And gold just hit an all-time high of $3,300 an ounce. And historically, in times of uncertainty, gold and silver have doubled or more. Now, I personally trust Preserve Gold. They can make the process simple and they genuinely care.

They're amazing Christian people I really respect. Right now they're offering a free wealth protection guide, and you can get this by just texting AXE, that's A-X-E, to 50505. To get this free guide. Plus, you can get up to $15,000 in free gold or silver with a qualified purchase. Don't wait. Text AXE to 50505 today and take the first steps towards protecting what you've worked so hard to build.

I'm praying for and excited about your financial prosperity. Now, methylene blue was originally approved for a type of blood disorder where the red blood cells weren't producing or getting enough oxygen. Out in the body. And so it is great for supporting healthy blood, cleansing the blood, supporting cellular energy, energy production.

So this can be really good paired with NAD+ for supporting mitochondrial function. It's great for also overcoming different type of viral infections. Key characteristics: one, it penetrates the blood-brain barrier. This is why it can have such a profound effect on brain and neurological conditions.

Again, it enhances ATP production even in damaged mitochondria, has antiviral and antibacterial properties, neuroprotective properties. Again, it's often paired with NAD+ and red light therapy. When I was suffering with my infection, I had a spinal infection that almost killed me a few years ago, left me unable to walk for a full year.

And one of the therapies I did regularly was methylene blue IVs. Combined with NAD+. And then I would actually use red light therapy, both as a full-body red light bed, along with doing it while I actually got the IV to help activate the actual methylene blue. And I will say, when you do methylene blue IVs, your urine will be blue, okay?

I was urinating a, you know, in a— again, I wasn't able to walk, so I had to urinate in a, this plastic jug. Yeah. And my urine was blue. And I will say I did notice an improvement in energy and cellular function while taking it. And I tend to prescribe this and recommend this for numerous conditions that I'll get to here in just a minute.

But overall, again, methylene blue acts by supporting the mitochondria, by supporting the brain and nerve system, by improving the amount of oxygen your body is able to utilize and create. And that's really huge. Remember, Otto Warburg said this many years ago with cancer. That the cause of cancer is lack of oxygen for the cells.

And so this is a great thing to even pair with things like the Budwig Protocol, if you're trying to repair your cell membranes, you know, for MS, multiple sclerosis. I mean, there are numerous conditions where this would be very, very effective. So there are many benefits. Again, number one is cognitive enhancement. It improves memory, focus, and mental clarity.

Oftentimes it's used for brain fog and post-COVID sort of brain fog-like issues or post-mold, but infection issues that affect the brain. It's used for mitochondrial boost. Supports energy production in people with fatigue, fibromyalgia. It's very effective. Mitochondrial dysfunction, antiviral and antibacterial properties. Again, it was originally used for treating malaria.

It also inhibits viruses and different types of bacterial biofilms. It helps it break down. Again, it's neuroprotective, which is, which is great for oxidative stress, great for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. It's great for oxygen optimization. This is really important with people that are just sick or trying to recover from just not having enough oxygen in their cells. Cancer is a big one.

And mood regulation. It also, it actually supports and enhances serotonin and dopamine if it's done in really small doses. Now, let me go through in ranking order though where it's most effective. Number 1 is mitochondrial dysfunction. If somebody has low energy and mitochondrial issues, that's where it's most effective. Then brain fog, then neurodegenerative conditions, and then— Fatigue.

Those antiviral, antimicrobial conditions like overcoming long COVID, it can be effective too. And then mood issues, and then hypoxia is where it tends to be most effective. But when you take it, you want to make sure it's in low doses.

Typically, you really want to be under supervision, of course, if you're going to do it as an IV on a regular basis, because too much of a good thing can be a bad thing, right? So you just need to be aware of that. Now, now I want to take a minute and walk through these nutrients again and talk about The nutrients when they're in their most bioactive forms.

I mentioned earlier that you can go into a lot of IV places and they're using ascorbic acid. This is vitamin C, but it's from genetically modified corn. So just like when you take an oral vitamin and supplement, there are different quality forms, right? You could go and take a magnesium and you could take magnesium carbonate or citrate, which is maybe a lower to moderate form.

You could take a better form like magnesium. Glycinate or threonate or spirulina-bound multi-amino chelated magnesium, right? There's a lot of different types of magnesium out there, and you want to take one that is of higher quality. This is why, for instance, if you're getting a B vitamin IV, you know, looking for one that's methylated, like a methylcobalamin rather than a hydroxycobalamin.

It tends to be better if it's methylated, right? So doing that when you're doing your IVs. When you're doing magnesium, you want a magnesium chloride or sulfate. These tend to be better. If it's vitamin C, look for a sodium ascorbate or a buffered form. I tend to like the buffered forms the best.

So anyways, it's just important when you're going to an IV therapy place that they have a good reputation. They're not just sort of one of these chains just sort of churning people in and out every 5 seconds. Right. They tend to use lower quality ingredients a lot of these places.

So again, you can see here these preferred forms: methylcobalamin, methylfolate, magnesium chloride or magnesium sulfate. Just some something you know the reduced glutathione known as GSH. These are some of the best that you want to look at in terms of the forms. Now, in terms of different conditions, I want to walk through some of my favorite nutrients to get for these.

If you have chronic fatigue. I would recommend a Myers cocktail and NAD+. I'd also consider carnitine and maybe even methylene blue. So those would be some of the best for chronic fatigue. Migraine headaches, magnesium with a Myers cocktail. Mold exposure, glutathione. I would also recommend a Myers cocktail. Selenium, methylene blue can also be great there.

And then ozone therapy, my favorite for mold. Autoimmune disease, vitamin D. Glutathione, curcumin can be very effective for that. Skin rejuvenation, glutathione and vitamin C. Post-viral recovery, high-dose vitamin C, zinc, NAD+, and an amino acid blend including taurine and carnitine. GI malabsorption like irritable bowel disease, a Myers cocktail with glutathione and zinc.

Post-surgery recovery, vitamin C and zinc and glutathione. Hormone balance, selenium, a B complex, magnesium, and amino acids, and vitamin D. And then for cancer, I really like glutathione, vitamin C, mistletoe, and curcumin are some of the most effective for some of those different conditions. Now, I do want to mention the Chinese medicine perspective of IVs.

While IV therapy is not usually part of Chinese medicine, the principle of restoring qi or vital energy aligns with the therapy's goals of revitalizing a depleted system. I do want to say though, getting too many IVs can put your body into— it can deplete your yang energy in Chinese medicine if you get too many IVs or if you do it too often because it cools the body too much.

You'll actually notice after you get an IV you feel a little bit of cold because you have cold liquid going to you, and synthetic nutrients are Yin in nature. So too much yin can deplete your yang, just as we're talking about Chinese medicine. So again, you, you want to get IVs, especially if you're ill, but you can't have too much of a good thing.

Okay, and this is where doing a lot of warming herbal teas at the same time as doing an IV is a good idea. So if you're getting a cold IV, doing like a ginger herbal tea is a good thing to offset some of that coolness, or ginger cinnamon. Are great things to really help warm your body up and balance those things out. And then doing that in conjunction with bone broth.

So for instance, if I know I'm coming down with a cold or flu, let's say my girls were sick and all of a sudden I feel the sniffles or something in my throat, here's what I do. I immediately go and get an IV. I get a Myers cocktail. I get the high-dose vitamin C. I get the zinc, get the vitamin D. I also take my herbs and supplements, my echinacea, my elderberry.

And then I will go and drink a lot of ginger herbal tea along with warm chicken bone broth or like chicken vegetable soup. Okay. So really doing all those things in combination will be the most effective at helping you heal. And I also want to say, don't just go and get an IV and think, okay, this is all I need. No, you also want to make the dietary change.

You want to do a lot of walking outside, reducing stress, doing all the other things to help your body heal. And if you do that, these IVs can really be complementary and synergistic. To the whole healing process. And so I am a big fan of doing IV therapy. There's some great research around it.

Again, it bypasses the digestive system so you can get a lot more of it out to certain cells and organs within your body. Again, the absorption rate is just much higher is the big benefit there. But again, you can have too much of a good thing. So be conscious of that. And when getting it done, go to one of the best of the best clinics out there when you're going to do this.

So remember, vitamin IVs have numerous benefits, everything from boosting your cellular energy supporting liver detoxification, gut repair, uh, and helping hydration. All of those things that can help and more. But you want to make sure that you're going and getting the right IV based on what your health goal is. I want to say thanks so much for tuning in here to the Dr. Josh Axe Show.

Each and every week we're exploring the science behind how to heal physically, mentally, and spiritually, and taking your health and your life to the next level. I just want to say, hey, the number one thing you can do to support this channel is subscribe and share.

I want to say thank you to all of you that are already subscribers that are out there on the front lines helping change the health of the world with me. I am so grateful. And also thank you, all of you that are sharing this.

I have people constantly telling me, I had a friend share this with me, or a friend posted on social media, or in a text group chat, and it changed my life, and it healed me, or I became more educated because of it. So I want to thank you, all of you.

And by the way, every time you subscribe, I get to bring on more high-profile guests like you've seen on the show, everyone from Carrie Underwood to, you know, Dr., you know, Daniel Amen and Jordan Rubin and, and Marty Makary and so much more. So thanks so much for all the support. I can't wait to see you on the next episode.